Do you use non ethanol gas ?

[Chris1956]

Actually The Dry-Gas brand additive is isopropyl alcohol, as are most of the other brands like Heet. They treat frozen water blocking the fuel line, by absorbing the water so it cannot freeze. I have heard that they are bad for 2 cycle motors, although he reasons given could be wives tales.

The ethanol in our E10 gasoline absorbs water like the isopropyl alcohol, so we almost never have gas line freeze up, or even any serious water in the fuel tank. I run a water separator, but it never has much water in it. I also think E10 lasts at least 6 months in storage, although I do treat it over the winter.

I think my bottom line is to take care of the boats and use whatever fuel is available, and the correct price. The alcohol is not a positive or negative issue, in my mind.

 

[Bondo]

I've owned many boats over my 83 years, and I've always ran regular gas. I was talking recently to a boat mechanic lately and we were discussing why some boat owners seem to have more trouble than others with maintenance on their motors. The subject came up about gas, and I mentioned that I've always just used regular gas, and haven't had much trouble with plugged carbs. He felt it was really important to only use non ethanol gas, which made me wonder just how the boating community feels about that subject, pro/con ? Locally, non ethanol gas is running at around $6.50 a gallon.

Ayuh,..... I run ethanol free gas in All my toys,.....
Boats, my Jeep, 'n all my gas powered tools,....
My main ride is a diesel pickup,....

 

[Silvertip]

Oh, sorry to offend. I've had great luck with small engines since I switched to non-ethanol, but it's just anecdotal, I realize that. As is your experience of E10 storing better.
My Husqvarna chainsaw manual specifically recommends using non-ethanol fuel.

Do you disagree with the following statement clipped from the bobvila.com website:

Ethanol-blended gas lasts up to three months.​

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, most gasoline sold in the U.S. is “E10” gas made of 90 percent petroleum-based gas and 10 percent ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Ethanol-blended gas usually has a shelf life of up to three months because of the high speed at which ethanol oxidizes. Because ethanol is hydrophilic (a.k.a., water-loving), it will also readily absorb any water or humidity in a sealed container resulting from condensation, causing both moisture contamination of the fuel and the eventual separation of the fuel into distinct gas and ethanol layers. Generally, the higher the ethanol content in the gas, the shorter its shelf life, so E15 (15 percent ethanol content), E20 (20 percent ethanol), or E85 (85 percent ethanol) gas will expire sooner than E10 gas will.

Pure gasoline keeps for at least six months.​

Petroleum-based gasoline without any ethanol will still succumb to oxidation and volatile compound evaporation in a sealed container or tank, but these processes usually occur more slowly in pure gasoline, so you can usually expect it to last at least six months when properly stored. Because pure gas is hydrophobic (a.k.a., water-hating), it doesn’t absorb water or humidity as ethanol-blended gas does, which allows you to avoid moisture contamination and fuel separation issues.

So Bob Vila has become an expert on gasoline engines and fuel formulation? Up here in the tundra (Minnesota) we've been using E10 for decades. I had one incident with it and that was in a 1985 Chrysler New Yorker. The coating on the inside of the carb was turned to a baking powder like substance and intermittently stalled the engine. Cleaned and no more issues. My lawn equipment, snowmobiles, cars, trucks all ran fine with it. Collector cars are stored six month or more of the year and they run just fine. The to articles make it sound like the fuel won't even burn after three months. Pure hogwash. Issues with a switch to E10 were generally due to a dirty or neglected fuel system. Ethanol is an excellent fuel system cleaner. Once the previous gunk was cleaned out things were fine. And when is the last time one had to buy fuel system de-icer.

 

[Renken2000Classic]

Somebody tell me why we got it. The gov't isn't in the business of cleaning out or deicing or whatever everybody's fuel systems, as far as I'm aware.
If 10% is good, why isn't 15% better, hmmm?
My first experience with it was when I worked for a farmer a few summers in the mid-80s, and there was a nasty smell drifting across the fields to where we were working. It was from an ethanol plant or some such. Completely irrelevant I know (nasty smell doesn't necessarily = bad cr-p), but it sorta takes me back...

 

[flashback]

I guess it's an excess of corn.. give farmers a more profitable reason to grow it.

 

[JimS123]

Somebody tell me why we got it. The gov't isn't in the business of cleaning out or deicing or whatever everybody's fuel systems, as far as I'm aware.
If 10% is good, why isn't 15% better, hmmm?
My first experience with it was when I worked for a farmer a few summers in the mid-80s, and there was a nasty smell drifting across the fields to where we were working. It was from an ethanol plant or some such. Completely irrelevant I know (nasty smell doesn't necessarily = bad cr-p), but it sorta takes me back...

As a Chemical Engineering major (back in the late 1960's) we all had to design a factory from the ground up. All the professors chose ethanl plants as our example.

Don't know what that means, but ethanol was popular even back then.

 

[JimS123]

So Bob Vila has become an expert on gasoline engines and fuel formulation? Up here in the tundra (Minnesota) we've been using E10 for decades. I had one incident with it and that was in a 1985 Chrysler New Yorker. The coating on the inside of the carb was turned to a baking powder like substance and intermittently stalled the engine. Cleaned and no more issues. My lawn equipment, snowmobiles, cars, trucks all ran fine with it. Collector cars are stored six month or more of the year and they run just fine. The to articles make it sound like the fuel won't even burn after three months. Pure hogwash. Issues with a switch to E10 were generally due to a dirty or neglected fuel system. Ethanol is an excellent fuel system cleaner. Once the previous gunk was cleaned out things were fine. And when is the last time one had to buy fuel system de-icer.

When I was a teenager my Dad bought a brandspanking new Pontiac land yacht for my Mom for their 20th anniversary. It was Mom's first car.

