Avoiding Ethanol Fuel for boats~ Easy? Maybe Not!

[Poodroo]

Hey there one and all,

Since I am planning on taking the boat for a spin tomorrow I arrive home from work and proceed to do the usual things getting the boat ready the day before. First thing I do is get the boat fuel tank and put it in the car to go to my usual local fuel station where I always go because I know they have normal unleaded fuel without ethanol which is safe for the boat. I have been using their fuel since entering the wonderful world of boating so I know and trust the brand of fuel thus far however a fly in the ointment when I pull into the fuel station and I am immediately greeted by the friendly but very apologetic attendant who promptly says she is sorry for the inconvenience but the console computer system went down and therefore she has no control over the pumps to authorize any fuel. A little disgruntled but unperturbed I make haste and head over to the next nearest fuel station. Now this fuel station has three unleaded choices which include a green labeled pump which states it has 10% ethanol fuel mixed in the blend. Next choice is a premium blend with a yellow label and the final choice is a higher octane premium blend. Neither of the premium fuels state anything about including ethanol so I topped up the fuel tank using the yellow pump labeled "Premium Unleaded" and put it in the back of the car and head over to the attendant to pay for the fuel. The conversation that takes place while I pay is as follows:-
Attendant : “Good evening sir, just the fuel on pump three?”

Poodroo: “Yes thanks! Now just a quick question about your fuel if I may.”

Attendant: “Uhuh, what would you like to know?”

Poodroo: “Let me see if I have this right. The green pump states that there is at least 10% ethanol in the fuel so in my way of understanding the other fuels do not contain ethanol?”

Attendant: “I thought that all of our fuel contained some ethanol!”

Poodroo: “Well I sure hope not because I have been educated that ethanol is not safe to use for boats which is what I am using this fuel for. I am also led to believe that if there is ethanol in the fuel that legislation requires it to be clearly labeled on the pumps!”

Attendant: “Um I am not so sure, I really thought all of our fuel had it in.”

Poodroo: “Well I think you should find out for sure so that you can answer the question accurately in the future just in case another boat person make the same enquiry.”

For the sake of the boat motor’s health I hope that I am right in thinking that if the pump doesn’t state ethanol then it actually does not have ethanol in it and it is safe to use. I hope this thread prompts my fellow Ausfish folk to ask the question to their fuel station attendant if unsure about what they are getting. Hopefully my usual fuel station has their computer fixed the next time I go there.


Regards,

Poodroo

[MattChew]

I hope it doesn't either as i use the 95 BP stuff most of the time ... about the only joint near me that does a decent 91 unleaded is Shell or Caltex. I have found the 95 BP pretty good but is getting very expensive for a 25l tank. I do feel for the guys having to fill a 100l tank though.

Ta
Matt

Just had a looksy at the BP website. It does not say it contains Ethanol but a detergent additive for cleaning injectors, carbies etc. Not sure what the side effects of this may be but like i said I have been using the 95 for about a year and don't have any complaints ... apart from the price!!!

[rowanda]

HI guys
by law servos need to label pumps that have ethanol in it. I can tell you that BP 95 and 98 do not have ethanol in them. The detergents etc would be in the Ultimate (98).
I don't think you would find any major brand servo selling E-10 with it not labelled.
Biggest problem for boats is what happens if you get a very small amount of water in E-10, it seperates the ethanol and fuel and the ethanol won't burn, making 10% of your fuel useless. Some outboards can run E-10 (new Etecs etc I think) according to the factory manuals, but it the other problem that's the issue

[Gary Fooks]

Ethanol has a series of problems for boats.

My favourite is that it melts fibreglass fuel tanks.

And its not value for money. It has 3% less energy (E10) so it should be 5cp cheaper not 3cpl.

Have a listen to Nugget on Sunday and in a few magazines in the next months for more details.

Yes it must be labelled correctly – but the labels are in small print sometimes. What worries me most is Fred’s friendly garage - who somehow get the tanks mixed up and save a few dollars.

