Posted on 09/02/2006 12:24:22 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. -- Proponents of ethanol see it as a fuel additive that can relieve the nation's energy woes. Pleasure boaters like Walter Kaprielian say they need it like a hole in the hull.
Mr. Kaprielian's 1969 boat was made in Miami by Bertram Yacht, whose sturdy older vessels have a devoted following. But the 20-footer, a beamy craft with a small cabin, has had all sorts of things go wrong with it since marinas here began selling nothing but ethanol-blended gasoline two years ago.
The boat has spent the summer sitting in a repair yard while its owner thinks about expensive fixes such as a new $25,000 motor. "I get depressed just looking at it," says the 72-year-old, who sometimes seeks solace online, where a lot of boat owners are singing the ethanol blues. Boaters blame the blend for unpredictable stall-outs and a ruinous goo that brings some motors to a grinding halt.
"Take heed, folks, this stuff is nasty in outboards," one Virginia angler warned recently in a bass-fishing forum. On a site for Bertram owners, a New Yorker lamented leaving an article about ethanol problems out where his wife found it. Now "she wants to sell the boat," he wrote.
This past spring, Eric Koch, of Old Saybrook, Conn., did seek a buyer for the 34-foot boat he had spent nearly $40,000 to buy and restore. After ethanol problems set in, the kitchen designer ended up letting it go for $9,000. "It was time to cut some losses," he says.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Fiberglass fuel tanks? Every major boat manufacturer I know uses metal or plastic, particularly bassboat makers. Aluminum is the primary metal used, and I don't know of any reaction of ethanol and aluminum.
Gasoline (without ethanol) eaths fiberglass as well -just look at the gas-full cap area of a boat owned by a lazy-slob owner. They slop gas all over the top rail and side - and you can tell, as that often shows the first signs of damage from the fuel (and this has been going on for decades, even before ethanol blended fuels). Gasoline eats or damages MANY surfaces with or without alcohols.
Where do you get that idea? The problem is that the ethanol blend usually is a few cents cheaper, so the boat owners buy that instead of the non-alcohol blends. They should know better. I use alcohol blends in my vehicles with absolutely no problems, I use non-alcohol blends in my mowers and for my small engine implements. This has been common knowledge for a long time.
Certainly not a yacht, but our little tootle around the lake boat has a Volvo engine.
"Ethanol has been blended with gasoline in many markets for over 20 years."
Ethanol blended gasoline was being sold in North Dakota during the 1980's. My vehicle then did not run very well and fuel economy plummeted due to the use of ethanol.
Now in California, we don't find very many stations which sell gasoline without the ethanol blend. It replaced the earlier additive which wreaked havoc with the ecology of the state. since they added ethanol, my fuel economy here took a dive as well. Great stuff that ethanol.
On another note, my 8 horse 2 cyle mercury outboard doesn't seem to have a big problem with ethanol. The exhaust does ooze out a sludge after use, but the engine runs fine as long as I change the plugs often. I should upgrade to a four stroke so I don't polute my favorite lakes.
Look in some areas of the country, like Hawaii, Minnesota, Idaho and Wisconsin ALL that we can buy is ethanol blend, and it ain't cheaper.
Thanks for the link. I'm feeling a bit too lazy to search through 55,000+ threads right know though. I had assumed there would be a more direct source of information,specifically from the manufacturers of disintegrating products.
Well, so far, the 10% ethanol gasoline being used in the mower when I mow my mom's lawn hasn't caused any problems.
Tough to do if that's all the marina sells. Guess you could truck in all your own fuel from auto stations, but what a pain in the boat.
I used ethanol blend in my 78 Rabbit and it was a nightmare. Completely fouled the engine. Maybe thats not an issue with newer cars, but I would like to have a choice of not using ethanol.
I don't think it's the ethanol that is causing the problems - it's the low octane #'s. Couldn't they raise the octane and still use the ethanol?
Did you ruin an engine from this?
Nope. I have a 2005 boat and engine. No fuel issues for me at all but it is worth reading about what's going on as far as I'm concerned.
I thought you were serious about getting more information and that's why I linked you to the forum and article.
Boat U.S. has had a handful of articles and many members are claiming they are having problems using ethanol blended gasoline.
You aren't a soy bean farmer, are you?
It's not an "exotic" fuel; its a different fuel and has to be used appropriately. All cars on the road today can run a 10% blend. Apparently marine engine manufacturers aren't as far along. It's an easy enough change to make, but owners need to pay attention to what they're doing during the phase-in.
One of the issues with biodiesel, for example, is that it has a detergent effect. It helps clean the engine and keep it clean. This is a nifty thing in a new vehicle, but it can be a problem in an older truck engine with 500,000 miles of gunk in it. I don't know if ethanol in older engines has a similar effect.
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