What is your experience with Stabil?

[facereader]

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 Maybe the Stabil was out of date, but it was definitely not impressive.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

I have a small engine shop for the last 17 years in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

We have two clear seasons, thus, fuel storage related issues are common.

We consider Stabil a hoax from experience alone.

Theoretically, fuel stabilizers have two alleged functions.
1. These should bind to the highly volatile = explosive components of gasoline and not let those evaporate out of the fuel storage or equipment fuel tank through the gas caps - all of which are designed to be vented. This would enable old gas to start an engine, according to Stabil's claim, for two years, if mixed in the right amount. We have yet to see any two year old gas start an engine. Leave your lawnmower in the sun in the hot humid months, and the engine will not start after seven, even lesser number of days, even if the fuel stabilizer was added right away. Actually, the gas will turn orange with or without the stabilizer.

2. There is the myth of fuel stabilizers preventing the heavy chain hydrocarbons, collectively called varnish, from settling out of gas in long duration storage especially inside carburetors. Absolute nonsense. 95-98% of our work is overhauling/restoring carburetors. This myth is also promoted by many small engine equipment manufacturers. We sincerely believe that every single manufacturer is a crook, including Honda, and they wish that the carburetor gum up as soon as possible, owners break the recoil starters, and burn the electric starters. All these are parts sales. A $2-5 genuine carburetor at the the factory gate sells for at least $100 in Canada. Honda puts stickers on its snow blowers to turn off power switch first, then the fuel cut off valve. Really!

The only solution to prevent carburetor gumming is to install a fuel cut off valve, and turn fuel off after EVERY SINGLE USE. The engine will die in max two minutes. At the end of the season, remove all fuel in gas tank with a siphon (or burn it by running the engine till it dies); crack open drain bolt on the carburetor fuel bowl to drain all gas in carb and fuel line; snug drain bolt; close fuel valve so that any old gas remaining in the tank stays in the tank.

WATER IN FUEL:
We have recovered up to a liter of water from a 5 litre or one US gallon fuel canister. Ethanol is a pure alcohol. It mixes readily with water in air in tank, then this water+ethanol mix interacts with gas, and creates an acidic gel that corrodes carburetor metal. If water is in excess than what the ethanol can absorb, or fuel is ethanol free, the free water will go to the bottom of the tank.

There is a green colored plastic funnel that has a filter in the middle. I tested it. Water does not go past this filter. The method is slow.

Or, once you have removed the water by decanting it, and see no water at the bottom of the tank, shake the tank. If the fuel turns cloudy, water is mixed with gas. No choice but to discard it. Use it, and your engine should suddenly stop again and again.

 

[NUTTERDW]

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

My sons and I have owned snowmobiles for the last 40 years which are only ran a few weeks a year. We have tried everything any one has suggested to keep the carbs clean, but none of the additives ever worked. In recent years each snowmobile has four carbs, (4 cycle engines) and it was take them apart every year. About ten years ago we started using ethanol free gas and have not had any problem since. Before that we could not buy Ethanol free gas where we snowmobile. I do put a bottle of dry gas in them each year before we store them. I had back surgery three years ago and have not been snowmobiling since. This year my son got my snowmobile out to get it running and clean it up to sell.

 

[bmaverick]

My sons and I have owned snowmobiles for the last 40 years which are only ran a few weeks a year. We have tried everything any one has suggested to keep the carbs clean, but none of the additives ever worked. In recent years each snowmobile has four carbs, (4 cycle engines) and it was take them apart every year. About ten years ago we started using ethanol free gas and have not had any problem since. Before that we could not buy Ethanol free gas where we snowmobile. I do put a bottle of dry gas in them each year before we store them. I had back surgery three years ago and have not been snowmobiling since. This year my son got my snowmobile out to get it running and clean it up to sell.

You perfectly announced the ethanol elephant in the room. You are 100% correct. It's not so much the water being an issue in gasoline, it's the ethanol. Now if we were taking diesel, water is the big no-no.

We have 2 stations in the big city with no ethanol. Price is 55-cents more per gallon. Worth every penny for chainsaws, mowers, etc of 2-cycle engines and for ATV/UTV for 4-cycle engines. Often people who have classic vehicles or motorcycles are seen at those pump nearly all year long.

It is cheaper to make fuel with no ethanol, BUT due to federal and state laws, there is a penalty priced tax for offering ethanol free fuels. Most places sell 91-octane ethanol free, but the high octane is just as bad for the smaller engine carbs. So there are really few choices overall.

Thanks for releasing the elephant noticed in the open!

 

[WinterDeere]

You perfectly announced the ethanol elephant in the room. You are 100% correct. It's not so much the water being an issue in gasoline, it's the ethanol.

I’m no chemist, so forgive me if I have missed the whole point of this, but are you ignoring why ethanol is the problem? It seems that those who know much more about this subject are implying that ethanol gas is hydrophilic, and that is the very problem. If you put ethanol in the gas, it will soak up water from condensing humidity in the surrounding air.

Therefore, you can’t say “water isn’t the problem, ethanol is.” Water is the very reason that ethanol is a problem.

Of course, if this conclusion is correct, ethanol should present less of a problem for those in the desert southwest, than those of us in the humid Atlantic coastal states.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I have got longer usable life out of regular gas with ethanol treated with Star Tron than I did with ethanol free 91 octane and StaBil.

In retrospect, the 200-mile drive and to pay more for the ethanol free gas was a waste of both time and money.

So far my findings point to that storing gas in a well sealed setup, be it a can or a tank, is very beneficial. Which makes sense, since the more volative parts of the gas can't escape.

 

[bmaverick]

I have got longer usable life out of regular gas with ethanol treated with Star Tron than I did with ethanol free 91 octane and StaBil.

In retrospect, the 200-mile drive and to pay more for the ethanol free gas was a waste of both time and money.

So far my findings point to that storing gas in a well sealed setup, be it a can or a tank, is very beneficial. Which makes sense, since the more volative parts of the gas can't escape.

Is this with fuel injection or carburetors. My reply was for smaller engines on gasoline and carburetors.

Typically for vehicle gas engines pre-2001, the carburetors and throttle bodies do not do so well on 10% ethanol. Frequent cleaning and replacement was common. Those old throttle bodies had the injectors inside them, not in the cylinders like we have in the past 20 years.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Is this with fuel injection or carburetors. My reply was for smaller engines on gasoline and carburetors.

It was for either one, as my post was about stored gasoline.

Some of that gas goes into vehicles with carburetors, some with EFI. And some gets used for other purposes, once my experiments fail and the gas is no longer usable in vehicles or other engines.

 

[Mike1955]

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.

Where do you get dry gasoline

 

[Hay Dude]

I switched to the “naptha” gas (at a cool $17/gallon) years ago and haven’t had much of a problem. I price it into the work I do for customers now. Repairing chainsaws and brush cutters when they are needed sucks.
You homestead warriors and I alike, I suggest you switch over to it too. Save money elsewhere. Ethanol isn’t worth the savings.

 

[KennyG]

Where do you get dry gasoline

Dry gas is the generic term for additives like HEET or STP water remover (assuming you weren't being sarcastic).