Empty or Full Tanks for Winter Storage?

[TimS]

One school of thought says to fill your tanks as full as possible, and another says to run them down as low as possible - in both cases using fuel stabilizer. I have heard lots of opinions on this (including some past posts here) but I'd like to hear some experiences people have had.

With my F200 last year, stored under shrinkwrap in the yard in Maine, we ran the 100-gallon tank down to about 1/4 and stabilized it, and had no problems at all. The motor fired right up in the spring, and we just topped the tank off on the way to the launch ramp and never looked back. We didn't even pick up any water in the fuel filter, which surprised me, as I thought the mostly empty tank would at least pick up some condensation. We'll probably do the same again unless there is a reason to change.

Anyone have any additional experiences to relate?

Tim

[citabriatom]

With the shrinkwrap,you can do whatever you want as far as filling the tank and won't pick up moisture(however,filling the tank will hedge you against the inevitable rise in gas prices...LOL).Without shrinkwrap and a partially filled tank,the heating and cooling of the fuel tank forces air(and whatever moisture it contains) in and out of the tank.It's not much each time,but after a couple of hundred cycles,moisture adds up.I've personally seen quite a bit of water sumped out of airplane tanks (that sat INSIDE of hangers) after a long period of inactivity!This has nothing to do with your question,but an interesting fact is that avgas is inherently stabile and will last for years.We started a Cessna 310 with avgas in the tank that was 8 years old.It's great stuff to leave in something like a generator that you almost never use.

[TimS]

Thanks Tom. I've certainly read plenty of theories, but I was actually looking more for real world stories about storage experiences with our wonderful new ethanol - gas blend.

Tim