A Fuel Comment

[AKDoug]

Ethanol blended fuel is sold in Spring, summer, fall in Alaska its government mandated.
In Winter the Ethanol mandate is not in effect.
Google is boss.

I can google too. We do not import ethanol and none is used in the fuel refined in Alaska. I've tested for it too. We were exempted in 2003. There may be fuel in Alaska that is E10, but I haven't seen it anywhere.

Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

 

[hoeyrd2110]

usually after the second or third time my customers realize im not pulling thier leg when I say if your not gonna use it in two weeks run it dry...no matter what iI tell them. they act like im lying and making it all up. after $100's in repair they seem to finally get it...sorta

funny thing to me is the 2 stroke fuel last longer than regular but tends to lose its octane quicker. gotta love a little ethanol mixed in makes engines run cooler and last longer at the expense of carb problems from poor maintenance

 

[shootingarts]

hotter than a little bit down here

I'm in the deep south and my saw has decided it won't run warm. Crap saw but it restarted fine a few months ago. Going buy some pure gas and supplements, no AV gas nearby. Don't know what the hell I was thinking or wasn't thinking when I swiped some lawnmower gas to put chainsaw oil in. The new mower is supposed to be set up for ethanol. Twenty mile or so ride to just get real gas and I was in a hurry to do a little job. The lawn mower gas was fresh, regular, and up to ten percent ethanol. Dummy!

Hu

 

[Adirondackstihl]

that carb looks like it didn't even have a fuel filter on it . That's some big chips stuck in there.

LOL........it didn't. It was in the tank, just not connected to the end of the pick-up hose.
That sprocket came off the same saw.
FWIW....this was an 029

 

[mikey517]

According to that e10 free list, New Jersey is not even listed! But I was told by a tree guy that BP Platinum was ethanol free. So, while filling up the truck at my local BP, I asked the attendant, a guy in his mid 50's. He told me as far as he knew, BP was ethanol free. He told me he uses it exclusively in his Harley. There were no E-10 warning labels on any pump.

Now, I'm not the brightest knife in the tool box when it comes to this stuff, but someone here probably knows the real story... Is BP ethanol free in Jersey?

 

[mikefunaro]

According to that e10 free list, New Jersey is not even listed! But I was told by a tree guy that BP Platinum was ethanol free. So, while filling up the truck at my local BP, I asked the attendant, a guy in his mid 50's. He told me as far as he knew, BP was ethanol free. He told me he uses it exclusively in his Harley. There were no E-10 warning labels on any pump.

Now, I'm not the brightest knife in the tool box when it comes to this stuff, but someone here probably knows the real story... Is BP ethanol free in Jersey?

You can test yourself if you have a graduated cylinder or a good measuring cup.

As far as I know NJ, CT and a lot of NY are, by their (some lobbyist's) choice, participants in what's called an RFG area, where they voluntarily use the maximum permissible amount of reformulated fuel--all gas sold is 10%. The fact that you may have found an exception is good news. Where in NJ are you?

Basically you need to take a fixed volume of gas, add water, and then see if the "water" portion grows--ethanol is more soluble in water than in gas. Hence the separation.

 

[spike60]

Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada is a good reference. It may of course be incomplete, but here in NY it lists 230 stations. I think all of the fastrac stations in CNY have it. Some of the nice 'n easy's, plus plenty of independents. many of them are marine stations near the bigger lakes.

I go to the one in Stamford. Old timer named Pete running an old time place. Hardly has any signs. Pete's got some interesting hot rods in the shop too. :msp_thumbup:

Oops, it's already been posted!

 

[LegDeLimber]

My neighbor asked me to take a look at his push mower a few weeks back.
The tank had this in it.
Sorry bout the crappy pic, the camera focus always goes weak when the batteries need a charge.

The diaphragm was stiff and curled. look at the valves (red arrows)
and then the area inside of the dotted blue line is the pumping section.
Needed to set a couple of sockets on it to hold it flat for the pic.

 

[exSW]

OK,next B####.One of my local stations has set up a pure gas pump but it is 87 octane only.I know for a fact that some of my four stroke power equipment prefers 93 and my saws are tuned for 93 to cut down on cans.Big can for straight gas,gallon can for two stroke,two stroke gas goes in the Cub Cadet to cut grass when it gets a little age on it.

 

[mikey517]

Well, it seems that in the great State of New Joisey, it is not required that the pumps be labeled for ethanol.

There are 15 states that do NOT require an ethanol warning; (alphabetically) California, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Ohio.

 

[o8f150]

I have been running the 93 octane shell,, I tested it when I got 2 gallons a couple of months ago and it showed no signs of ethanol,,, going to test it again and see what happens,, I am thinking about going out to the airport and getting some 100vll and try it just for the heck of it,, its 5.25 a gallon,, least with that I would have piece of mind of not getting any ethanol,, so far after many years I haven't had any trouble out of the shell 93

 

[mattthompson]

That first one looks like a pipe of tobacco.