The owner's manual said it was good for leaded gas, but unleaded was OK. It bothered Dad because he wasn't sure what to do.

Later, leaded was outlawed, so unleaded it was.

It was his baby and he treated it quite well. Fast forward and I inherited the car. We had it for about 10 years before we sold it to a classic car collector. Unbeknownst to us, we had been running it on E10 for a few years. (Mobil didn't tell us about it).

Regardless, it ran like a top no matter what gas was in it. Plus, apparently the ethanol didn't dissolve the fuel system. At least not when we owned it.

"Are you more amazed about how things change, or how it stays the same" (PPM song)

 

[Renken2000Classic]

I was thinking about the premium leaded gas that my first car ran on, that wasn't available that much longer if I remember right. '70 Pontiac with a 455. Didn't have it but a year or two so availability of that didn't affect me. The ones after that took regular or unleaded, even though one of them was even older.

 

[nola mike]

If mercury marine says e10 is ok, then it's probably ok.

 

[briangcc]

Ethanol free for the boat. I don't use that much during the season so its a non-issue cost wise.

E10 for the lawnmower and snowblower. I use a 5 gal gas can, add stabil, and then top the tanks from that. Every season, each starts 1-2 pulls in.

 

[KJM]

Why on earth would you add ethanol to gas for cold weather? Ethanol does not vaporize as easily as gasoline in cold weather thus it will make the engine harder to start. I've lived in Minnesota for 65 years and NEVER added ethanol to gasoline. Never had trouble getting those carbureted cars started either, though I did occasionally use a block heater on those -40 degree F nights.

Gas line antifreeze as it used to be called would absorb any water in the tank and prevent it from freezing in the lines/carb. It keeps water from building up in the tank. Probably not such an issue in Min. where it gets cols and stays cold, but in areas where the weather swings between mild and freezing a lot it could be more of a problem. That being said with the newer ethanol blends thats no longer an issue.

 

[KJM]

Somebody tell me why we got it. The gov't isn't in the business of cleaning out or deicing or whatever everybody's fuel systems, as far as I'm aware.
If 10% is good, why isn't 15% better, hmmm?
My first experience with it was when I worked for a farmer a few summers in the mid-80s, and there was a nasty smell drifting across the fields to where we were working. It was from an ethanol plant or some such. Completely irrelevant I know (nasty smell doesn't necessarily = bad cr-p), but it sorta takes me back...

I think it originally was introduced as a way to lower gas consumption and probably CO2 emmisions. Ethanol is a renewable resource so whatever CO2 is released is reabsorbed in the next crop so to speak. Probably was good for farmers as well as it gave them another buyer of corn.

 

[KJM]

My Yamaha says use E10 so thats what I use. I figure the folks making the engines have done their research!

 

[JASinIL2006]

Somebody tell me why we got it. The gov't isn't in the business of cleaning out or deicing or whatever everybody's fuel systems, as far as I'm aware.
If 10% is good, why isn't 15% better, hmmm?
My first experience with it was when I worked for a farmer a few summers in the mid-80s, and there was a nasty smell drifting across the fields to where we were working. It was from an ethanol plant or some such. Completely irrelevant I know (nasty smell doesn't necessarily = bad cr-p), but it sorta takes me back...

I thought it was to oxygenate gas to help it burn cleaner. I suspect there also was some political wrangling from corn-producing states to promote it as a possible alternative fuel, and adding ethanol to gas was a toe-hold for that. I think once you get beyond 10% or so, engines designed for primarily gas don't run as cool or as efficiently, so unless it's in a flex-fuel vehicle, you don't see more than 10% recommended.

I thought I read that ethanol treated gas runs hotter in most engines than straight gas; I wonder if that is why some manufacturers of small, air-cooled engines don't recommend ethanol in gas, or they recommend no more than 10%

 

[KJM]

I thought it was to oxygenate gas to help it burn cleaner. I suspect there also was some political wrangling from corn-producing states to promote it as a possible alternative fuel, and adding ethanol to gas was a toe-hold for that. I think once you get beyond 10% or so, engines designed for primarily gas don't run as cool or as efficiently, so unless it's in a flex-fuel vehicle, you don't see more than 10% recommended.

I thought I read that ethanol treated gas runs hotter in most engines than straight gas; I wonder if that is why some manufacturers of small, air-cooled engines don't recommend ethanol in gas, or they recommend no more than 10%

I think up here in Canada 10% is all you can get. I've never seen higher.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I think up here in Canada 10% is all you can get. I've never seen higher.

Normally, that is the case here in the US, too. (Unless you find an E85 pump, which in not common in many parts of our country.)

To help ease the gas shortage caused by the Russian war in the Ukraine, our government approved adding up to 15% ethanol for this summer. I have only seen a few places that are selling it, though.

 

[KJM]

Normally, that is the case here in the US, too. (Unless you find an E85 pump, which in not common in many parts of our country.)

To help ease the gas shortage caused by the Russian war in the Ukraine, our government approved adding up to 15% ethanol for this summer. I have only seen a few places that are selling it, though.

I think I'd stick with 10% if I could. Seems thats what most engines are designed for these days.

 

[jlh3rd]

Normally, that is the case here in the US, too. (Unless you find an E85 pump, which in not common in many parts of our country.)

To help ease the gas shortage caused by the Russian war in the Ukraine, our government approved adding up to 15% ethanol for this summer. I have only seen a few places that are selling it, though.

Gas shortage is not caused by Russia….

 

[nola mike]

Gas shortage is not caused by Russia….

There's no gas shortage. There's just deceased supply & increased demand

 

[KJM]

There's no gas shortage. There's just deceased supply & increased demand

Not to be argumentative but isn't a decreased supply a shortage?