Fuel Expansion? Wtf.

[blown428fe]

Filled my tanks last night and temps were in the 50s, today temps hit mid 80s and fuel was pouring out of both fillers. How much does fuel expand? God damn im pissed off, lifted the paint on one side.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/2344sun_016-med.jpg
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/2344sun_018-med.jpg

[FASTRAT]

OUCH...that sucks :( i dont know how much gas expands in the heat, but i'm sure it does quite a bit...i usually never fill my tanks full (12 1/2 gal) normally only 10 gal to compensate for that prob...hopefully the paint will be easy to fix
fastrat

[Bruddah's Gal]

this is bruddah on my gals name, this happend to us too. the fuel expanded and was dripping down the boat the whole night. our gel is all white like yours and we think that it burnt the clear coat and now there is a yellowish tint to a part of the bow where it was running down. definately a bummer but what can you do.

[SmokinLowriderSS]

Gasoline expansion is under 2% for 100 deg temp increase, but, if the tank is full, and say ... occupies 10-cubic feet volume, it'll force out about 1/2 cu ft, or about 3 gallons.

[olbiezer]

i was luckey my gas did the same thing the other day as i had put in a full tank on both sides........gas rose up the 8 inches of tube and over flowed both sides.......siphoned out a half gallon on both sides and no prob today.......the luckey part was i dont have paint.......didnt hurt the gelcoat i just had to rewax around the tank fillers.. :) :rollside:

[blown428fe]

i was luckey my gas did the same thing the other day as i had put in a full tank on both sides........gas rose up the 8 inches of tube and over flowed both sides.......siphoned out a half gallon on both sides and no prob today.......the luckey part was i dont have paint.......didnt hurt the gelcoat i just had to rewax around the tank fillers.. :) :rollside:
Same thing here, gas wasnt touching the tubes. Took 1.5 out of each.

[beerjet]

Mine did that but I thought it was the air in the tanks that expands pushing the fuel out of the tanks where it vents. It didnt do it when the air "bubble" was up towards the fills .
-beerjet-

[boats&bars]

I had the same problem I went to a true vent and stopped the problem
also store the boat bow up or it will leave a stripe all the way to the bow

[beerjet]

store the boat bow up or it will leave a stripe all the way to the bow
That's all I do.

[bigriverdog]

My 2 cents,
If you just filled up and you are not boating right away, Crank the front of the boat up so the air is not trapped in the back of the tank. If the nose of the boat is down, and you have front fill tanks, the air will expand and push gas out. If the air bubble is on the front, it will allow the vented caps to work.
This has worked for me for 35 years or so.

[bruddah]

I had the same problem I went to a true vent and stopped the problem
also store the boat bow up or it will leave a stripe all the way to the bow
this was our problem, we were at a friends house in havi and his street was a hill and we ended up only taking his boat out that day. when we arrived back i was in disbelief and began rubbing it down in 110 degrees frantically trying to get it off. ended up getting most of it but some spots just wouldnt come out. :cry:

[PC Rat]

When I was buying my first boat, I borrowed my dad's car after work and drove about 50 miles to the guys house. I think I paid $6500 which was a shit load of money to me and brought it straight home later that night. The next day drug on forever, and I couldn't wait to get home. I rushed home and ripped the cover off the boat, low and behold there was gas running down the side and a 12" wide section of the paint all the way down the side was almost gone. The paint was the best part of the boat and it was now ruined without me doing anything except take posession of it.
***For more stories of my bad luck please visit my thread in the Gear Heads section.***

[b's sanger]

Filled my tanks last night and temps were in the 50s, today temps hit mid 80s and fuel was pouring out of both fillers. How much does fuel expand? God damn im pissed off, lifted the paint on one side.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/2344sun_016-med.jpg
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/2344sun_018-med.jpg
Had it happen to me last year. I won't fill the 10gal tanks past 9 and won't fill them till I am ready to put it in the water.

[Ike]

Boat manufacturers generally put a 5% ullage (that is an expansion space in fuel tanks. Typically they do this by putting the bottom of the vent an inch below the top of the inside of the tank. This way you can't fill the tank completely to the top.
Tips, look at your tanks, Where is the vent? Make sure when you park the trailer the vent is higher than the fill end. Also make sure your vent lines aren't kinked, or plugged. If your vent fitting has a flame screen make sure it is clean.
Never completely fill the tank especially in a hot climate.
You can get a device that fits in the vent line (if you have space for it) that stores any fluid and returns it to the tank, that goes up the vent but still allows the vent to work. This one is made by Racor. There are others but I have heard this one actually works.Racor fuel/liquid separator (http://www.maesco.com/products/racor/r_fuel_air_sep/r_fuel_air_sep.html)

[moneysucker]

Stack tanks. Goes in the bilge If anything. But when I bring it home it is not full, Any fuel I have left is in the drum.