fuel talk/discussion

I don’t think I’ve ever dumped my mixed fuel but it’s never sat over three or 4 months. Always run non ethenol with stabilizers.
I will dump the fuel out of the equipment back into the fuel can and idle the equipment dry if it’s going to be out of service for a while.
So far no issues sticking with this method.



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All I can go by is what I have seen come through my saw shop in the last 10 years in my area SE PA they use the oxygenated fuel for emissions and thats when more problems started years ago as far as water in fuel yes if you store properly and do everything correct it always helps but the average person does not take that much care so thats when the problems start as to the fuel lines I still see saws purchased within the last 5 years still having problems more with the clear or yellow lines than with the expensive molded lines
seems like the lines get brittle faster and break easier JB

 

Up untill recently the only place you could get ethnol free gas was the air port. the fellow who would come out and pump that super high price mix in your cans had a dispostion of a cranky rattlesnake. screw that noise I don't have to deal with jerks like that.

So I found one of these youtubes a while back and gathered the stuff to do a 5 gallon batch at a time for the string trimmer and leaf blowers and chain saws. Still I add the amount of stibul per gallon per directions and also some Marvel Mystery oil at 3 onces per gallon.
This has worked out so well I just buy gas when I fill my truck useing fuel opoints at the Kroger station. did so yesterday 21 gallons in the pick up for the month at 234.9 cents a gallon. Leaveing me 14 gallons in cans, 35 gallons per fuel point useage.



Easy rainy day project.


Al

 

Remember that the "rubber" in a saw isn't rubber anymore, it's a compound that's much more resistant if not fully resistant to ethanol.

If it looks like rubber, I think it's really butyl.

 

Exactly. I've been using ethanol in all of my engines for, well that 30 year mark.

I've had no burndowns in 2 strokes from ethanol. The courses one was a lean jetting on a skidoo 521cc that I was pushing the ragged edge on, trusting a new jetting compensation device that apparently didn't work.

 

While many have not had problems there are also those who have had many problems.
I buy a lot of Honda products, the number one thing I do on them as well as most all OPE/small engines is to clean carbs.
Ethanol does damage lines and eats the inside of float bowls as well as dries out diaphragms has been my experience.
Anyone who wants to argue the point should go into the backroom of any small engine shop and ask the techs to show them the results of ethanol, you won't have to search long to see them.

 

I am not arguing the fact people do seem to have issues.
With that said, this log splitter I was using has a honda engine on it, I had to replace the fuel line but it started right up and ran with no issues.
I can say with pretty good certainty this splitter was ran hard and put to bed wet. I'm almost sure the cheapest gas was used in it with no stabil.
The oil was tar. I'm not sure on the last time it was ran but I'd bet it was at least a year or more from the looks of it.
A testament to honda or just lucky, both or? Only 1 station has pure fuel around here and I really doubt they used it.
So the ethanol didn't seem to do much to this thing. I don't know if I would even blame it for the fuel line.
It was probably the original fuel line from 1990.
Maybe the real question to be asked, is what is the real percentage of ethanol in the fuel people buy?
Could the ones who are having issues, be buying fuel with a higher than 10% mix.
I've read reports online of people claiming 20%.

 

20%????

Anything over 10% isn't to be used, or sold for small engines. Even e-15 isn't good for non flex fuel engines.

Also, if you get 20% from an e10 pump, that's grounds for legal action.

 

Most I know are running 10% here in Mi unless it's in high performance turbos that are running E85, and those guys can tell you all about the efforts made to avoid corrosion issues just as guys running corn in multi fuel "pellet" stoves. I also used to burn biodiesel
I don't in my equipment, and I tell everyone who I sell anything to or anyone who's equipment I help work on to use ethanol free fuel.
I also don't run my carbs dry, I do try to run all my small engines every other month or so, except my pressure washers because I don't have a place to run them hooked to water(water cools the pumps). I also do not use any fuel stabilizers.
Honda gx series engines are great engines, I like my Honda products a lot, but just as with pretty much every other manufacture past quality doesn't always translate into the same quality today, Honda has it's share of poorly made products unfortunately.

Here's a site you can find e-free fuel stations at. Most marinas as well as airports sell it.
Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada
Fuel separation is real as is water absorption into ethanol fuel, and corrosion from ethanol products, here's a good article.
Ethanol and small engines: An education on fuel usage
Here's a good video that shows the absorption issue well.
The fuel in this video looks great in comparison to what I remove from most, normally it's gone bad and is yellow and separated if it does run in a two stroke you will most likely score the cylinder. I have a Honda eu2000 generator I need to clean the carb on, maybe I'll get some pictures if I think about it when I do it. I used to have a bunch on some other forums, but I don't know if I could find them, but I'll try .

 

I'm talking about stations/distributors who put more than 10% into the fuel. Pump might say 10% but guys tested their fuel and found up to 20% in it.
It's kind of hard to know that unless you test your fuel every fillup. We can only take the stations word on it for the most part.
Most people probably don't even think about what they are pumping.

 

What guys tested it and found it to be that high. I don't want that in my ride , really I don't want any ethanol in mine.

 

just internet forum talks. take it for what its worth.
It's food for thought though. Aromatics cost more than ethanol, so you bump the ethanol up for the octane boost.
Who's testing the fuel? We just trust it's right.
But plenty of people have pumped water into their tanks from stations too.
I knew a guy who had that happen at a BP station. It's always good to get a receipt from the gas station..

 

I do not remember the company or where I read the article- at any rate an independent firm was commissioned to purchase fuel from many stations in apx a 4 state area, also trying to include as many different distributors as possible. Up shot was % varied anywhere from 5% to almost 30% all coming from pumps labed 10%. Ethanol is added at the distributor level. What is nutz is the distributors over 10% were actually cutting there own throats, profit wise as ethanol base is more than petroleum base.
Ethanol laced fuel wasn't worth squat in the 1930/40s- I don't consider it to be any better now. Course the farms around me are making good money from the corn primarily grown for just that purpose.

 

FWIW my DHT 28 ton splitter has a metal sweep in the gas line where it enters the carb. If I run it dry that metal will corrode inside to the point of no fuel. Gotta leave gas in the tank and the shutoff open.

 

That seems a bit odd. The fuel is premixed at 10% in the big tanks. That's how it comes from the tanker.

 

I ran a number of gallons of e85 in my flex fuel capable 5.0 F-150. While it did get a little less mpg, the hp bump was noticable. Also the cost to run e85 was less than the cost to run on regular e10.

 

we assume so, it's mixed before it's put in the truck, just like the additive packages.

 

Ethanol is notorious for separating...why would it not do this in the gas station underground tank too? Then you may get 5% on one fill up, 30% on the next...

 

I was wondering specifically about who was getting all the ethanol %.
But I find it interesting that they have to make vehicles special in order to run on E85 lol.

 

Yes, more fuel needs to be pumped in when running e85. Other than the fuel pump, there's not a ton different, iirc.

But, it makes more power and costs less to run, provided there's not more maintenance. We'll see. I don't think I'll ever run e85 exclusively.

The manual states to put more than 5 gallons of each type to allow the computer to adjust. So if you've got regular gas in the tank, and you want to put in e85, put at least 5 gallons in.