What it does in a 2 stroke engine im not that well edumacated but I do know a bit about it in the automotive side of it. I have many friends that run E-85 in their modified cars (supercharged and turbocharged mainly) Ethanol has a much higher octane rating then gasoline but also burns cooler compared to gasoline so make what you want out of that info. It takes more ethanol mixed fuel to create the same air/fuel ratio then straight gas. In the case of E-85 in automobiles it takes somewhere around 30% more fuel because of the lower BTU output to get the same air/fuel ratio that you had with straight gasoline in a naturally aspirated engine and even more when you get into forced induction. for instance If you try to run E-85 in a vehicle that wasn't designed to run it, you will get lean bank engine codes that will most likely put it in limp mode or cause serious detonation.
Stihl says " Look Before You Pump Gasoline for Outdoor Power Equipment"
- Thread starter Rockjock
- Start date
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HuskStihl
Chairin'em for the sound
E10 is fine. Just don't let it get old and watery. Trufuel is not economical for me, but I love the used cans for storage. My hot 394 will go thru a can (one tank!) in 15 minutes of hard use. My brew: bel ray hr-1, stabil, 93e. Zero fuel issues
origionalrebel
ArboristSite Operative
i'm sure most of you fellers already know this but a given blend of ethanol in gas will run leaner than pure gas. the carb must be tuned for the difference or you stand a good chance of scoring a p/c. when this mess first started i went into my stihl dealer to get a fuel line and diaphram because of ethanol damage and while i was there 2 saws were brought in with scored pistons. they were added onto the pile of other burned up saws. that pile was about a pickup bed sized pile. along with the saws coming from the factory as lean as hell for gasoline, e10 was more than the saws could live with at the already lean gasoline tune. most folks running saws in this area don't have a clue as to how to tune any kind of engine. even loggers here don't use saws anymore.
wilsonishere
ArboristSite Member
The link at the bottom of this comment is one of the articles I read a while back, pay attention to the burn rate chart. Ethanol has a burn rate of five and gas of 2 this means that ethanol burns 2.5 times slower per volume. Their is also a book called (Experimental investigation of burning rates of pure ethanol and ethanol blended fuels) that is the go to guide. It runs around $35 and can be ordered on line worth the read.
http://iqlearningsystems.com/ethanol/downloads/Racing Fuel Characteristics.pdf
nmurph
ArboristSite.com Sponsor
A few things-
we are speaking of 10% E not 30-85%
the tiny bore size of OPE makes burn rates much less important
ethanol is a better coolant the gasoline
we are speaking of 10% E not 30-85%
the tiny bore size of OPE makes burn rates much less important
ethanol is a better coolant the gasoline
SawTroll
Information Collector
They would, to support using farm land to produce raw material for ethanol instead of food - fooling people to believe it is for environmental reasons........
volvo09
ArboristSite Lurker
Same here. My 2 chainsaws have been running it unmodified for almost 5 years (obvious carb mixture adjustments) I also run it in my push mower, and my cars (also not designed for e85 - no fuel system changes needed whatsoever, just a tune). It is a fine fuel. I have NEVER encountered any damage from the fuel. Any plastics or rubber lines breaking down are just crappy parts. Plastic holds it just fine in liquor stores...
The only legit place it will cause damage is in boats with fiberglass tanks - that is real issue caused by the fuel.If your equipment won't run on E10, it is NOT the fuel. You have another problem. On an unmodified engine you can blend in about 30% ethanol before it gets too lean to run safely, and will start showing signs of power loss without jetting / mixture adjustments. That is a rough estimate as every engine is tuned differently, some are already too lean for gasoline straight from the factory so they won't take as much, others are too rich and can take a higher blends.
i was jokingSame here. My 2 chainsaws have been running it unmodified for almost 5 years (obvious carb mixture adjustments) I also run it in my push mower, and my cars (also not designed for e85 - no fuel system changes needed whatsoever, just a tune). It is a fine fuel. I have NEVER encountered any damage from the fuel. Any plastics or rubber lines breaking down are just crappy parts. Plastic holds it just fine in liquor stores...
