Who uses seafoam in their fuel?

[fields_mj]

I know this topic has been beat to death over the years, but I never paid much attention to it because I never used any additives in my gas. I still don't need to for the saws, but after 3 plugs in a year, plus a carb rebuild, and now another cleaning, I'm going to start using seafoam for my ATV, and probably for my lawn mowers too while I'm at it. I tried using Stabil, but that hasn't helped anything. Some times I go through 5 gal of gas in a month when mowing, or doing a lot of running around out at the farm on the ATV, and sometimes the weather gets dry and the lawn mower sits for over a month and I'm left with a pair of 5 gal fuel cans of gas that's been sitting in the garage for 3 months. I'm going to start adding the prescribed amount of seafoam, and was wondering if it would hurt to use that fuel (when fresh) for mix for the saws. I always use Stihl mix, and I generally go just a tad heavy on the oil. I buy the little bottles that make 2.5 gal, but I only get 2.2 gal of fuel in the can. Right now I take the 2 cycle oil with me and fill the can up directly at the gas station, but sometimes I'm really tempted to grab a 5 gal can that has been recently filled and use it instead. Wondered what you guys thought about it.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[tree monkey]

it wont hurt but wont help either.

 

[chopperfreak2k1]

first off, you're lucky. i use 2 gallons of gas a week to mow.

second, i never used sea foam but my buddy just swears by it.

 

[Brushwacker]

I believe seafoam works wonders for dissolving gas varnish deposits. Not sure how well it preserves fuel. You will not see me use stabil, had negative results with it myself.
My equipment, chainsaws and linetrimmers mostly, that has been sitting often gets fresh gas with seafoam added before I use them again. Seems to work well for me.

 

[fields_mj]

first off, you're lucky. i use 2 gallons of gas a week to mow.

Me too. Actually a little over. I fill up two 5 gal cans at a time, and it lasts me about a month. The past 2 years it has gotten real dry in late July, Aug, and Sept and my mowing during those months often drops to less than once a month instead of weakly. So I filled the cans up some time in July after topping off the mower, and then there I am in October with 7+ gal of 3 month old fuel left in the cans. That finds its way to my ATV which I don't run regularly, and is currently wreaking havic on it's carb. What I NEED to do is start dumping it in the wife's CRV at the end of Sept, and then just go fill one can, but I'm trying to be lazy The gas station isn't between me and my firewood so I have to make a special trip to get fuel for the saws, and it always seams like I'm already short on time and running behind. Sounds like it won't hurt anything, so I won't have to worry about it one way or the other.

 

[ncfarmboy]

I use it in all my OPE. Been using it for years. Also use it for cleaning carbs in the ultrasonic. There should be no need to put Stabil in 2 stroke mix all the good oils have a stabilizer in them.
Shep

 

[half_full]

I was thinking the same thing about using an additive for saw fuel.
I've had great results with rough running quad, mower, snowblower, snowmobile... using seafoam. So I believe this is a great fist step.

I use this for regular additive for fuel though and have had zero issues. I haven't tried it on the saw fuel though

StarTron Gasoline Engine Fuel Treatment

 

[c5rulz]

I am going to buck the trend and not promote seafoam. I haven't used it, but don't let facts get in the way of my opinion. :msp_scared:



If I were to have a big advertising campaign and sell something called, Mechanic in a can Would everyone just blindly buy it? Of course I could get a few shills to say it is better than sex and less expensive.opcorn:

 

[paccity]

i use it in my trolling eng, once a year i give it a big smoker.

 

[c5rulz]

To be constructive now.:msp_biggrin:


I think following manufactures reccomendations on their products is the best way to go. However all small engines whether they are chainsaws, lawn mowers or garden tractors should not have ethanol in them at any time. Around here you can buy premium without ethanol. The motors don't need the extra octane but not having the detrimental effects of ethanol is worth it.

Mixed gas should be in small batchs that get used up quickly.

 

[WoodChuck'r]

The title of this thread should be "Why the hell would someone use seafoam in their fuel...?".

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

My saws run on a mix 32:1 of Johnnie Walker Black Label, and bacon grease.
Nope that's me that runs on that.

 

[tallguys]

My saws run on a mix 32:1 of Johnnie Walker Black Label, and bacon grease.
Nope that's me that runs on that.

