DIY Fuel Tank Draining
Published: Wednesday, October 17, 2018
By: Dan Armitage
After trying everything from double-dosing the remaining fuel with stabilizer to topping off the tank to paying to have a marina drain my boat’s gas tank dry for the off-season, I finally decided to follow the advice of a trusted friend and veteran Great Lakes marina operator and handled the task myself. I have found that the best way to get my outboard running each spring, and keep it operating well after sitting idle during the offseason, comes after ridding the tank and system of all fuel the previous fall and starting from scratch with fresh gas the following spring.
After watching Bob Hanko of Cranberry Creek Marina in Huron, Ohio, tackle the job of pumping my center console’s 45 gallon fuel tank dry, I decided to purchase what I needed to do the job myself. Doing so saves me a four hour round-trip tow from my home, the shop fee for an hour’s labor Bob charges for the work, and netting some bonus gas for my tow vehicle to boot.
The days of suck-priming fuel hoses to begin the gravity-siphoning process left a bitter taste in my mouth and are behind me. Ditto those siphon hoses you shake to self-prime, after my teenage son caught me in the act of doing just that and laughed so hard he fell down. Not only that, but fuel tanks equipped with the required anti-siphon valves require considerable suction to override the safety feature when intentionally draining the tank. So, the first thing I needed was a 12-volt portable electric pump rated for safe use with flammable liquids.
Hanko had used a Seachoice pump that worked great, and I purchased an identical Seachoice Fuel Pump Dura-Lift Electronic 11 PSI 12v model at my local marine supply for a little over $100. A pair of 1/4 x 3/8 brass fuel hose barbs, two hose clamps, ten feet of 3/8 inch fuel line, ten feet of 12 ga duplex wire, and a pair of alligator clamps were all that was required to assemble my portable fuel tank draining kit.
A Seachoice fuel pump, barbs, and fuel hose are used to make a DIY fuel-tank draining kit for winterizing boats.
Using heat shrink connections, I attached the duplex wire to the wires coming out of the pump. This is to extend that power connection from the pump to the boat’s battery, which I remove and place far from the pump to keep any sparks that may occur as far from the fuel transfer operation as possible. I attached the alligator clips to the other ends of the two wires.
To drain my boat’s fuel system, I first shut off the fuel line to the outboard and then run it dry, either in the water at the ramp or in the driveway using water muffs, until it stalls after burning all the fuel out of the carburetor. I make sure that final tank of fuel is treated with stabilizer, so that any that runs through and/or remains in the system is treated. Next, I pull my truck up alongside the trailered boat.
Make sure the fuel being run through the outboard during the final trip of the season is treated with stabilizer so that any that remains in the system and lines is conditioned.
There, I simply disconnect the fuel hose leading from the tank at the primer bulb and place it on the pump’s inlet barb, securing the line with a hose clamp. I attach the separate ten foot section of fuel line to the pump’s outflow barb with a hose clamp and stick the other end of that hose into my truck’s fuel filler port.
Connect the pump to the fuel line leading to the boat’s fuel tank. Bob Hanko recommends disconnecting the line from the “upstream” end where it attaches to the primer bulb.
When everything is ready, I attach the alligator clips to the battery posts to power the pump and stand by as the fuel is sucked out of my boat’s fuel tank and transferred to my truck’s.
The Seachoice pump moves about 33 gallons of fuel per hour, so depending on how much gas I have left remaining in the tank at season’s end, the process usually takes less than an hour. I stand by to make sure the transfer goes as planned, while readying the boat and contents for the off season and getting the winter cover on the rig.
At Cranberry Creek Marina, they pump the old gas into containers designated for fuel disposal, but many boaters pump it directly into their tow vehicle’s fuel tank where it mixes with fresh fuel. As long as it’s not too old and there’s enough fresh gas to dilute it, the blend seems to work just fine.
When the pump runs dry, which you can see in the glass bowl that contains a screen to filter the gas as it passes through the pump, I disconnect the battery, reconnect the boat’s fuel line to the outboard, and stow the pump and battery in the garage, knowing I now have no fuel aboard the boat to go ‘bad’ over the off season and put a damper on the start of the next.
This article first appeared in the Fall Issue (Sept/Oct) 2018 of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine.
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tags: Do It Yourself (DIY), Engines, Fuel Treatments, Winterization
