Old fuel.....

[sld]

I don't doubt what you are saying with regard to ignition, but do you know for a fact that it is not accelerating the wear in the combustion chamber?

I don't see why it would. Most of my equipments is several years old. Rototiller, power washer, mowers, weed wacker, etc.... I always leave gas in them during the winter. All run just like they should, year after year. Heck, sometimes I forget about the generator and it might go 6 months without me starting it. I just don't see the fuel problems that seem so prevalent on the internet.

Whenever I fill a 5 gallon jug I always add Stabil. From what I can tell, it works as advertised.

 

[clemsonfor]

Give it time i was the same way. I have rebuilt the carb in the mower 2x last summer each time leaving ethonol gas in it, right after a fresh rebuild. Now i have a cutoff in the line and no problem this was with say 3-6 weeks inbetween uses. I have had to rebuild my generator carb and the old pressure washer had to be cleaned and would never run off half choke. The atv i bought was old and uncared for so some of it was lack of running other was that it had rotten gas from the previous year in it and a gummed up carb. I have rotted fuel line on a weedeater now and i am rebuilding a blower that suffered the same fate.

I now buy only real fuel no ethonol for that type stuff and i run seafoam in it if it will sit more than a month in something.

 

[HarryN]

Everyone has their opinions.... so here's mine. First I NEVER use anything but real gas in every engine I have (except my cars) because I know they will not be use for long periods of time. Every 5 gal gas can I fill up I put in stabil and marvel mystery oil (2 oz of each).
I have a 5000 W generator in my garage I had not touched in 9 years. It was full of fuel when I parked it. Last summer a storm put us out of power for 2 days. Pulled out the generator, 4 pulls and it started right up. (I was expecting the need of a full carb build) Never had a problem and of course it was filled up 6 more times in the two days it was running. Other than that, I have used gas that was well over a year old with no issues. I try to use most up during the summer as I have 15 5 gal cans stored in case of hurricanes. If I don't use it, it waits for use in my small mowers, washers, weed eaters etc. I know the feeling of having gas left over from year to year. I just never worry about it.
Hope it all works out for you.

 

[Soundguy]

Alcohol does not de-water fuel, it simply helps disperse it so that it can burn a hole in the piston, burn valve seats, and reduce lubricity in the chamber. That's why I'm leary of any mechanics who say "sure, its alright, just dump a little alcohol in there and fire it up."

alcohol is a polar solvent.

water is polar.

when you add alcohol to gas that has water in it, the alcohol DISOLVES the water so that it is in soloution. in fact. it makes an azeotrope... thus should actually HELP get rid of the water faster even.

 

[Soundguy]

and.. alcohol is an octane mod too..

 

[greasemonkeyok]

I'm not a chemist, so you are over my head Soundguy. But I have a question, does the alcohol/water azeotrope have the same combustion characteristics as gasoline?

In other words, are you telling us that when the azeotrope combusts in the cylinder, it has no adverse effects on the engine parts?

I ask because there are some diesel mechanics who claim, right or wrong, that it is better to filter and separate water out of the fuel instead of dispersing it throughout the fuel. They claim the water, which I now know is in the form of an azeotrope, has harmful effects in the diesel combustion chaimber. May be a diesel/gasoline difference, as we are talking about engines that may go a million miles. A shorter MTBF on a weedeater may not be noticeable, but on long-haul trucks it would be.

 

[Soundguy]

i'm not a chemist either. I don't know the combustion characteristics.

I do know you are getting alcohol in your gas at most palces in the country already. e10/15 is common.

remember drygas? for when you had water in your tank. guess what it was?

the point is getting liquid water out / thru. liquid water won't burn and can plug a filter.. plus it promotes rust.

 

[Soundguy]

i can tell you that the evap / flash rate of the azeotrope is slightly less than it's constituants...

 

[greasemonkeyok]

...I do know you are getting alcohol in your gas at most palces in the country already. e10/15 is common.

Unfortunately you are getting water with your fuel also. More of a problem in some places than others.

...the point is getting liquid water out / thru. liquid water won't burn and can plug a filter.. plus it promotes rust.

I know water in avgas can be a big problem. Do they add alcohol to avgas to mitigate the condensation?

 

[Soundguy]

i don't fly so can't tell ya.

I know our local marina sells no ethanol gas as does our local seedway.. that sells no eth 100+ octane fuel.

i just googled avgas.

at least according to wiki.. it is non ethanol gas.

take that for what it's worth... wiki.. etc.

Like I said. I don't play with things that fly..