I'm liking your saw's mix... I mean your mix... whatever. :msp_biggrin:

 

[RTK]

You will not see me use stabil, had negative results with it myself.
.

Me too, the only time I used stabil nothing I put it in would start after winter (well, they did start but were a royal pain to start). Never had problems like that before using it.........

 

[fields_mj]

Me too, the only time I used stabil nothing I put it in would start after winter. Never had problems before using it.........

That's the exact oppisite problem I am having with my ATV now. About every 4th time I get it out, I have to pull the plug and clean it. Sometimes it will sit for several weeks without getting started, and I'm thinking the issue is that the carb is getting gummed up, so I'm going to try using some seafoam in the fuel for that. Lawn mower is showing some similar signs, and it makes sense considering the dry spells we've had the last 2 years. I've never had any issues with my saws. I've had fuel (mix) that was over 6 months old, and all 3 of my saws run just fine on it. If it's been several weeks since I last ran a saw, it may take 6 or 8 pulls to get it to fire, but some times the still fire on the 1st through 3rd pull. Once they fire, all 3 of them run just fine. If they've only been sitting for a few weeks, then they generally start really easy, and run well regardless of how long the mix has been sitting in the fuel can.

The purpose behind my original question was to determin if it is worth the hassle of driving into town when I need fuel for saw mix, or if I should just grab the can for the lawn mowers and ATV and use some of it. I wouldn't like the idea of doing it in Dec with gas that I bought in July or Aug, but if I filled up a can in November, I might be more prone to save myself the time and just use what I have on hand. I've decided that for the time being, I'm going to treat my regular gas with Seafoam in order to try to help with the issues I'm having on the ATV, and I wasn't sure what kind of results folks have had when using it as part of the mix for there saws. Sounds like there have been a few issues, but the overwhelming majority say that it has worked fine for them. I think I will continue to do what I have been doing for now. That is bringing my "mix" can with me to work and filling it up on the way home. Now if I can still find a place that doesn't have 10% ethanol, I'll be set

 

[RTK]

I know people that use seafoam too help keep carbon deposits down and they swear it works. If you are fouling the plugs that bad I would figure out why before using seafoam.

When any carb sits for a long time the pump side can dry out and make starting difficult, varnish can at times also build up causing problems.

 

[jus2fat]

I think your problems are caused by using "old" gas../..mix..!!

Don't mix more than you're gonna use in a couple weeks...MAX..!!

Buy a small measuring unit (for the oil) and just mix up what you will use short term.

It easy..!! Mix 1 ounce oil to 50 ounces of gasoline...for example. 1 oz. = ~30 ml.

Dump old gas mix in car / truck and fill tank.

J2F

 

[redoakneck]

I use sea-foam spray, taking the air filter off and go throttle wide open and spray carb to just not cause a complete stall, let sit 15 minutes and re-peat. Sometimes it takes overnight to de-varnish a carb. I also have used sea-foam additive with no problems in my saws. I always use fresh ethanol free fuel, 90+ octane. Now everyone will say you do not need sea-foam with e free gas and they are probably not wrong.


I do not know where you are in indiana, but I get my e-free gas at the county mark gas station/market in Liberty, south east corner of the state.


I have asked a lot of mechanics, chainsaw, dirt bike, general repair guys and they seem to like star tron the best. I just switched to star tron from sea foam. Prolly do not need it.

 

[GitWood]

When I could find ethanol free pump gas, I always used to use premium with 1 oz of Sea Foam per gallon. I always had great luck with that. Since I can't find the ethanol free gas any more, I went to only 100LL avgas in all of my 2-stroke equipment. Granted, the 100 octane may not be optimum, but the stuff seems to stay good forever. I don't bother with the Sea Foam since the switch, but if I were using pump gas, I'd definalely use it again.

 

[indiansprings]

I'm a believer in sea foam, usually add about 1 oz to each gallon of fuel mixed, I'll run 5 gallon of mix with the seafoam added and then run 5 gallon without it, just want to make sure we keep the carbon down and fuel systems clean, does it need it or do anything, well I can't say for sure no scientific measurements, but I've not had a carb or fuel related issue, I give about 9.00 a can for the stuff at the local parts store.
Between it and Ultra I think I'm feeding the saws a nice healthy diet and it pays off with no downtime or repair bills.