Observations between ethanol and real gas

[JPP]

Last spring/summer, local gas stations all switched over to ethanol so my saws had to run on it for the first time. Of course I noticed a decrease in gas mileage in my truck right away.
I also found my chainsaws didn't have as much power, ran hotter, idled terribly and the exhaust was very smelly. Many times I felt nauseated and my wife complained I stunk like crazy when I got home from cutting. Also, the saws went through a lot more gas than they did when running on real gas.

Well, was I excited to find out a gas station in the next town over was still selling real gas! I bought some and mixed up with Stihl Ultra oil. The past weekend I cut up a large red oak and the saws were back to normal! All the power was back, they idled fine and exhaust smell was next to nothing. My wife was out with me when I was cutting and she commented on how much better the saws sounded and there was very little exhaust smell.

There is a noticeable difference between ethanol and real gas. I wish ethanol a quick death ASAP!

 

[GASoline71]

This has been beat to death...

I've been usin' E10 in saws since E10 has been available. a long time.

I have never had one single problem with my chainsaws. Work saws or collectables

Gary

 

[RTK]

Over here on the left coast we not only have to deal with ethanol but also MTBE, and let me tell you our gas really stinks, in more ways than one............

 

[bama]

This has been beat to death...

I've been usin' E10 in saws since E10 has been available. a long time.

I have never had one single problem with my chainsaws. Work saws or collectables

Gary

Well......what kind of oil and what ratio are you usin'?:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Motorsen]

Naaah

You must have been unlucky to have a bad batch of fuel there. Or is it that you had a couple of "after work rewards" too much and blamed your breath on the fuel? So now under supervision of your wife your breath is smelling much better???

Motorsen

 

[baotman]

You must have been unlucky to have a bad batch of fuel there. Or is it that you had a couple of "after work rewards" too much and blamed your breath on the fuel? So now under supervision of your wife your breath is smelling much better???

Motorsen

Hi baotman here
I personal try to stay away for ethonal as much as I can .But its only a matter of time before they put more alchole in the gas. Just get ready to fix your saws when the connecting rod goes , because the alchole causes pre detonation before top dead center it just takes a little while then the crank goes. NOTE I just cautioning people from my experince with the saw I have worked on good luck.

 

[Modifiedmark]

This has been beat to death...

I've been usin' E10 in saws since E10 has been available. a long time.

I have never had one single problem with my chainsaws. Work saws or collectables

Gary

Well I for one am glad you have not had trouble yet. As I have said before, E10 when kept fresh is not a problem.

Your experiance maynot be what everyone else runs into though. Regionally things change. You local area and what you get there is not what others in other parts of the country are going to recieve.

This has been one of the major problems with E-10, the consistancy is not there. I know I test it alot and in my area its running between 10-20% and that is a problem.

 

[ray benson]

Over here on the left coast we not only have to deal with ethanol but also MTBE, and let me tell you our gas really stinks, in more ways than one............

Isn't MTBE banned for use in gasoline?

 

[dingeryote]

Isn't MTBE banned for use in gasoline?

Yep. Ethanol is it's replacement as MTBE was Banned quite a while ago.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Cliff R]

"I've been usin' E10 in saws since E10 has been available. a long time.

I have never had one single problem with my chainsaws. Work saws or collectables"

+1

The only problems I've seen are difficult hot restarts. In really hot/humid weather, if I let any of my saws "heat soak" for 10-15 minutes, they can be just a tad difficult to restart. Since I take 5-6 saws on every outing, I avoid trying to refuel one, touch up the chain and place it back in service, I just grab another saw instead. Things are fine if I let them cool down half hour or so, or restart them withing 2-3 minutes, but if they "heat soak", and it's up near 100 degrees outside, every single one boils this new fuel enough to give troubles getting them going again.

On a good note, haven't noticed any power losses, or any other problems related to the ethanol in the fuel. I make sure not to leave it in the gas can or in my saws more than a couple of months, due to the possibilities of soaking up some water and "jelling" in the tanks.....Cliff

 

[ZeroJunk]

The ethanol itself is not the problem, it's the water that it picks up that is.