[Mad-One]

I asked the question at a caltex servo one day and was told they only have to declare it contians ethanol if it is 10% or more so they can say have 5% and don't have to tell you. Thats what the attendant told me anyway

Cheers Mad

[TimiBoy]

I do feel for the guys having to fill a 100l tank though.



Thanks for your sympathy Matt! Mine's 300 - is that triple sympathy?;D;D;D

When I bought it I knew the price was going up, so I'm still happy enough.

Cheers,

Tim

[Gary Fooks]

The attendant is mistaken.

But with mistakes like that its no wonder that we will find some tank swapping going on.

In the US you can buy an ethanol tester ... just to be sure

Gary

[Lancair]

Check out this document (http://www.environment.gov.au/atmosphere/fuelquality/publications/pubs/ethanol-determination.pdf).

Or read these pages (http://www.environment.gov.au/atmosphere/fuelquality/standards/ethanol/labelling.html).

Pretty much says fuel can contain up to 10% Ethanol.

ANY fuel containing more than 1% Ethanol must be labelled clearly.

Andrew

[TimiBoy]

Thanks Lancair

"Service stations supplying ethanol blend petrol now have two options for complying with the new labelling standard. Pumps dispensing ethanol blend petrol must clearly display either the exact percentage of ethanol in the blend or that the fuel contains 'up to' a percentage of ethanol."

Clears it up.

Cheers,

Tim

[curiser]

I Phoned BP and was told that only 95 and 98 Fuels are ethanol free and 91 fuel has ethanol in it and may not be labled as such, only buy 95 or 98 BP fuel for marine use.

[Lancair]

I Phoned BP and was told that only 95 and 98 Fuels are ethanol free and 91 fuel has ethanol in it and may not be labled as such, only buy 95 or 98 BP fuel for marine use.


Well, either BP is not telling the truth or the Govt website I linked above is not correct.
Im guessing the person you spoke to at BP is mistaken.

Andrew

[Quaker]

From BP's website:
http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9019279&contentId=7038502

[Gary Fooks]

for a long article on Ethanol and boats have a look at F&B magazine out yesterday

Gary

[Nomad62]

Hi Guys,
I just had a look at the BP site and there is a map that shows where all the Unleaded 91 + E sites are. All you need to do is put in your suburb or post code and it will tell you which sites near you have the Unleaded Ethanol fuel.

As i understand the fuel is marked Unleaded + E.....maybe someone can confirm this.

Cheers Nomad

[NAGG]

Hmmm ....... I thought Ethanol containing fuels have to be clearly marked ( ie : E10 = 10% Ethanol)
What does concern me is that there have been more than a few cases in NSW that have been prosecuted for containing things like Toluene!

My 2 cents worth ..... buy from the big outlets ( Shell , BP etc) ..... Use 95 RON as a minimum ....... 98 RON PULP if you are really concerned! ( PULP should never contain any additives)

Nagg

[marco]

My 2 cents worth ..... buy from the big outlets ( Shell , BP etc) ..... Use 95 RON as a minimum ....... 98 RON PULP if you are really concerned! ( PULP should never contain any additives)

Nagg

mate , it is the big outlets that have the screw the customer policy more than anyone .

you will find all the servos these days comply with the regs but i must say i think bp are the ones that have been deceptive in the way they have branded the e10 .

98 pulp is full of additives , all fuels have additives in one form or another

as far as i am aware you will be ok with any pump branded simply unleaded , but do have a look for a sticker on the bowser that may say otherwise and in bp,s case a very tiny sticker .:-[


you will also find that ulp and pulp comes from the same one or two refineries in each state so in another words everyone shares the same product and when it is loaded in the tankers the ethanol is line injected as it is loaded to make the e10 product .

with some of the performance fuels ethanol goes in at 5% and that does not get reported as it is under 10% , shell vpower racing being one of them .