How To Remove Water From Your Fuel tank.

I have a 100 gal portable tank I use to fuel my RV to save a few bucks by burning 50/50 MO/AV gas. Seems harmless enough right? Well, the filter at the gas station I used failed and I pumped water (about 2 cups) into my 100 gal nurse tank. No problem right? Well, the waterblocker filter on my tank failed and I pumped the contaminated fuel into my wing tanks. Not good, definate problem. Thank goodness for preflights! SUMP THOSE TANKS!

Well, after several hours of draining the fuel, adding the fuel, sloshing it around, there was still too much water for my comfort level. The water would just "stick" to the aluminum and not flow to the drain. Every flight there was 1/4" water in the tester. Yes, I went flying.

Here is the reason for the thread. A buddy of mine suggested I drain the tanks and add 2-3 gallons of E85 to each tank. The ethonal absorbs water like a sponge. Don't have a heart attack, I drained the E85 & rinsed the tanks with a gallon of MOGAS, drained that and refilled the RV with fresh 100LL.

No water, no problems. I tested for alcohol and there was none. Several tank fulls of fuel later and I'm still water free.

The contaminated E-85 was added to my wife's car. No problems.

Just thought you would like to know.

Geico266 said:

I have a 100 gal portable tank I use to fuel my RV to save a few bucks by burning 50/50 MO/AV gas. Seems harmless enough right? Well, the filter at the gas station I used failed and I pumped water (about 2 cups) into my 100 gal nurse tank. No problem right? Well, the waterblocker filter on my tank failed and I pumped the contaminated fuel into my wing tanks. Not good, definate problem. Thank goodness for preflights! SUMP THOSE TANKS!

Well, after several hours of draining the fuel, adding the fuel, sloshing it around, there was still too much water for my comfort level. The water would just "stick" to the aluminum and not flow to the drain. Every flight there was 1/4" water in the tester. Yes, I went flying.

Here is the reason for the thread. A buddy of mine suggested I drain the tanks and add 2-3 gallons of E85 to each tank. The ethonal absorbs water like a sponge. Don't have a heart attack, I drained the E85 & rinsed the tanks with a gallon of MOGAS, drained that and refilled the RV with fresh 100LL.

No water, no problems. I tested for alcohol and there was none. Several tank fulls of fuel later and I'm still water free.

The contaminated E-85 was added to my wife's car. No problems.

Just thought you would like to know.

Click to expand...

"contaminated E-85"?? Why contaminated? I don't understand your fear of the E-85. You state there were no problems in burning the E-85 in your wife's car. Of course not, why would there be? The minor amount of H2O you talk about that would have been absorbed in the ethanol would be of no consequence to any engine burning it. Perhaps there would not be as much BTU output for the fuel but it would be of such an inconsequential amount that it would be unnoticable by most engines.

I am sure there are many out there who will jump on my case for this statement but the ethanol would burn in your aviation engine just as easily as it would in your wife's car engine. The issues with burning ethanol are not the type that would be putting you at risk of life or limb if some small amount ran through your engine. Nor is it an issue of "destroying or damaging" your engine.

To be sure, the chemical make up of ethanol is different than that of gasoline. There are a few minor issues associated with gasket materials, rubber and the like that are affected differently by ethanol in contrast to petroleum but the engine will still burn the fuel and will still produce mechanical movement from it.

Of course I am not saying you should have run your airplane engine with only E-85 but a small amount that would have been mixed in with your blended 50/50 fuel mixture would not have some drastically damaging effect if your engine did get a small dose of it.

Baja Fuel Filter

If you are fuelling from drums a Baja Fuel Filter could save you a lot of heart ache.

They are enormous so they have a good flow rate.

http://www.practical-sailor.com/sample/Fuelfilter.html
Pete.

fodrv7 said:

If you are fuelling from drums a Baja Fuel Filter could save you a lot of heart ache.

They are enormous so they have a good flow rate.

http://www.practical-sailor.com/sample/Fuelfilter.html
Pete.

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I thought I had a good (10 micron) filter on my tank. Rest assured I Mr. Funnel filter now! lol

As for burning the E-85 in the airplane, I really didn't have any concerns about burning a little fuel in the plane, but 3 gallons per tank would have put the mixture at just at 15% after adding 100% LL. Better the ethonal goes into my wife's car. lol

Geico266:
Just for interest...I used to carry a large funnel with a chamois (spelling??)stretched across the top...and when I refueled in remote areas of Alaska, where contamination with water or "whatever" was likely, it effectively removed the water and bugs as the avgas passed through it....

<<Well, after several hours of draining the fuel, adding the fuel, sloshing it around, there was still too much water for my comfort level. The water would just "stick" to the aluminum and not flow to the drain.>>

Interesting report indeed. Some guys swear a gascolator is not needed, believing that tank sumps alone get the job done.

vapor lock

Wouldn't this much eth. cause vapor lock?? What is the scoop on using mogas with eth. in it in aircraft?

whirlpool said:

Wouldn't this much eth. cause vapor lock?? What is the scoop on using mogas with eth. in it in aircraft?

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That's why I drained it and put it in my wife's car!

DanH said:

<<Well, after several hours of draining the fuel, adding the fuel, sloshing it around, there was still too much water for my comfort level. The water would just "stick" to the aluminum and not flow to the drain.>>

Interesting report indeed. Some guys swear a gascolator is not needed, believing that tank sumps alone get the job done.

Click to expand...

I have a gascolator, never have found a thing it it, never a drop of water. There was at least a tester tube full of water in each wing.

Well not exactly

DanH said:

<<Well, after several hours of draining the fuel, adding the fuel, sloshing it around, there was still too much water for my comfort level. The water would just "stick" to the aluminum and not flow to the drain.>>

Interesting report indeed. Some guys swear a gascolator is not needed, believing that tank sumps alone get the job done.

Click to expand...

As one of the "some guys" I guess I should clarify. Not needed in the case of an injected engine only (my .02 opinion). The high fuel pressure and bypass loop mixes the small amounts of water thoroughly enough that the engine really doesn't notice. Now in the case of major contamination from a bad pump or heavy rain+leaky fuel caps, no gascolator is going to save you anyway, since once it fills up it (1/2-1 cup) it will no longer seperate any water.

Again just my 2 worthless cents, I am not trying to talk anyone out of using one, just the way I am building mine.

whirlpool said:

Wouldn't this much eth. cause vapor lock?? What is the scoop on using mogas with eth. in it in aircraft?

Click to expand...

Please do not quote me as an expert on ethanol regardless of my posts. However, I have read that 10% ethanol that is the current popular mixture in the majority of fuel with ethanol added is not a high enough concentration of ethanol to affect the engine performance. The ethanol has a high octane level (which is one of the reasons it is used as an additive in gasoline) so may even be a benefit in some situations. The issue with ethanol absorbing water is a reality. However, the fact that the chemical bonding that occurs with the water molecules and the ethanol molecules is such that the water, unless as has already been posted was a large amount, will pass through the combustion process with little or no affect on performance. Again, I reiterate that I am not talking about several ounces of water that if shot into a combustion chamber as a plug of water instead of fuel could cause combustion failure. Small amounts of water absorbed in the ethanol would not have much effect on the engine.

Of course all of this is discussing the issue of ethanol used as an additive to mogas in the 10% mixture typical of most gasoline station mixtures. The E-85 is a mixture of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. This is a different fuel entirely from what you normally see at the local gas station pump.