I drive about thirty miles to get gasoline that doesn't contain ethanol, it's 91 octane and does well in two stroke engines.
Most cars that can run high alcohol blends or straight alcohol have a compression ration of 14:1 or more or a supercharger or turbocharger. My car engine has a ratio of around 8.5 to 1 or thereabouts. Even if it runs on ethanol it doesn't produce the power that pure gasoline will. On a chainsaw you're lowering the power by adding oil then you're lowering it more with alcohol added.What it does in a 2 stroke engine im not that well edumacated but I do know a bit about it in the automotive side of it. I have many friends that run E-85 in their modified cars (supercharged and turbocharged mainly) Ethanol has a much higher octane rating then gasoline but also burns cooler compared to gasoline so make what you want out of that info. It takes more ethanol mixed fuel to create the same air/fuel ratio then straight gas. In the case of E-85 in automobiles it takes somewhere around 30% more fuel because of the lower BTU output to get the same air/fuel ratio that you had with straight gasoline in a naturally aspirated engine and even more when you get into forced induction. for instance If you try to run E-85 in a vehicle that wasn't designed to run it, you will get lean bank engine codes that will most likely put it in limp mode or cause serious detonation.
The straight alcohol part would be racing applications and the fuel most likely Methanol. Your 14:1 is probably about right for the racing methanol. My 2012 F150 has a flex fuel logo on the back. The naturally aspirated 6 cylinder and the 5.0 v8 have this logo. It is compatible with E85, I guess about 85% ethanol. It is actually a tiny bit more powerful using that fuel from reading on the F150 forum and maybe also the manual. It uses significantly more to go a mile, like 12 mpg instead of 20. I have yet to drive by a station that sells it. Why all the fuss about E15 when I have yet to try out a tank of E85 is puzzling.Most cars that can run high alcohol blends or straight alcohol have a compression ration of 14:1 or more or a supercharger or turbocharger. My car engine has a ratio of around 8.5 to 1 or thereabouts. Even if it runs on ethanol it doesn't produce the power that pure gasoline will. On a chainsaw you're lowering the power by adding oil then you're lowering it more with alcohol added.
Curious as to why you can trust E fuel & not non E ? is it just the storage time The part of France where I live, No fuel of whatever brand contains any E, so I guess I'm spared any problems related to E fuel. 2 smoke motors are renowned for if you want the best performance available the carb settings should be adjusted at hourly rather than daily/weekly settings but as a saw in normal trim is not that picky it is often over looked or considered necessaryThe trouble with non ethanol is you really don't know what your getting, could have ethanol in it or maybe 2 years old at a slow gas station. Over here we have enough snowmobiles that run non ethanol to keep the supply kind of fresh. No troubles in my saws so far. Steve
I'll preface this by saying I am actually a big fan of ethanol (in no way political, I just think it's a superior fuel) but the real problem with it comes from running so little of it in gasoline. I have many of my own equipment and cars rejetted and retuned to run e85, and I store my saws and small engines with e85 in the tanks and don't have problems, if any moisture gets in it just absorbs into the fuel and is burned off. With only 10% ethanol in the fuel once that ethanol is saturated with water (doesn't take too much) it drops out of the gas and will corrode and mess up carbs, with straight e85 I don't get issues unless lots of water physically enters a carb from rain or spraying with water. I have had e85 in my old homelite xl12 for like 10 years and i've never had an issue.Why all the fuss about E15 when I have yet to try out a tank of E85 is puzzling.
Sponge.I am a big ethanol fan.....
Can't say I've ever seen a fiberglass fuel tank, but I bet it would fall apart in the presence of pure gas too. Now, an aluminum below deck tank will grow some white paste, sometimes enough to block the pick up tube, when water is present. The hydroscopic nature of ethanol blended fuels ensures a good supply of water. Not too much of an issue though, plastic fuel tanks have been installed in boats for the last twenty years or so. Most boats with aluminum tanks are rotted junk and long since scrapped out.
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