Ethanol free gasoline

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From my days in the small engine and motorcycle business, we always told customers to drain fuel if the motor was not going to be used for an extended (two or more months) and also drain the carburetors or run them dry. If they planned to use the motor periodically during that period, but not regularly, then a good fuel stabilizer was needed.
Another tip was to avoid the evil temptation to start and run the motor for a couple of minutes, just to make sure it starts. Doing that causes condensation in the motor and mixed with bi-product from partial combustion could cause pitting in the cylinder walls. If you are going to start a motor, make sure it reaches operating temperature for 5-10 minutes before shutting it down.

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gpokluda Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 11 Nov 2018 Location: NM Online Status: Offline Posts: 280	Post Options Post Reply Quote gpokluda Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Ethanol free gasoline Posted: 29 Dec 2022 at 2:44pm
	From my days in the small engine and motorcycle business, we always told customers to drain fuel if the motor was not going to be used for an extended (two or more months) and also drain the carburetors or run them dry. If they planned to use the motor periodically during that period, but not regularly, then a good fuel stabilizer was needed. Another tip was to avoid the evil temptation to start and run the motor for a couple of minutes, just to make sure it starts. Doing that causes condensation in the motor and mixed with bi-product from partial combustion could cause pitting in the cylinder walls. If you are going to start a motor, make sure it reaches operating temperature for 5-10 minutes before shutting it down.
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campman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 26 Mar 2021 Location: La Salle, MB Online Status: Offline Posts: 209	Post Options Post Reply Quote campman Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 29 Dec 2022 at 2:14pm
	Excellent to hear you already care for your fuel, so many have no idea that consumer fuel can deteriorate quickly. I spend quite a bit of time every year, helping people (neighbours, normally...and we just moved to a different province again this spring so have a new ones to help now) clean up their badly running small engine/carb's as they can't figure out what went wrong. Where we live now in Manitoba only a few stations sell ethanol free gas. It is usually called marine gas as boat motors are especially susceptible to ethanol related damage. Older boats and motors were not designed for ethanol so engines and rubber fuel lines and seals etc are easily damaged by ethanol as well. My own rule of thumb is any pre 1990's boat motor(and its fuel lines and seals) are most likely not ethanol ready and would need close inspection to confirm before using ethanol containing fuel. Not quite on topic, but good to know anyways. Have a good one, Andy
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furpod Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group - pHp Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Location: Central KY Online Status: Offline Posts: 6128	Post Options Post Reply Quote furpod Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 29 Dec 2022 at 12:10pm
	All fuel for storage or small engines here, is ethanol free, and treated with PRI-G. Unless it's for the tractor, then it's treated with PRI-D. We haven't had a fuel related issue since we started that, about a decade ago.

campman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 26 Mar 2021 Location: La Salle, MB Online Status: Offline Posts: 209	Post Options Post Reply Quote campman Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 29 Dec 2022 at 10:23am
	Good day. I will try to keep this brief, as I have been known to ramble on about small engines and what needs to be done to ensure a longer life. ALL FUEL for small engines (or any engine that is infrequently used) should be stabilized to prevent fuel breakdown (results in gum and varnish deposits in carburetors, etc). Depending on the quality of the fuel, this can start as soon as a month or two after you bought it. Fuel that has ethanol must be stabilized with a fuel treatment designed for it as it breaks down (and absorbs moisture while doing it). Ethanol is junk in my books, but we have to deal with it so it doesn't destroy our small engines! Use the best grade of fuel you can get and stabilize it right away, run your engine till the carb is empty for short term storage, run the tank empty or drain it and then run it empty for longer storage periods. I hope this helps. (If you can get gas with no ethanol, keep using it, but still stabilize it!) Andy
	Andy and Laurie '16 F150 5.0 4X4 w/factory tow pkg '21 RP192 "If the women don't find you handsome...at least let them find you handy!" Red-Green

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Post Options Post Reply Quote offgrid Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 29 Dec 2022 at 10:22am
	I don't think anything has changed. The problem with ethanol is that it would rather mix with water than gasoline so when exposed to water it drops the gas and grabs the water, becoming a big mess of unburnable gunk in the bottom of whatever cont⁶ainer you have it in. Since there's always water in the air if you're not burning the gas up quickly then you'll have the gunk in the fuel tank, carb float bowl, fuel lines etc. If you're running the engine all the time then the ethanol gets cleared through before it can absorb too much water, but if you let it sit, which most small engines do, then it's a mess.
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David and Danette Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 24 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1216	Post Options Post Reply Quote David and Danette Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 29 Dec 2022 at 8:51am
	I have used ethanol free gasoline for many years for all small engines that we have but I have thought that with newer engines perhaps it's not that important. So I thought I would ask others opinions if ethanol free gasoline should still be used for newer small engines. We have bought a new 2500 generator and thought being a new generator maybe the engine will be OK using gasoline with ethanol that times have changed. Thank you
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