If your equipment won't run on E10, it is NOT the fuel. You have another problem. On an unmodified engine you can blend in about 30% ethanol before it gets too lean to run safely, and will start showing signs of power loss without jetting / mixture adjustments. That is a rough estimate as every engine is tuned differently, some are already too lean for gasoline straight from the factory so they won't take as much, others are too rich and can take a higher blends.
I actually don't run it in anything I own, it's not cost affective in anyway. Farmers make enough money.
It still causes problems though. The ethanol is more likely To pull in water specially in gas stations with sub par fuel tanks and it can separate within a couple weeks if the conditions are right. now they are pushing for E15 here in Minnesota. That will just amplify the issues. older vehicles and OPE and outboards are going to have major issues running it.
o8f150
Tree Freak
we can solve the whole problem very easly,,,, stop putting corn in the gas
machinisttx
Addicted to ArboristSite
But then the clowns in the clown house wouldn't be getting all that campaign money and profits from corn based stocks.
HuskStihl
Chairin'em for the sound
Monsanto 85
Rockjock
Addicted to ArboristSite
Can't say I've ever seen a fiberglass fuel tank, but I bet it would fall apart in the presence of pure gas too. Now, an aluminum below deck tank will grow some white paste, sometimes enough to block the pick up tube, when water is present. The hydroscopic nature of ethanol blended fuels ensures a good supply of water. Not too much of an issue though, plastic fuel tanks have been installed in boats for the last twenty years or so. Most boats with aluminum tanks are rotted junk and long since scrapped out.
origionalrebel
ArboristSite Operative
ST, this is the truest statement you have ever made! not sayin the others weren't, lol
indiansprings
Firewood Purveyor
Prolly 90 to 95% of the work we do in our shop is fuel related, last year this time we were doing on average 230 saw tickets a month. I had everyone start writing on the tickets the following "Do not leave fuel in saws over 90 days or store 2 cycle fuel over 90 days, for storage either dump fuel in a safe manner and run your saw dry or use marine stabil of brigog&stratton fuel stabilizer. Use 91 oct non ethanol fuel if possible. Putting the statement on tickets has put less repair money in our pockets, but it is the right thing to do for our customers. It had been a yearly process for some folks to have their carb gone thru or fuel lines replaced, now they can spend their money on chain and other stuff.
So far it has been very effective, we are around 75% less saws brought in with fuel related issues. We test the fuel contents of every saw, seen ethanol range from 14% to an average of about 12.5%. One source of fuel seems to be the main culprit in our area, fuel bought at the Casey's chain of stores. I run nothing but 91 no ethanol in my ope and have had no issues, store them dry if they are going to sit. Couldn't ever catch me running E-85 in any equipment I valued. With ethanol testers being so cheap and readily available it's a nice piece of equipment, I've sold several.
So far it has been very effective, we are around 75% less saws brought in with fuel related issues. We test the fuel contents of every saw, seen ethanol range from 14% to an average of about 12.5%. One source of fuel seems to be the main culprit in our area, fuel bought at the Casey's chain of stores. I run nothing but 91 no ethanol in my ope and have had no issues, store them dry if they are going to sit. Couldn't ever catch me running E-85 in any equipment I valued. With ethanol testers being so cheap and readily available it's a nice piece of equipment, I've sold several.
Same here. Been cutting since 1976 and used nothing but the regular gas out of the pump. Never had a problem with it, still using it. Oldest saw currently is a Stihl MS310 bought the second year they came onthe market. Still fires up one pull when warm, compression a bit down so it takes several pulls to start.
The trouble with non ethanol is you really don't know what your getting, could have ethanol in it or maybe 2 years old at a slow gas station. Over here we have enough snowmobiles that run non ethanol to keep the supply kind of fresh. No troubles in my saws so far. Steve