Store it a long time or in a poor container at your own risk.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

I personally have never had any trouble with E10 in equipment that is used regularly and the fuel is kept fresh. I have had lots of problem with E10 when it is used in equipment that is only used periodically....and most if it is not my equipment. The neighbors all know that I can fix their broken stuff....and I have replaced lots of dissoved fuel lines, dissolved diaphragms, rusted fuel tanks, and corroded carbs. It used to be that when equipment was stored too long with fuel in it.....the system would just get gummed up with stale gas and varnish - now the ethanol and water causes much more serious damage. I have had one leaf blower come in with no compression and a scored cylinder, and that may have been a phase seperation problem in the mix as the owner knows how to mix oil and gas properly. I also have a motorcycle that was damaged by E10 when the fuel tank that is made from "nylon" swelled and no longer would fit in the frame. I let the tank air out for a month and it returned to normal size and it has not swelled again now that I have found a source of ethanol free fuel.

For my own equipment I was able to find that the CountryMark stores in Indiana have a fuel called 90+ at some of their stations that does not contain ethanol, and I use it in all my equipment. My cars run fine on E10 - but I use up a tank of fuel every week and they were built to run on it. For any equipment that is not going to be used for a while - I drain the tank and run the engine until it stalls.....then place a little Avgas 100LL in the tank and run it again until it stalls. (I know this is a bit anal........but my equipment never fails to start when I need it!).

 

[Woodomaker]

The ethanol itself is not the problem, it's the water that it picks up that is.

Store it a long time or in a poor container at your own risk.

At least keep container on the North side of a shed, to keep the sunlight from expanding and contracting same, sucking in moist air / water.......and not under drip edge of roof.
AV100 is my best insurance on two stroker's.

 

[cheeves]

A few years ago I had problems with nearly everyone of my saws. A guy I know at the station down the hill tested the ethanol content in Sept. and it was 14%. He said he's seen it as high as 22%. I haven't had a problem in awhile since I started just mixing up a gallon and adding 1/2 oz of Startron. They sell it now in the local Husky dealership. I still hate the stuff. I does stink!

 

[goosedowner]

Well, was I excited to find out a gas station in the next town over was still selling real gas! I bought some and mixed up with Stihl Ultra oil. The past weekend I cut up a large red oak and the saws were back to normal! All the power was back, they idled fine and exhaust smell was next to nothing. My wife was out with me when I was cutting and she commented on how much better the saws sounded and there was very little exhaust smell.

There is a noticeable difference between ethanol and real gas. I wish ethanol a quick death ASAP!

You wouldn't be talking about Clymer NY would you?

 

[Chris-PA]

Funny, I never noticed the difference in smell. I can well believe there is more variability, pertly because it cannot be transported through pipelines with the ethanol in it and must be mixed locally. As far as running - I always carry the appropriate screwdriver or tool to adjust the mixture. These are very crude carbs, and I don't see how you run a saw without being able to adjust them at any time to compensate for changes in temperature, seasonal fuel blend, changes in additives, etc. "Tuning" is not permanent.

 

[MerchBanger]

We run lots of saws where I work. All the guys noticed a significant improvement in the way they ran when we switched to non-eth gas. It's worth the extra money. Same goes for the Stihl mix in the white bottles.

 

[JPP]

You wouldn't be talking about Clymer NY would you?

Nope. Gas station is in the liberal bastion of Pittsford where Prius and tiny foreign cars reign supreme. I live east of Rochester.

 

[promac850]

This is why we bought a hand crank rotary type fuel pump... we'll probably get some 55 gallon drums of real gas at some point... I despise ethanol... I want real gas that gives real performance and real fuel economy.

and/or I might petition for the stations to start selling real gas again, by explaining the benefits to the people that are buying gas there. It'd be one of those papers taped to the counter or gas pump deals. Sign this paper along with others, and we'll get real gas again...

Not to mention ethanol attracts water, and in a old school saw that uses a magnesium fuel tank, that's always gonna be a problem.

Damn ethanol to the lowest levels of hell... it's one of the biggest ponzi schemes going on these days.

 

[RTK]

Isn't MTBE banned for use in gasoline?

Yes it has been, but it still is lingering about. Many wells in the larger cities are polluted with it. Now the government/cities are suing the gas companies to clean up the carcinogenic mess that the government forced them to use in the first place........That's what happens when you let politicians make decisions that scientist should have, now that I think of it that's true for most decisions politicians make....................Sorry for the rambling