On 10/03/2021 01:31, Rod Speed wrote:


"Custos Custodum" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 04 Mar 2021 14:05:56 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Â* Jethro_uk wrote:
On Thu, 04 Mar 2021 00:32:54 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Been quite a few scare stories in the press about how E10 petrol -
coming here later this year - will damage many older cars. Much of it
the usual press ********, after all E5 has been around for quite some
time, and is known to attack older 'rubber' flexible fuel pipes.
Which
don't last forever anyway. Much of it generalization, but one
specific
was mentioned.
It attacks the solder used on carburetter floats (those made of
brass).
Any comments?

I can remember when unleaded petrol was being phased in, and some
cockwombling fire chief scored weeks of publicity saying it was a bad
thing as it was more flammable that real petrol.

Which suggests (as always) the 80:20 law still applies, and 80% of
reportage is utter ********.

My feeling too. Or the articles I've read try to simplify things for us
peasants and invent 'science' that doesn't exist.


This one's a classic of pseudo-scientific misdirection:
https://www.theautochannel.com/news/...r-out-air.html

(Adverts at about 11:20)

One said the ethanol absorbs moisture from air.


It does; it's hygroscopic. But not noticeably so (see above). However,
you can't separate them again by simple fractional distillation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azeotrope

And that 'condensation'
will attack lead, zinc, brass, copper and of course steel. As well as
rubber and some plastics.

I believe ethanol will dissolve some plastics (e.g., perspex?)

No it doesn't.

The consensus is that it does, but not to a marked effect with perspex.

First link I came across:
https://www.eplastics.com/blog/chemi...lic-plexiglass

I'm genuinely surprised with your reply, crazing of perspex with ethanol
is well known and I thought you had a chemical background?