Gas life?

[OM617YOTA]

What sold me on them was the fact that every ship with diesel power has at least one or more for each fuel tank. Pretty much SOP for diesel powered boats.

That's what did it for me too. If it'll take care of folks on fishing boats miles from shore, whose lives depend on those engines running, it's vast overkill for my needs, which is perfect as far as I'm concerned.

 

[BrunoB]

I run 100% gas in all of my equipment. I only buy at stations that have separate hoses .
No problems here.

 

[ammoaddict]

I'm not a fan of Seafoam, I've seen a study that it actually decreased the shelf life of gas.
If you look at the msds, the ingredients are 40-60% pale oil, 25-35% naptha, and 10-20% isopropyl alcohol.
So you buy ethanol free gas and then add alcohol back in anyways by adding Seafoam.

I run ethanol free 90 or 91octane gas and Amsoil Saber 2 stroke oil and have no problem with it keeping a year. I have had it as old as 18 months without issue.

Seafoam msds says less than 25% isopropanol, which is a bit different than ethanol. So less than 25% of 1 oz added to 128 ounces of fuel is not much.

 

[bwalker]

In the first case, I mix the fuel for the 2 stroke chainsaws. Since mixing, I've never had a problem with water in the fuels of gas aging out. And why would I put Stabil in a 4 stroke vehicle I use every day?

In the second case, the mechanics shop suggested the idea as a precaution and preclean as he's seen carbon on almost all of the plugs he had to remove and the ones that broke did so due to excessive carbon.

The point is you don't know if you had carbon or not. You're making an assumption and then claiming Seafoam did something based on the assumption.

 

[bwalker]

Seafoam msds says less than 25% isopropanol, which is a bit different than ethanol. So less than 25% of 1 oz added to 128 ounces of fuel is not much.

It is a bit different, but the pertinent thing to this discussion is both absorb water.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Kinda ridiculous adding all that to a chainsaw, no offense. It's not like these chemicals all work in unison and do those miracle things when you add them together. Also, weird stuff happens in the combustion chamber when you start making cocktails. I've seed it with Red Armor fuel treatment where it puts a fine red ash on everything (Not good).

All you need to run these saws for eternity with no problems is: run them full tilt on ethanol free gas w/ red armor around 45:1.

probably a lot of truth to that! i recently started up my Echo 280T trimmer. purchased new in May, 2015. basically, was still brand new NIB condition. never use to cut a chip or!! stored it covered. dealer had fired it up. ensure all things 'go'. red armor oil. e or no e fuel i do not know. but, with the volume of start up, fills etc. mite have been e gasoline. at 18 months i fired it up. started right off. returned it to storage. other day i went to start it up. i had sold it. right close to what i paid for it. had 4' extension also. i checked the fuel mix thinking i would drain it. but its odor was like 'fresh mixed fuel'. i had added no fuel to tank. it still had mix from shop... 8 years old.

fired up on 3rd pull! ran like a top. i ran it half choke. then to no choke to heat soak. tested throttle response, and it was crisp and on the $! i did not mid range it, nor buzz it! just sat there and purred! 'pop'...'pop'...'pop!'.....

the Echo PPT-280 is a mean machine!...

 

[toppers]

Lots of additives on the market, 98% of them probably only accomplish one thing: separating the buyer from their money.

KISS keep it super simple in the world of 2 strokes: ethanol free gas, a good oil, and run it hard.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

probably a lot of truth to that! i recently started up my Echo 280T trimmer. purchased new in May, 2015. basically, was still brand new NIB condition. never use to cut a chip or!! stored it covered. dealer had fired it up. ensure all things 'go'. red armor oil. e or no e fuel i do not know. but, with the volume of start up, fills etc. mite have been e gasoline. at 18 months i fired it up. started right off. returned it to storage. other day i went to start it up. i had sold it. right close to what i paid for it. had 4' extension also. i checked the fuel mix thinking i would drain it. but its odor was like 'fresh mixed fuel'. i had added no fuel to tank. it still had mix from shop... 8 years old.

fired up on 3rd pull! ran like a top. i ran it half choke. then to no choke to heat soak. tested throttle response, and it was crisp and on the $! i did not mid range it, nor buzz it! just sat there and purred! 'pop'...'pop'...'pop!'.....

the Echo PPT-280 is a mean machine!...
View attachment 1149166View attachment 1149167View attachment 1149168

Love my PAS 280. I run alot of stuff off it since PAS system.
But mainly the power sweep for gravel after plow season on 700' driveway.

VPracing oil and efree for it. So far never a issue over 5 years.

Wife wanted me to get a wheel kit for her uses. So I bought her this much weaker stihl 55 (but works great for mini tilling). They should have put the better 94 on them. I like real 2 strokes.

They can shove that 4 mix up the wazoo.

 

[Lionsfan]

Much easier to do as well. Just open the drain cock on the bottom of the clear bowl on the Racor and let it out. Been using IFJF spin on filters on mine. Less expensive than the Racor filters and according to independent tests, actually filter a bit better than the OEM cartridges. I have the optional bowl heaters on mine though I never wired the up. Got them just in case. I will say they remove all the water and any crud as well. The issue with mine was placement of the unit between the cab and the loader frame on my big ag Kubota's. I wound up drilling and tapping (with my MAG drill), mounting holes in the stationary loader upright but not where they were in the way anything that could impact them.

What sold me on them was the fact that every ship with diesel power has at least one or more for each fuel tank. Pretty much SOP for diesel powered boats.

