Is ethanol ruining our saws?

[Sunrise Guy]

I know there have been articles about this in our trades, but I'm wondering how everyone in here is doing with this. If there is a thread on this, in here, my apologies, just point me in its direction.

All of my saws sem to be running rougher and rougher. I'm thinking of looking for additives to throw in my gas, but have not researched this. FWIW, I keep my saws tuned and cleaned so I have a feeling it's the ethanol in the gas.

Any and all input and suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Brodie]

We were having a similar problem with our saws they were running hotter and burning out spark plugs after a days use.

Mechanics are all having heaps of problems with this ethanol blend of fuels but on the plus side business is up at least 50%. What they are telling us to do is to use either premium or adjust the carbie settings so it can cope with the ethanol blend better.
Stihl dealers are saying the same things dont know about husky but thats what we are being told in Australia.

 

[sunfish]

The only problem I've had with ethanol, is gas lines. They only last around 2 years with eth...

 

[CTSawTech]

The only problem I've had with ethanol, is gas lines. They only last around 2 years with eth...

The fuel lines are mostly a problem with the Huskys, they use some kind of black rubber type of hose.

Not to say Stihl's don't have this problem too, just less frequently.

I heard of marine Sta-Bil being very useful for dealing with the eth. problems.
And frequent carb. adjustments help too.

 

[Bob Wright]

The old 60's and 70's Echos had fuel line problems when gas a hol first came out. So that old saw that ran yesterday maybe needs a line today. I see the newer carb kits say safe for under 10% eth so the old ones on the shelf prob aren't...Bob

 

[sunfish]

The old 60's and 70's Echos had fuel line problems when gas a hol first came out. So that old saw that ran yesterday maybe needs a line today. I see the newer carb kits say safe for under 10% eth so the old ones on the shelf prob aren't...Bob

The old "gas-a-hol" in the early 80s' ate holes in the aluminum gas tank of my Poulan 245A. I patched it up with JB-Weld and used it another 15 years. That was bad stuff!

 

[OldDeadOne]

I've googled for some ethanol resistant fuel lines for chainsaws with not much success at all,I wonder if Stihl and Husqvarna put those in their newer models and I wonder if they could make those available if that is indeed the case?

 

[CTSawTech]

I've googled for some ethanol resistant fuel lines for chainsaws with not much success at all,I wonder if Stihl and Husqvarna put those in their newer models and I wonder if they could make those available if that is indeed the case?

AFAIK...nothing has changed yet.

Except the replacement of leaky fuel lines that is...LOL

 

[RandyMac]

None of my old beaters drinks alcohol, but they do smoke.

 

[Bob Wright]

I have fixed 3 lines in the last 2 weeks. My buddies Husky is running funky and i wonder if thats the problem...Bob

 

[o8f150]

The fuel lines are mostly a problem with the Huskys, they use some kind of black rubber type of hose.

Not to say Stihl's don't have this problem too, just less frequently.

I heard of marine Sta-Bil being very useful for dealing with the eth. problems.
And frequent carb. adjustments help too.

:agree2::agree2: i did a lot of research on the marine sta-bil. from what i have read it will counter act and even nuetralize the ethonal. i have been using it all year with no issues at all. i will continue to use it

 

[pops21]

I've used nitro rc fuel line before with good results. Rc fuel has methanol and nitromethane in it. It also can take some pretty high temps. RC motors can run up to 200dg F. With the exhaust being even hotter then that.

 

[eyolf]

There are lots of threads here about ethanol gas, and if you really want to get an earful, talk to avid boaters. They have forums too, and discuss this a lot.

We had things pretty good for a while when we could leave a half-tank of gas in a chainsaw for weeks or even months and not worry.

Not now.

I don't think running E10 hurts your saw as long as its tuned for it; plenty of threads here about that too. Its the storage. My advice: run what's available, tune a hair rich if you can, and drain the tank if you're not going to use it again soon. Start the saw, idle until it uses up the rest of the fuel in the carb and line.

I store my saws hanging from bicycle hooks in the ceiling of my shop where its nice and dry. I've learned that sitting within a foot or two of the floor is an invite to problems, especially in damp spring weather. I find that I can leave a saw stored that way for a long time and not have trouble.

Stay away from oddball brand or old mix oil: a friend I go to church with recently started his old Husky 51 and the bottom end let go: he had been using some old leftover Klotz oil from the days when he rode dirt bikes. Apparently this old blend did NOT have very good rust preventative and surfaces in the crankshaft got rusty. Modern oils have solved this problem.

 

[lawnmowertech37]

none of my old beaters drinks alcohol, but they do smoke.

lol

 

[1steve]

YES............and its gonna F up more than saws, put your seat belt on gonna be a long ride

 

[CentaurG2]

Been running 10% ETOH for years and have never had a problem. I use a good quality synthetic mix (either amsoil or Ultra) at 50:1 with premium. Tune your saws to the mix and you will be fine. Date the mix and put it in your truck or car after 3 months. I used to recommend dry storage but I think I may reconsider. Left some mix in the trimmers over the winter (6 months) dumped it out this summer and it looked as good as the stuff I was putting back it. No signs of separation, no water, just mix. Trimmers all started and ran good as new. Never had a problem with it in my boat either. I think most of the boating problems were from the ETOH delaminating fiberglass fuel tanks.

 

[kspakland]

The gas where I live is horrible and smells even worse!!!
So far, it has affected not only the chainsaws, but has ruined the carbs in 3 generators and a water transfer pump.
I wish I could buy DECENT gas .........

 

[OldDeadOne]

I know there's that 50:1 premix gas you can buy in the can,but that's kind of expensive? They sell that 40:1 premix at walmart here that's good enough for my weedeater I might try when the gas in my small gas can runs out,but dunno if I would want to use that 40:1 in my Husky 350.

 

[kspakland]

I use about 50 gallons of gas a month in various small engines, so I gotta find the cheapest way to get around this.
NAPA had marine stabil for $10.69 a bottle, so gonna try it and some premium gas this next month and see what happens.

 

[jbighump]

i used last falls gas 93 and stihl ultra in my trimmer and blower this spring and they worked fine. i ran one of my saws dry last winter to see what would happen and all i can say is i wont be doing that again it took for ever to start and ran like ####