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Random Quote: I have known the sea too long to believe in its respect for decency (Joseph Conrad)
Well from what I have read E10 and fiberglass tanks do not work well together. Not sure where I saw this but a guy did a test soaking pieces of a new fiberglass tank in both plain gas and e10 mix. After a short period of time you could clearly see that the fiberglass in the E10 was breaking down and becoming soft. Add another 10% with E20 and I'm sure it will break down the fiberglass even faster.
Maybe A friend of mine cut the top of a 25B gas tank and did a complete grind and recoat with West. Everything was fine for a couple of years until the E10 hit NJ. The West dissolved and the dreaded black goo fouled the intake valves and carbs. Even West Epoxy did not hold up the E10. I know some folks are holding out hope that some 1980's fiberglass tanks will be fine. I don't know about that.
I know of a local gas station in Worcester,RT9,Belmount Hill that Had New(less than 4 years) Fiberglass Tanks-the dual wall system,that were pulled last month because they were leaking again,and closed the station down for good this time! And it previously had tank problems and has a vapor and liquid recovery system in place,working for over 6 years prior to the last Failed Tanks.
The E10 fuels are raising Hell-I done 2 sets of motorcycle carbs from bike down on Cape Cod,this winter that had carb problems last fall.And in both cases i have found desolved resin residue in the carbs that must have come from the underground tanks at local gas stations of the Cape.
We all have got to call for a end to the Use of E-10 in gasoline,IT JUST DOES NOT WORK !!!!! We are all being hurt by the Use of it in our FUELS.
It causing MORE HARM than GOOD!!!! And it's just starting to be found out:all the negatives it has along with it use in our fuels. GET Rid Of IT!!!!
at least get rid of it in marine gas...they dont put it in till right before delivery...not hard to just not put it in......the wheels just not squeaky enough yet
I'd worry more about new gas engines than the tanks at this point. If I'm not mistaken, both Mercruiser and Crusader have said their new fuel injected motors are fine with 10% ethanol only. Any higher than that and all bets are off.
A friend with a 1985 33 Bertram replaced his tank with stainless last year. We have had strips of his old tank sitting in jars of ethanol (10%) for the last year and a half and absolutely nothing has happened.
I don't give a rats ass how recently it was constructed. If it was constructed incorrectly or with the wrong materials (as this tank obviously was) then it is not relevant to this discussion.
Why is it that this guy had his tank fall apart after a few hours and a few gallons and my tank survived over 100 hours and several hundred gallons?
Why is it that I know of several other Bertram owners that have been running ethanol for 2+ years, several hundred hours, and a few thousand gallons with no issue?
Hang it up already. You don't know what you're talking about.