Again, what I really like is the fact that I no longer have to renew primary fuel (engine mounted) fuel filters or deal with the secondary mesh filter attached to the engine itself, which is in my case a PITA to access. Going to put one on my diesel pickup truck as well. I believe they are an excellent alternative to contaminated fuel. Like I said, cost me a grand in replacement parts years ago.

Racor makes a good filter housing, but saying every ship uses them is false. 4 of the 7 vessels in our fleet use Detroit Sea Pro primary filters and the other 3 have Racor. They are very different designs, but have similar service intervals.

ko

 

[Mad Professor]

The good old days.

 

[Sidecarflip]

Racor makes a good filter housing, but saying every ship uses them is false. 4 of the 7 vessels in our fleet use Detroit Sea Pro primary filters and the other 3 have Racor. They are very different designs, but have similar service intervals.

View attachment 1149228ko

Any design that strips the crud and water is ok with me. Just so happens that Parker Hannifin (Racor) makes a unit that will fit on my tractors and take up minimal (and precious room) works for me. I remember working as a longshoreman years ago that the flat bottom ore carriers had no fuel polishing units at all, because they all burned coal. I used to work for a company in Cleveland that did the coal to oil conversions and we installed Racor's exclusively. I also remember the centrifugal oil spinners that were popular back then that are really rare today.

I worked on the Edmund Fitzgerald as well. She was a leaker even back then. If she wasn't bilge pumped continuously, she would have scuttled herself. Those were the days. I not so fondly remember going out at lunch and buying a magnum of Lambrusco to keep warm with. Nothing colder than working on a laker in the middle of the winter. 37 years now without a drop of alcohol. Never sailed on one but I worked on many during winter layup. We used to install self unloaders as well. I have a few of the very large wrenches here in the shop that 'mysteriously' vanished from the yard as well, including a nice alloy Rigid Stillson with a 6 foot handle. Those were the days back then.

 

[Lionsfan]

You might remember The Mackinaw from your days in Cleveland. It would have been a white hull back in your day, as it was when I served on it back in the 90's. It had a centrifugal lube oil purifier (which never really worked) and a centrifugal fuel oil purifier which they relied on heavily. I don't remember what brand the fuel filter housings were, but they were a Racor style.

 

[Sidecarflip]

I know the 'Mack' had issues with her raw water intake getting clogged with ice. She is retired now, I presume? You live up north or are you a lower dweller? Those days are long gone and so are the sleds. I used to lake race a 1000 T'Cat back when I was stupid. Heck, I still have 4 motorcycles, 2 Triumph's, a Norton and a Kawasaki. Gonna sell all of them this spring, except the Norton. Take up too much room in the shop that I need.

 

[Lionsfan]

I know the 'Mack' had issues with her raw water intake getting clogged with ice. She is retired now, I presume? You live up north or are you a lower dweller? Those days are long gone and so are the sleds. I used to lake race a 1000 T'Cat back when I was stupid. Heck, I still have 4 motorcycles, 2 Triumph's, a Norton and a Kawasaki. Gonna sell all of them this spring, except the Norton. Take up too much room in the shop that I need.

Been retired about 15 years. It's been turned into a museum and moored in Mackinaw City at the end of a pier owned by my employer.

 

[Doorfx]

Any design that strips the crud and water is ok with me. Just so happens that Parker Hannifin (Racor) makes a unit that will fit on my tractors and take up minimal (and precious room) works for me. I remember working as a longshoreman years ago that the flat bottom ore carriers had no fuel polishing units at all, because they all burned coal. I used to work for a company in Cleveland that did the coal to oil conversions and we installed Racor's exclusively. I also remember the centrifugal oil spinners that were popular back then that are really rare today.

I worked on the Edmund Fitzgerald as well. She was a leaker even back then. If she wasn't bilge pumped continuously, she would have scuttled herself. Those were the days. I not so fondly remember going out at lunch and buying a magnum of Lambrusco to keep warm with. Nothing colder than working on a laker in the middle of the winter. 37 years now without a drop of alcohol. Never sailed on one but I worked on many during winter layup. We used to install self unloaders as well. I have a few of the very large wrenches here in the shop that 'mysteriously' vanished from the yard as well, including a nice alloy Rigid Stillson with a 6 foot handle. Those were the days back then.

Wow that is so cool. That is one of my favorite songs of all time. Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald !! Thanks for sharing that story.

 

[bwalker]

Kind off off topic, but a few years back when I lived in Upper MI I was boating down on Sturgeon Bay, WIS and seen the Arthur Anderson. The boat directly behind the Fitz when it went down.

 

[bwalker]

The good old days.

View attachment 1149239

I put thousands of those together when I was between the ages of 12-15.
My grandfather had a contract with AC Sparkplug to make and package them. Although they had glass bowls.

 

[Lionsfan]

Kind off off topic, but a few years back when I lived in Upper MI I was boating down on Sturgeon Bay, WIS and seen the Arthur Anderson. The boat directly behind the Fitz when it went down.View attachment 1149856

She's still in service, saw her in the Soo not too long ago.

 

[Mad Professor]

I put thousands of those together when I was between the ages of 12-15.
My grandfather had a contract with AC Sparkplug to make and package them. Although they had glass bowls.

The bowls are still glass, but might be Chi-Com glass?.

That's a new filter/sediment bowl on my 1952 Ferguson TO-20. I just got it running again, plowed snow this week.

 

[Sidecarflip]

An oldie but goodie. In my situation, old tractors don't work. I need high horsepower productive tractors because I farm. No hobby here.