Removing Ethanol from Gasoline

[ruffdog]

When working at the dealer, all products(sleds, atv's, bikes) that were going to the storage building were drained of fuel. Back then the 10% methanol was getting popular and would create problems if it sat in the product too long.

 

[arrow]

I have 50 engines. Lots of them set for over a month, and months. The most significant thing I've discovered is to "stir up" ethanol fuel that's sat awhile, makes it easier to start after sitting. For example tip a lawnmower up and let it plop back down. I like the squeeze bulb type carb primers. Draining the carb is good too if you happen to know it will sit for a period. If not , well spend a little effort to shake it up before pulling on the rope. Which might be difficult with a riding mower or 200 lb generator for stuff like that I use a can of starting fluid.

But in any case with 50 engines under my watch I've been paying attention to this ethanol paranoia for the past 4 years and have found that the problem is a tiny fraction of the hype. Agreed it would be nice if the problem didn't exist. No pollution at all would be nice too but you cant have everything.

I do prefer the way my motorcycles run on pure gas. But another good way is to buy a motorcycle with so much power you don't notice the difference.

Interesting notion about separating & removing the ethanol. Seems like an awful lotta work for dubious benefits but now curious about the resultant octane after such a process.

Your lack of trouble with the stuff may have something to do with climate, engine usage and time of shut down. A stationary engine here in the N.E. can sit doing nothing for 4-6 months. I am now uber careful to drain out every carburetor I have of the stuff.
For me, clean air and this stuff does not necessarily correlate. Better fuel burning with more efficient engines, reduction of average vehicle weight and increased aerodynamics certainly have afforded better fuel efficiencies. A product that reduces fuel use as opposed to what this stuff does increasing fuel use, seems to me a better substance to put in gasoline.

 

[Sodo]

Your lack of trouble with the stuff may have something to do with climate, engine usage and time of shut down

Certainly could be part of it. My engines are in the Cascade mountains and in Seattle. The more engines I get the more some of them sit. I drain them when I think it might sit, if I remember.

A product that reduces fuel use as opposed to what this stuff does increasing fuel use, seems to me a better substance to put in gasoline.

Yeah that's a consideration. With less power, you press the throttle farther down, and in the end is the pollution the same? However I'm not thrilled about MTBE in the groundwater. Neither am I thrilled about using our fertile topsoil to generate fuel while theres a lot of it underground. From one problem springs another, but it's irresponsible (of any government) to fail to act with regards to pollution. Removing MTBE from fuel was necessary.

 

[cowpie1]

A tax credit is a subsidy? Wow! What accounting course did you take? A tax credit is just a reduction in the amount of tax you have to pay. A subsidy is an actual payout to you. I get tax credits all the time, in both personal and business form. Home interest deduction, health insurance premium deduction, etc, etc. I get to take 80% of $58 a day as a deduction for expenses on the road as a commercial driver, even thought I never come anywhere near that amount out of pocket. Those are all tax credit and allowances. No money was paid to me for these things. I am for every one, and every business to get all the tax credits they can! The government spends and wastes too much as it is. It is time to put government on a diet. Now, I am definitely against direct payments, or subsidies, to any business at any time.

As for ethanol being inefficient as a fuel, true, in an engine that is designed primarily for gasoline. But take a look at what Cummins and Ricardo have come up with. Both are in final design phase of Extreme Boosted Direct Injection (EBDI) engines that primarily use E85. The result? Those engines are getting equal performance to diesel engines of larger displacement and as good of fuel efficiency as diesel. The Ricardo offering, a 3.2L EBDI V6 has the same performance and economy as a 6.6L Duramax Diesel. The Cummins offering, a 2.8L inline 4 has more power and better efficiency than a 5.7L V8 gasser.

I let my lawn equipment sit from mid November thru spring, tanks full, just stabilizer added, with E10 in them. Have for years. I have yet to have a fuel related problem. Maybe that they are John Deere products has something to do with it... oh wait.... Kawasaki engines.

 

[BarnieTrk]

I let my lawn equipment sit from mid November thru spring, tanks full, just stabilizer added, with E10 in them. Have for years. I have yet to have a fuel related problem. Maybe that they are John Deere products has something to do with it... oh wait.... Kawasaki engines.

Cowpie1,

What are you using for a 'fuel stabilizer'?

Is anyone else using any fuel additives with success?

BarnieTrk

 

[cowpie1]

I have used both Stabil and the Amsoil Gasoline Stabilizer product.

 

[dave1949]

I sure am glad to learn that the federal tax credit I claimed for my solar panels wasn't a subsidy for green energy. Whew! I feel so much more righteous now. :laughing:

Cowpie1, not all tax credits are created equal or serve the same purpose even though they share the name, and subsidy methods are not restricted to payments you receive directly.