What is your experience with Stabil?

[dodge man]

I tried to rebuild the pump on a pressure washer a few weeks ago and failed. I have an older pressure washer that been at least 12 years since it ran. I ran it dry last time I used it. It started on about the third pull. It didn’t run very well for a few minutes, it took some choke to keep it going but it improved and I ran it about 40 minutes. I dumped a little Seafoam in with fresh gas also. My point is running them dry usually works for me.

 

[ljgordon]

Go to youtube.com. There is a video I watched a couple months ago on fuel stabbilizers and what they are SUPPOSE to do. They put ethanol fuel in about 10 small engines with different types of stabilizer and left for 19 months. Pulled bowls off to show what the ethanol did to the carbs. Tried to start each one. Two started. Stabil & Stabil Marine did not do well. I just bought an 8 oz. bottle of VP Racing Fuel. It is a Fuel Stabilizer and ethanol shield. It had a clean carb and bowl and started. 8 oz. treats 80 gallons and cost $16.48 from Walmart online. I always used Stabil until I read on it and watched a couple videos.

 

[88S2PLAY]

Stabil don't do anything for water. All it does is postpone phase separation and only the blue Marine Stabil. You need to rethink your procedures and be more cognizant with putting the cap back on your fuel tank.

I say Ditto!!!

 

[KennyG]

I've always used Sta-bil and had good luck with ethanol fuels. Other than concentration, is there a difference between regular Sta-bil and Marine Sta-bil?

 

[5030]

I've always used Sta-bil and had good luck with ethanol fuels. Other than concentration, is there a difference between regular Sta-bil and Marine Sta-bil?

Blue Marine Stabil don't stink unlike the red stuff for starters and the chemical makeup is entirely different as well.

Corn squeezed gas isn't an issue so long as it's consumed promptly. The issue is, when it sits, it suffers from phase separation and that is what causes gummed up carbs and failed fuel lines and the Marine Stabil at least in my situation slows down that degradation.

If course I still prefer canned gas for longer term storage because the shelf life on canned gas is years verses months for pump gas with corn alcohol in it.

 

[WinterDeere]

Corn squeezed gas isn't an issue so long as it's consumed promptly. The issue is, when it sits, it suffers from phase separation and that is what causes gummed up carbs and failed fuel lines and the Marine Stabil at least in my situation slows down that degradation.

I think you're right on all but the fuel lines. It doesn't matter how quickly you consume the fuel, if there's always fuel in contact with fuel line materials.

If course I still prefer canned gas for longer term storage because the shelf life on canned gas is years verses months for pump gas with corn alcohol in it.

Running a little canned gas thru a saw or trimmer before seasonal storage has been recommended by many, and seems like a good practice. I've never personally done it, and never had problems, but my storage window is relatively short.

 

[5030]

Mine isn't short up here in the frozen north. Wish it was but it isn't and crumbly fuel lines seem to be commonplace on power equipment today, especially equipment that sits idle for long periods. One thing I've discovered and that is. The Tygon fuel line sold on Amazon isn't any good either. Best to buy new ones regularly and avoid the import Tygon stuff as it's a waste of money.

 

[Bearcat81]

No issues with Stabil? but, I switched to Lucas Fuel Stabilizer AND Lucas Flex-Fuel Ethanol treat for Gasoline---of course Power Service white & silver for the diesels.....

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Based on my experience, StaBil does work. At least for up to two years.

When draining about 100 gallons from a 200-gallon tank with gas that had lost its potency, there was no stratification.

Later I found out about Star Tron, which seems to work a whole lot better. For example, six year old gas from (well sealed) cans worked great in an SUV. Two generators with gas about 10 years old fired up and ran fine. In both cases after adding Star Tron and let it do its thing overnight.

Coincidentally, today I'll go for a drive in a seldom used car, before the snow starts falling, and burn up a few gallons of gas. Last time it got filled was 5-30-23.

If you don't hear from me again, the Star Tron didn't work. Going where there's no cell service and on a very lightly traveled road.

 

[WinterDeere]

If you don't hear from me again, the Star Tron didn't work. Going where there's no cell service and on a very lightly traveled road.

I've been using StarTron for years, and never had a problem. My local saw shop recommended I switch over to it, when ethanol fuel became our standard, around here.

But here's the thing... I never have had an issue with un-treated fuel, either. I think 99% of all beliefs and decisions regarding fuel storage are based on hope or religion, not statistically-valid evidence. I put StarTron in my fuel before storage, because it's too cheap and easy to bother debating otherwise, not because I have any evidence it's necessary.

