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Is it wise/necessary to use a water separator filter on a small Whaler - 13' sport? I currently use a 12 gallon tank and a 3 gallon back up tank under the seat. I have a 1994 25hp Mercury 2 stroke. I do have a couple of sources for NON ETHANOL gas that I try to use.

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And your information about the gas in our area comes how/where? How was the bogus "non ethanol" gas discovered and what became of the advertising culprits?

Do you have any advice or information concerning my original question concerning the water separator?

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I've listed this site in the past on this site. http://pure-gas.org/ . Looks like there a couple of dozen to choose from. Not sure in your area. As far a installing a fuel/water filter on your boat with a six gallon tank, I would say that if your motor is fuel injected it might be considered due to the problems it could cause to your engine. Carburatored engines are much more forgiving of water in the fuel than fuel injected engines. With only a six gallon tank its just as easy to get rid of the bad fuel instead of installing the filter. The cost of the fuelfilter/water seperator is about 40.00 if I remember correctly and then replacing filters is about twenty a pop. Dollar wise I would say it's easier to replace the bad fuel. Non enthanol fuel is more stable and lasts longer than enthanol fuel and dosen't attract or absorb water from the air. My opinion on the subject. But if you got the money and it's what you think you should do, then you should do it to give yourself piece of mind. Good luck. It's a nice looking boat.

Albany UNBRANDED Pitt Stop 3225 Sylvester Rd N31.57225 W84.06373 details
Albany UNBRANDED 87 89 91 Quick Buys #112 3522 Sylvester Rd N31.57148 W84.04005
I found two in your area

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How long does it take for you to empty the 12 gallon tank? I would not bother with a water separator as there should be an inline one on the engine. Use stabil for every tank and you will be fine, ethanol or not.

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I'm not really sure how long it will take me empty my 12 gallon tank. I'm almost finished with my restore and I hope to have a splash day in a few weeks.
I had heard a lot about the h2o separators and I was wondering of I should put one on or not.

I really appreciate the HELPFUL input that has been posted.

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You do not need a fuel/water separator on a 13 foot Whaler, even with a 12 gallon tank.

There continues to be a certain amount of hysteria around E10 gasoline. We have all heard the horror stories of phase separation and damaged motors, but the reality is that E10 has been in use since the early 1980s, all outboards manufactured since then are deigned to use it, and the vast majority never have any trouble at all.

Washington State, where I live, did not see E10 mandated until 2008. I have run thousands of gallons of E10 through my boat's motors, my truck, my car, my lawn mower, my line trimmer, my chain saws, my hedge trimmer and my power washer and have found ZERO evidence of anything bad with the fuel.

My boat has two fuel/water separator filters for its twin 150 horsepower outboard motors. The 140 gallon fuel tank sometimes has fuel that sits for as long as eight months. I inspect the filter cartridges every time I change them (once a year). I have yet to find ANY WATER in them.

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The only reason i ask how long it takes you to empty the 12 gallon is the faster you use the gas, the less you have to worry about ethanol. I still add stabil to all my gas cans,and i have never had any issues. we have had ethanol on the east coast for a while, even when i left my tank 1/2 full in the 18 from August to May I had no issues.
My neighbor spends a ton of time running around to find non-ethanol gas for his outboard and his mowers. I can't be bothered spending the additional time and money for something that so far hasn't been an issue

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Sorry about Hi-jacking my own thread, BUT...

Kamie, I see 4 different 'Stabil' products, obviously the Diesel products is not for my use, but is there a marked difference in the Regular fuel stabilizer, the Ethanol Stabilizer and the Marine Formula Ethanol Stabilizer?

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I do not use any additives at all, after my own mechanic told me the only ethanol related problems he has seen had to do with boat owners using too much additive and especially combining different additives.

I think a lot of people reason that if a little medicine is good, more must be better. But in reality, too much medicine can kill. Outboards, like people, can suffer overdoes.

If you do use an additive, be sure to follow the instructions explicitly.

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I use the marine formula as suggested by my mechanic. Tom, does have a point, use only what you need. Using more than the manufacture has called for just wastes money and can cause other issues. On thing my my mechanic did say was never use Sea Foam as a replacement for stabil even though they say it can be used. When he has seen ethanol issues, the owners used sea foam to "stabilize" the gas.

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I wish there was an unbiased scientific source for the info about these additives. The enzyme [baby blue stuff] which treats many gallons with a few ounces claims that you can not "overdose" which can happen accidently if you are not using the boat often. All of them are expensive so there is no reason to use more than is recommended. I have used the different brands since having problems with the ethenol gas.I do not use it in the 18 gallon tank above deck on my 16' as that gas rarely sits very long. I would not bother with the seperator or worry about "real" gas on a 13' with a 6 gallon tank.

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We run our 22 with the 200 HP off of portable tanks due to our location. As you can imagine, turnover is high. Also have 2 fuel/water filters in the line, one external and one under cowling. Change both at least once a year, and haven't seen a drop of water yet. Also never used any additives and haven't had one fuel related issue.

Am wondering if the odds of having water in fuel increases if you buy from a marina located right on the water?

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This discussion has been worked over endlessly, and still persists.

If you have ON DECK FUEL TANKS YOU DO NOT NEED A *WATER*
SEPARATING FUEL FILTER. This includes aluminized steel (like the old classic Tempo/Mirax, aluminum tanks, or red/white plastic tanks. Boston Whaler now sells completely factory rigged boats, and those using on-deck fuel tanks do not come with a water separating fuel filter! Those with internal fuel tanks do!

Water sperating fuel filters are widely misunderstood. They are for interal aluminum open vented tanks, which from rapid cold climate weather changes can be subject to condensation on the roof of the tank, dripping into the fuel. E-10 is not the issue at all. It can happen with pure gasoline also. Not always, but it can happen. These tanks, being in the insulated belly of the boat, do not repond to temperature changes as immediately as deck tanks do, and that can cause the condensation risk when warm moist air moves into the very cold tank. With on-deck tanks, tank roof condensation is not a risk, hence a water separating filter is a needless waste of money and boat clutter.

Now, if you're afraid of buying dirty, particle ridden gas, then a simple in-line fuel filter can be installed for that purpose. But my experince tells me even those are a waste of time with on-deck tanks.

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Expanding on what finnegan said, you get get water in pure gas or e10. The reason ethanol poses a slightly greater issue is that alcohol is a polar molecule, so it can form intermolecular bonds with water. In laymans terms, this just means water and alcohol "mix" as anyone who has made a cocktail knows (fun fact- pure ethanol is the same form of alcohol that you consume). The alkanes in gasoline, however, are nonpolar, therefore is cannot mix with water, making it more obvious when you have water in your fuel.

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A water separating filter won't remove water that is mixed with alcohol. FYI There are also Water injection kits for internal combustion engines , a go fast trick, water that is mixed in with the alcohol will go right through your engine and probably gone through all our engines. A volume of water that would be caught in a separator probably would not be good for engine.