Gas Sitting in Generator for a year = Bad for carb

Here's a pic of the summer blend ethanol from my 1 gallon plastic gas can that I keep sealed. ThAt stuff on the bottom is alchohol mixed with moisture from the air. It won't burn no matter what you do.

 

I just drained mine about 2 weeks ago and put fresh gas with stabil in it. I usually try to start mine about every 2 months and not leave any fuel even with stabil in it longer than a year. I also keep 2 5 gallons cans full with enough stabil to keep them for a year (just keep a note taped with date on can). I really never let those cans go a year as I have 3 total and will cycle those through the outdoor stuff in the summer.

 

I use the startron stuff from marine stores. Wally world carries it just in smaller quantities. Work good in my opinion.

 

Same here. Worked like a charm so far.

 

The nice part about it is that once you install the conversation, you can still run on gasoline as well. The thing that impressed me by it was the fact that the motor ran so much smoother on the propane. With the quality of the crappy gas that they are selling these days, the life of it in plastic gas cans is about a month. I found it a pain in the you know what playing around with all of those stabilizers and additives.
Also there really is no need to have to run the genny periodically. The whole process is simplified with the propane. As far as I am concerned is it was the best $$$$$ to throw at a problem.

 

This thread hits home for me. For years I've struggled with the stale gas in everything from my lawnmower, snow blower, trimmer and generator. I went to the local place where I purchase all of my yard/winter power equipment, Pat's Power, to discuss with them what they recommend. They deal with both contractors and homeowners, and I've taken several of my pieces of equipment in to get the carb ungummed. It gets expensive fast.

Conventional wisdom was to always leave gas in your equipment during the offseason. This keeps it lubricated and prevents seals from drying out. Makes sense. With the introduction of ethanol into our gas, this has become a practice that many no longer do. The change is that we run it dry and let the motor sit all winter with no gas in the lines or the tank. The problem as I see it is that the seals that were intended to be kept lubricated are no longer being lubricated with gas in the lines/tank. Now some recommend using Stabil or Seafoam. Others recommend using the additive that removes the ethanol from the gas. Neither suggestion really sits well in my mind.

Pat's recommended that I use 89 or 93 when running my equipment. This will help keep the carbs cleaner than running an 87. According to them, most contractors in the area will use 89. My son works for a local landscaper and they use 87. Simple fact of the matter is that the fuel does not sit long enough to be an issue in any of their equipment. As a homeowner, we face this problem year round. I know use 93 in all of my straight gas machines. For those that require mix, I simply purchase the ethanol free mix they sell. Yes it's bit more expensive, but I am no longer paying for carburetor cleanings. I could learn to clean the carb myself and save a few dollars at the pump. However; I personally prefer to run them clean to begin with.

At the end of a season for say my lawnmower as an example, I run the gas tank dry. Once empty, I put one can of the ethanol free gas in and let it run for 5 minutes to ensure that all other fuel has been displaced. This then sits over the winter. So far this method has worked well for me.


Hope this helps.



Jason from RI

 

I drain my generator and run it until it stops. I do the same with my string trimmer and leaf blower. But most of my other equipment that might get used occasionally or just started to move out of the way during the winter gets a fresh tank of 93 octane with stabil in it. And I make sure all of my gas cans are full (about 15 gallons total) and add Stabil to those as well.

 

I keep Marine Stabil in the gen as it sits 99% of the time with a fuel tank. I'll pull it out and run it for 15 mins every 3 months or so. Have had it for around 10 years now.

 

Sea Foam in the can before going to the gas station, and I try to fire everything up on occasion. My wife always thinks I'm a little nuts running the Strikemaster in July

 

How much Sea Foam per gallon??

 

I do the same. I accurately place 1 splash in the 2 gallon container. I don't do this for the 2-stroke mix.

For diesel, I use the power service, splash in the 2 gallon container.

For 2-stroke, I'll add the 4oz of oil first.


Then when filling up the container the gas or diesel does the mixing for me.

 

So a splash it is...LOL!!

 

The internet legends about AvGas never seem to die.

AvGas is not a magic elixer to fix all ills. It IS ethanol free, but ethanol is not what makes gasoline go bad - evaporation of the lighter elements and oxidation is what does that - particularly its that evaporation of the light distillates that makes small engines hard to strt In that respect AvGas is a little better because its refined with a more consistent vapor pressure that helps slow this evaporation. The other thing about AvGas is that the additives are better controlled and its those additives that form gum deposits over time.

(side note: Whats bad about ethanol is that it attracts water and eats seals in old engines, but anything made in the last 15 years or so has been updated to handle E10).

What Ive read for storage life is 6 month on auto gas and 1 year on avgas, unstabilized. This is assuming proper storage - full sealed container, cool shaded location, etc.

The key thing is that exposure to free oxygen is what accelerates degradation. In addition to using stabilizer, keeping your storage cans completely full and tightly sealed makes a big difference. The tank on the equipment should be also kept full, or run completely empty and just filled up on the next run. Also, running the equipment every few months helps as it prevents the same fuel from sitting in the carb long enough to start gumming things up.

I keep my gas in a pair of 5 gallon jugs that I dose with Stabil every fill up with plain old 87 pump gas. I refresh one can every 3 months alternating so I never have gas more than 6 months old on hand. When its time to refil the jug any excess goes into the truck.

For my own genny, what I do is every three months add just enough fresh gas to run it for 30 minutes and then start it up and run it dry. Ive never had an issue getting it to start.

The lawn mower I just fill completely and let sit for the off season. Same on the snowblower except it has a fuel shotoff so I close that and run the carb dry.The mower never has an issue as it never goes more than 6 months from last to first cut. The blower I usually try to start at least once mid summer since it sometimes goes longer.

 

I think it calls for 1 oz per gallon, and to double it for two stroke mix. I pretty much do like cnice and try to accurately eyeball the correct amount in.

 

Welcome to FHC PQ.