 

[stihlonlynow]

When I was in Iowa a watched a doc. on ethanol that expressed all the concerns on here, but really showed how the huge water demands for growing vast areas of corn use enormous amounts of water. The Colorado River is a trickle at its end and the water table has been lowered to levels of concern. The amazing thing is that it is being touted as Green tech.

Yeah and gas mileage is inversely proportional to the amount of ethanol. You really went saving any fossil fuel. Its like adding the spent corn mash to chicken feed....the chickens fell full but they don't lay any more eggs. Its just filler that's all. Filler that screws up small engines. We can't grow enough corn in north america to become independent of fossil fuel. That's if we didn't eat any nor feed it to our livestock.

 

[barneyrb]

Well, it seems that in the great State of New Joisey, it is not required that the pumps be labeled for ethanol.

There are 15 states that do NOT require an ethanol warning; (alphabetically) California, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Ohio.

Your information may be dated because Louisiana does require pumps to be labeled. The labels will say "may contain up to 10% ethanol"

 

[Modifiedmark]

Your information may be dated because Louisiana does require pumps to be labeled. The labels will say "may contain up to 10% ethanol"

Well there right about Indiana not requiring labels.

But that wasn't always like that, they use to require pumps to be labeled to warn of ethanol.

Problem is when "they" made it mandatory that ethanol be used they also did away with the requirement that the pumps would have to be labeled showing there was ethanol in the fuel.

The big problem with that is they didn't bother to tell the general population that the label requirement was repealed. That's where I ran into my first big trouble with ethanol as I had been getting my gas at the same place forever since there was no label on the pump and I thought I was getting non ethanol gas.

I had to replace fuel lines on about 40-50 saws in my collection because of it. I just shake my head when people try to convince me or someone else that ethanol isn't a problem, I know better.

 

[shootingarts]

fuel line

Well there right about Indiana not requiring labels.

But that wasn't always like that, they use to require pumps to be labeled to warn of ethanol.

Problem is when "they" made it mandatory that ethanol be used they also did away with the requirement that the pumps would have to be labeled showing there was ethanol in the fuel.

The big problem with that is they didn't bother to tell the general population that the label requirement was repealed. That's where I ran into my first big trouble with ethanol as I had been getting my gas at the same place forever since there was no label on the pump and I thought I was getting non ethanol gas.

I had to replace fuel lines on about 40-50 saws in my collection because of it. I just shake my head when people try to convince me or someone else that ethanol isn't a problem, I know better.

Funny you should mention that. A little saw with apparently just minutes running time on it years ago, wasn't broken in when I got it. Wouldn't run right and died when I turned it sideways. Took a look earlier today, broken fuel line inside the tank!

Hu

 

[MindFork]

Instead of making a new thread, I'll just ask this in here. Which ethanol treatment do you guys prefer:

Marine Stabil
or
Ethanol Shield

and why?

I've been using Marine Stabil for about a year, and the results have been good.

I took the crazy-sounding advice of a tech at my local Stihl dealer to treat the gas with an ethanol stabilizer, add fuel oil and keep my tanks full all winter long. And it worked. My saw and weed eater started right up in the spring with no problems.

They sell Ethanol Shield, but I already had marine stabil so that's what I used. I'm going to do the same this winter, and I'll probably stick to marine stabil since I know it works and has a handy measuring bottle, but ethanol shield claims to be the ultimate ethanol treatment ever in the history of the universe. I just haven't used it yet.

 

[TK]

Instead of making a new thread, I'll just ask this in here. Which ethanol treatment do you guys prefer:

Marine Stabil
or
Ethanol Shield

and why?

I've been using Marine Stabil for about a year, and the results have been good.

I took the crazy-sounding advice of a tech at my local Stihl dealer to treat the gas with an ethanol stabilizer, add fuel oil and keep my tanks full all winter long. And it worked. My saw and weed eater started right up in the spring with no problems.

They sell Ethanol Shield, but I already had marine stabil so that's what I used. I'm going to do the same this winter, and I'll probably stick to marine stabil since I know it works and has a handy measuring bottle, but ethanol shield claims to be the ultimate ethanol treatment ever in the history of the universe. I just haven't used it yet.

Ethanol shield.

 

[ernurse]

Thats why i burn AV gas in all my power equipment
and both my pickups are diesel.






Lee

Me too...i'll take the slight decrease in hp and occasional reproductive harm caused by the lead to know im getting pure and consistant fuel.:msp_thumbup:

 

[Modifiedmark]

Ethanol shield.

Glad to here you give a recommendation for that one. I have not tried it yet but did pick some up the other day.

Do you mind sharing why you recommend it? How did you test it?


I scratch my head when people talk about Marine Stabil as I have not seen where it is advertised in helping with ethanol problems. The Stabil ethanol formula dose work, I gave it a 6 month test winter before last in my golf cart and mower. When checked in the spring 6 months later there was no sign of any ethanol separation and the new fuel lines I had put on the mower were still like new.

Last winter I ended up doing a 7 month test on the same two things but used StarTron and again got the same results but for what its worth the gas smelled fresher when using the StarTron.

I was looking for the StarTron a while back and couldn't find any when I picked up the Ethanol Shield so I will try it as well.