 

[1Mech]

I use E-10 in everything I run with the exception of a 1970's era McCulloch chain saw and have never had trouble. My understanding is the rubber used since E-10 introduction is alcohol tolerant and can handle it quite well. I don't store things a long time without starting once in a while, in fact I think today is a good day to fire everything up and let them run a while. The alcohol keeps the systems clean and dry. I have a generator for a well pump, but I run it on propane, no storage problems there and the oil stays clean a lot longer!

 

[5030]

99% of issues come from stale fuel in partially full fuel tanks that get condensation in them and then the corn squeezed gas phase separates and the dreaded gummed up carbs happen.

I drain my tanks and out in canned gas and then run them to get it in the fuel system. Tru-Fuel and VP sell canned gas with no chainsaw lubricant added, just straight canned gas.

 

[deserteagle71]

I use E-10 in everything I run with the exception of a 1970's era McCulloch chain saw and have never had trouble. My understanding is the rubber used since E-10 introduction is alcohol tolerant and can handle it quite well.

My personal experience is that the newer "rubber" lines are WORSE than the ones available 20 years ago. Crack and leak very quickly. As far as the E-10...I have a new Honda lawn mower, plus some other newer gas-powered equipment. Owner's manuals ALL recommend NOT using E-10 or any other concentration of alcohol-in-gas because of the problems the alcohol can cause.

Here's an excerpt from the owner's manual for my new genset:

 

[dkeith45]

I have big pond built in 1995 (2 acres) with a long story, condensed version, my major spring actually reversed when pond got full after 2 years. So I pumped the water out and brought in an excavator to dig out the spring and pack it with bentonite to seal it. I was not willing to wait another 2 years to find out if the fixed worked, and I had the pump so I ran roughly 700 feet of 2” black plastic water line from a seasonal creek on my property and pumped it full. Victory!..Sort of. The natural head on the remaining springs is about 3’ below the overflow. Each year I “top it off” in the spring. I rigged a 6.5 gallon Northern Tool generator tank so the pump wiii run roughly 50+ hours on fill up. I change the oil every 100 hours using 10-30 syn-blend, with no particular brand loyalty. By my rough calculations I am approaching 6000 hours on a Honda GX 120. It still starts on one pull, but it does feel like it is starting to lose compression and uses a little oil. I dropped a note to Honda as a testimonial, and heard…crickets. My biggest source of problems over the years has been contaminated fuel. for the last 6 years I have been purchasing non ethanol rec-fuel in a Tractor Supply 50gallon tank that I rigged for easy loading into my pickup. I have a water removing filter on the tank. That had solved the problem until this 76 year old goofball somehow left the fill cap off the “day” tank, and it rained. I drained the bottom of the tank and but I would still occasionally have the motor quit on me. I had added some Stabil Marine I had on the shelf to help purge the water. I had tilted the tank so the gravity feed was not the low point and that seemed to solve it. When I broke down my set up this fall, I set up the tank back in my shop so that the feed was the low point and drained fuel into a glass jar. The photo shows what I got. Maybe the Stabil was out of date, but it was definitely not impressive. View attachment 1970596

None of the fuel additives work as advertised. The YT channel Taryl Fixes All did a two year study on I think it was 12 additives with 12 new engines and at the end of the test, the only one that would still start, and had a clean carb bowl was the engine running non-ethanol fuel. All the additives do is absorb water till the additive is saturated. Hard to say if that would make it easier to see the fuel water separation or not or if that would make it easier to siphon out the water? FWIW, I remember back in the late 70's when I managed a Clark Oil gas station. I'd have to 'stick' the underground storage gas tanks weekly with a long measuring stick that I'd smear a substance on, which in contact with water would make the substance red or maybe it was pink. Then the water level would be recorded. Periodically the company would come out and pump out some of the water. And I'm pretty sure this was before ethanol was a common additive. How the water got into the tanks is anyone's guess. Rusty tanks maybe?

Most likely that substance is still available. So you'd be able to stick your 50 gallon tank, record the water level, then pump most of the water out since water is heavier than the fuel so will be on the bottom of the tank.

 

[deserteagle71]

How the water got into the tanks is anyone's guess. Rusty tanks maybe?

Condensation. You'd be amazed at how much condensation can form inside a large tank. All these tanks are vented and that allows moist air in.

