Importance of Filling Fuel Tank in Winter?

[CaptainBob]

About to winterise my new boat which has 2x300 litre fuel tanks! Which scares the bezeebers out of me compared to my previous single 70 litre tank!

Boat is on land at Dartside Quay on the river Dart near Paignton/Brixham and is going to be expensive and difficult to fill, 10 litres at a time, with cans filled at the local filling station!

The tanks don't seem to have a drain I can find so I can't leave it to get a spot of condensation in then drain it off in spring. But I could draw out the lower stuff with a Pela pump perhaps.

Or I could fill them to avoid the problem in the first place.

Thoughts?

TY!

 

[Bat21]

if its diesel don't fill it from the local petrol station and leave it for the winter, you will be introducing many more potential problems than a wee bit of codensation!

 

[neil_s]

Could you insulate them? some old blankets draped over them will stop condensation if you can get them all the way around.

Neil

 

[yodave]

if its diesel don't fill it from the local petrol station and leave it for the winter, you will be introducing many more potential problems than a wee bit of codensation!

I was told the opposite; I filled up at the nearest marina a couple of weeks ago, and was told that I would have been better off going to the nearest forecourt.

One thought (from a novice); if your tanks are running low ...might be an idea to drain them and get them cleaned over the winter. If mine had been low, I'd have been tempted to do that rather than run the risk of having £500 worth of fuel just waiting for someone to pinch in the middle of the night.

 

[NormanS]

Might be a good opportunity to empty them, and fit drains to the bottoms of the tanks.

 

[theoldsalt]

Put diesel additive in the tanks and don't worry.

 

[johnalison]

Many years ago I read of a trick which involved tying a balloon over the fuel tank vent so that it could expand & contract without introducing moisture. I've never tried it, but I imagine it would work.

 

[Golf Charley]

Use your Pela to empty one tank into the other, adding an anti bug additive, and fit a drain to the empty tank.

Then repeat for the other tank

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

You could argue that fuel prices may increase in such a way that filling your tanks is a good investment.

I have fitted those simple, but cheap gizmos that make it impossible to syphon fuel from the fillers.

Our boat is well heated during winter, but I still think its worthwhile to keep the tanks topped up. The cost of doing so is way less than the cost of draining and cleaning, let alone the disposal of contminated fuel.

 

[NormanS]

Use your Pela to empty one tank into the other, adding an anti bug additive, and fit a drain to the empty tank.

Then repeat for the other tank

You can also do it with a dinghy pump onto the breather pipe.

 

[Golf Charley]

Norman

Yes agreed, as a former flotilla engineer.......

1.5 metres of gas hose, cut to give 0.5m and 1m with a fuel bulb in the middle gives an amazingly cheap and versatile tool to pump out, create syphons, refuel at sea without lifting fuel containers etc

Switch the short and long length of hose to suit application. Every yacht should have one!

 

[Ianhampshire]

My understanding is that the diesel available from your local petrol station contains a 'bio' element of around 8% and that this reduces the 'shelf life' of the fuel. Marine Diesel purchased from your local marina should (I understand) not contain this 'Bio' element and therefore has a longer shelf life. There is also the point that the duty applicable on the petrol station diesel applies to 100% of the fuel you buy there whereas it only applies (from memory) to about 70% of the marina fuel which should make it cheaper.

With regard to keeping the tanks full over the winter, this seems to be accepted/recommended practice and I have certainly followed this without having any fuel/water problems for many years. I would also put some fuel additive in though every time I fill up just to make sure.

 

[CaptainBob]

Thanks for the replies. Some food for thought.

Especially to fill one from the other, hadn't thought of that! Genius!

How do you then install a drain in a tank though? These aren't going to come out without engine removal. And space is tight. Can you just drill a hold in the tank and screw one in, tapping thread in the tank wall as you go? Or...?

 

[mattnj]

you could ring a local fuel/heating oil supplier, assuming its a decent size order, they will drive a bowser up to your boat and fill you up.

is the fact you are adding around 600kg of weight onto the chocks a problem (if full) and issue i wonder?

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

To fill with diesel on land can be a time consuming, hard and dirty business.
I had to darin a tank a few years ago to do some work to the diesel level indicator.
Once I'd climbed the ladder some 20+ times with cans of diesel and splashed it around accidentally I though there must be a better way.
I reckon it's worthwhile buying a pump and an extra length of pipe to pump it up from the ground level..... any suggestions ?
Possibly to fit a tap on the bottom of the container if you carry it up a ladder, you then only need to undo the tap into the funnel for the tank could help.
I'm in a similar position this season, in that I forgot to fill my tanks to the top and have about 50litres of space to fill.