Storing A Boat Question & Unleaded Ethanol Gas Question

[fish]

Actually a two part question....

(1)This year I am going to store my boat in a commercial unheated storage unit(read out of room in the garage) Do I need to remove the batteries or can I leave them hooked up to the on-board charger or charge them and do nothing at all ???

(2) Do I have to worry about the ethanol in gas w/ a four stroke motor??? I put Stabil in the gas tank before I put it to bed for the winter now anyways.

Thanks - fish

[gotmuddy]

If your motor has carbs I would suggest draining them or running the gas out the last time you use it. As far as the batteries, if you have a good charger that has a maintaining charge setting do that, otherwise unhook them.

[Dutch]

If you have a good fuel stabilizer the motor should be fine. As for the batteries, if they are flooded cell and you leave the charger on all winter it will more than likely boil them dry and ruin them. If the storage is anywhere close to you, go by once a month and plug the charger in and let it charge up the batteries. If it isn't then take the batteries home and keep them topped off.

[gotmuddy]

If you have a good fuel stabilizer the motor should be fine. As for the batteries, if they are flooded cell and you leave the charger on all winter it will more than likely boil them dry and ruin them. If the storage is anywhere close to you, go by once a month and plug the charger in and let it charge up the batteries. If it isn't then take the batteries home and keep them topped off.

We had a wolverine(atv) brought into the shop a few weeks ago that had been sitting with stabil in the tank. The tank had gel all in it and the carb was even worse. I always prefer to be on the safe side and if there is no fuel in a carb there is no fuel to gel up in a carb.

[fish]

The boat has an on board charger that is supposed to shut off the charge once the batts are fully charged. I was thinking about just leaving the unit plugged in over the winter. Don't want to have to replace 3 batteries come next spring.

I have been using Stabil in all my gas using implements(lawn mowers, weed eaters tiller and et al) never had a problem with any gelling of the gas. With the boat I'll dump a load in the boat the last time I'll fill it and take it out on the water to make sure the Stabil will getting into the motor.

Maybe I'll just put the Wife's truck out in the driveway this winter

[Gilly]

I'm surprised you run ethanol. My Honda will vapor lock if I do that.