Posts: 3480
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Thinking of condensation....
I would tend to think that would be awfully hard to obtain in a fuel tank in humid conditions even, unless like Steve Worrall stated being introduced somehow...
My mind wanders here and there as I get older and I started thinking of where condensation forms on a window in winter or on a glass of cold water. It forms on the warm side of the glass.... So...for this to occur inside of a fuel tank the tank would have to be the warmer environment than the surrounding air on the outside...And....as Steve Worrall stated, the tank would not be full for this to occur.....And...the temperature and humidity change from one environment to the other would have to be extreme...
Most of our bigger rigs out there have a tank that is below decking of some sort, so it will stay cooler than the air surrounding it (up to a point I am sure...) which in most cases means the tank interior will always be the cooler than the surrounding air. There's a lot of heat needed to warm up all of the fuel contained in an interior tank of a boat, then somehow expose that tank to a cold environment to where condensation could form.
This is also why I suspect they put our fuel reservoirs under the ground at gas stations beyond being safer for spills, etc. The ground is a very stable temperature after the first foot or so, and most tanks I would bet are below any sort of frost line, thus, the tank stays at a constant temperature. The ground cannot heat up very fast, so things stay consistent... Water would have to be introduced to the tank for water to get in.
On an external 6 gallon tank this could definitely go the the other way given a full day of sun on the water and then putting the tank in a cold garage..but again, that would have to be a very very major difference in temperature for that to happen.
Think about it...for those of you who wear glasses, how often is it that when you walk INSIDE of a building your glasses fog up?
Steve
Edited by VMS 2/26/2019 8:12 AM
|