One of the reasons that manufacturers tell you to keep a gas tank as full as possible as much as possible. That reduces the amount of condensation-producing air in the tank.

 

[rider89]

I have big pond built in 1995 (2 acres) with a long story, condensed version, my major spring actually reversed when pond got full after 2 years. So I pumped the water out and brought in an excavator to dig out the spring and pack it with bentonite to seal it. I was not willing to wait another 2 years to find out if the fixed worked, and I had the pump so I ran roughly 700 feet of 2” black plastic water line from a seasonal creek on my property and pumped it full. Victory!..Sort of. The natural head on the remaining springs is about 3’ below the overflow. Each year I “top it off” in the spring. I rigged a 6.5 gallon Northern Tool generator tank so the pump wiii run roughly 50+ hours on fill up. I change the oil every 100 hours using 10-30 syn-blend, with no particular brand loyalty. By my rough calculations I am approaching 6000 hours on a Honda GX 120. It still starts on one pull, but it does feel like it is starting to lose compression and uses a little oil. I dropped a note to Honda as a testimonial, and heard…crickets. My biggest source of problems over the years has been contaminated fuel. for the last 6 years I have been purchasing non ethanol rec-fuel in a Tractor Supply 50gallon tank that I rigged for easy loading into my pickup. I have a water removing filter on the tank. That had solved the problem until this 76 year old goofball somehow left the fill cap off the “day” tank, and it rained. I drained the bottom of the tank and but I would still occasionally have the motor quit on me. I had added some Stabil Marine I had on the shelf to help purge the water. I had tilted the tank so the gravity feed was not the low point and that seemed to solve it. When I broke down my set up this fall, I set up the tank back in my shop so that the feed was the low point and drained fuel into a glass jar. The photo shows what I got. Maybe the Stabil was out of date, but it was definitely not impressive. View attachment 1970596

according to a Mercury Marine rep some years back, he was told by Stabil people that all it does is form a layer on the top surface of the fuel to block absorption of water vapor and oxygen. If liquid water was falling from the top of the tank (condensation, etc) Stabil wouldn't help that problem.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

Try some Star-Tron fuel treatment. It's been used in the RV/Marine areas for many years.
You might also want to use the Goldern Rod cartridge filter on your tank. It has a water drain on the housing. Have that on a 50 gal diesel tank.

I am another Star-Tron fan; but I don't think that'll help with any great amount of water. A LOT of dry gas, MAYBE.

 

[BigI]

I have mostly used Stabile on 2 cycle engines, chainsaws in particular. Once fuel is mixed with oil it has about a 2 month life before it will start gumming up the carburetor. Stabil with ethanol free gas definitely prolongs that to at least six months, and I have never pushed my luck past that. I am making up what I am about to say based on my experience - I am not an expert. Although gas and water are supposed to separate out they don't do that 100%. The water will react with the gas, and it will especially react with 4 cycle oil. Stabil will help prevent the gas water reactions that do happen. It will not magically make the water disappear from the bottom of the tank, and it won't make the water mix with the gas, which you really don't want anyway. When the water goes through your engine it will do bad things, since it is highly corrosive when it is superhot steam.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

99% of issues come from stale fuel in partially full fuel tanks that get condensation in them and then the corn squeezed gas phase separates and the dreaded gummed up carbs happen.

Condensation. You'd be amazed at how much condensation can form inside a large tank. All these tanks are vented and that allows moist air in.

One of the reasons that manufacturers tell you to keep a gas tank as full as possible as much as possible. That reduces the amount of condensation-producing air in the tank.

Fortunately, here there doesn't seem to be any condensation issues. At least I have yet to see any traces of water in any tanks of filters.

That includes half full metal storage tanks subjected to sun and cool nights, up to 50 degree swings at times. When putting my car back in the garage for its hibernation after today's drive it had the low gas light on. Doesn't worry me one bit.

Oh, and it ran just fine on the mid-2023 gas. If nothing else, perking old gas up is something Star Tron definitely does well.

 

[bmaverick]

Good points, My filter on the storage tank does not have a drain but it is for particle and water removal. The drain sounds better. I appreciate the feedback. I obviously overshared and muddied my point, which was that I was surprised to see that the Stabil had not dispersed in the fuel. The water was self inflicted and now that the “day” tank is drained, cleaned and dried I don’t anticipate any problems.

If you are looking at diesel fuel to maintain for periods of time in the tractors or in storage tanks, then Seafoam is the answer. This was it's original use.