On 8/28/2011 11:55 AM, Vic Smith wrote:
On Sun, 28 Aug 2011 08:32:20 -0700 (PDT), "hr(bob) "
wrote:

On Aug 28, 10:25 am, Vic
wrote:
On Sun, 28 Aug 2011 07:48:48 -0700 (PDT), "





wrote:
On Aug 27, 4:32 pm, Robert wrote:
"Ed wrote:
http://www.goldeagle.com/engine_care/411onethanol.aspx
Stabilizers added to fresh fuel will maintain gasoline freshness for
9-12 months

Of course, untreated gasoline will stay "fresh" for 270-360 days if properly
stored.

You have a reference for that? And what defines "properly stored"?
Everything I've seen says you get a few months in typical storage
conditions most of us would use. Gas now has ethanol in it which
makes it even more problematic. I'd use stabil to go from one
season to the next, but would never let untreated go a year.

I never used Stabil or other additives.
Have a 5-gal plastic jug for the mower (4-stroke Craftman with Honda
engine) and a 1-gal jug for the mix I use in the whacker (cheap
2-stroke from Sears.)
Transfer from the 5-gal to a 2-gal I use for filling the mower.
If I'm not pouring caps and vents are closed.
That's "proper" storage to me.
My gas usage gets me to the gas station every other year where
I fill both the 5-gal and 2-gal jugs.
So I'm using one or two year old gas often enough.
Never had a problem or noticed anything amiss.
Don't pay attention to running anything dry either.
They always have gas in the tanks when cutting season is done.
They sit idle about 6 months here near Chicago.
Mower always starts first pull, whacker 3 or 4, but you have to know
how to choke it.
Both machines are 8 years old.
Just my experience.
Not my intent to interrupt any Stabil voodoo ceremonies.

--Vic- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You seal the unsed gasoline in the containers. Most containers and
all lawn mowers that I have seen have ventilating caps and that's
where the prolem lies.

Never saw a ventilating cap in a gas jug.
Not saying they don't exist.
Even the old metal cans I used were spill proof.
The plastic jugs I use are sealed tight.
When it gets hot they bulge a bit but never popped the vent cap.
The machine tank caps must be vented to prevent vacuum, but I never
had a problem with the gas going bad after 6 months.
I usually fill the mower for the first mowing so that gas gets
"refreshed" a bit. Takes an almost full tank to do all the lawn.
But with the whacker I usually start the season with the gas that's in
the tank.
Sometimes that gas is more than 2 years old because the 1-gal mix
lasts more than 2 years.

--Vic

I hate the new spill proof containers. No vent cap and delivery is
blurp, blurp, blurp. You have to force it to stay open and often they
do not rapidly close and I end up spilling more gas then the old containers.

That said, the chief enemy of gasoline is oxygen and once any
antioxidant in the gas, like BHT, is consumed the decomposition reaction
accelerates. Most gas cans these days are polyethylene and oxygen can
actually permeate the plastic and get at the gas. The best way to store
gas would be in a sealed metal can with little air head space. Air does
not permeate a metal container.

I get by with 2-3 years adding Stabil in the plastic cans.