The last time I used my generator was in June. That's 5 months ago, and
already the gas went stale. In June it ran well. Now it wont start,
and that nasty stale gas odor is quite strong.

I removed the hose from the tank and let all that bad gas drain out.
Put the hose back, and poured in a cup of fresh gas, some carb cleaner,
and some Stabil gas stabilizer. Now I'm just letting it sit for a day
or so.

Will this Stabil and carb cleaner clean out any crud in the carburetor
after it works it's way in there, or will I have to rebuild it?

I cant believe that gas went bad so fast. They must be making some real
****ty gas these days. What's really bizarre is that I'll leave my
lawnmower sit all winter without draining the gas, and it starts right
up in spring. I guess the hot weather makes gas get stale faster.

Are there any other tips, or secrets to dealing with stale gas? I
really cant see that the carb would be varnished up yet, that's just too
short of a time span. But it would not even try to start, at least not
on that stale gas.

I've been fighting this problem also. Seems to be worse in 2 cycle engines.. My small engine repairman told me it starts to go bad within a month now & not to keep any untreated any longer than that. Seems like the only solution may be to use premium gasolene. An soon as possible I am going to switch my generator from gasolene (it is a tri-fuel one) to propane. I have not had the problem but am beginning to worry about my truck because I only refuel it about every couple of months.

On 10/25/2013 5:55 AM, wrote:
The last time I used my generator was in June. That's 5 months ago, and
already the gas went stale. In June it ran well. Now it wont start,
and that nasty stale gas odor is quite strong.

I removed the hose from the tank and let all that bad gas drain out.
Put the hose back, and poured in a cup of fresh gas, some carb cleaner,
and some Stabil gas stabilizer. Now I'm just letting it sit for a day
or so.

Will this Stabil and carb cleaner clean out any crud in the carburetor
after it works it's way in there, or will I have to rebuild it?

I cant believe that gas went bad so fast. They must be making some real
****ty gas these days. What's really bizarre is that I'll leave my
lawnmower sit all winter without draining the gas, and it starts right
up in spring. I guess the hot weather makes gas get stale faster.

Are there any other tips, or secrets to dealing with stale gas? I
really cant see that the carb would be varnished up yet, that's just too
short of a time span. But it would not even try to start, at least not
on that stale gas.

The last time I dealt with stale gas, a spray of ether
on the air filter helped the motor start.

As to the Stabil and new gas cleaning out your carb,
I don't know. I guess you are the field tester?

Premium gas with no ethanol should work better, if it's
for sale near you.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Friday, October 25, 2013 7:54:29 AM UTC-4, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 10/25/2013 5:55 AM, wrote:

The last time I used my generator was in June. That's 5 months ago, and

already the gas went stale. In June it ran well. Now it wont start,

and that nasty stale gas odor is quite strong.



I removed the hose from the tank and let all that bad gas drain out.

Put the hose back, and poured in a cup of fresh gas, some carb cleaner,

and some Stabil gas stabilizer. Now I'm just letting it sit for a day

or so.



Will this Stabil and carb cleaner clean out any crud in the carburetor

after it works it's way in there, or will I have to rebuild it?



I cant believe that gas went bad so fast. They must be making some real

****ty gas these days. What's really bizarre is that I'll leave my

lawnmower sit all winter without draining the gas, and it starts right

up in spring. I guess the hot weather makes gas get stale faster.



Are there any other tips, or secrets to dealing with stale gas? I

really cant see that the carb would be varnished up yet, that's just too

short of a time span. But it would not even try to start, at least not

on that stale gas.



The last time I dealt with stale gas, a spray of ether

on the air filter helped the motor start.



As to the Stabil and new gas cleaning out your carb,

I don't know. I guess you are the field tester?



Premium gas with no ethanol should work better, if it's

for sale near you.



--

.

Christopher A. Young

Learn about Jesus

www.lds.org

.

I've had success sometimes spraying carb cleaner into the
carb. Some carbs are more sensitive to the gas problem than
others, exactly why IDK. I can leave gas in my mower over
winter and it's not a problem. But the Tecumseh carb on
my snow blower has been fowled a couple times in just a few
months. That one I've had to rebuild.

As for the crappy gas, I'm not sure what can be done about
it. Gas by law has to have alcohol in it. Alcohol attracts
moisture and that forms the gum, corrodes metal parts, etc.
In my cases, I haven't seen corrosion really, it's always
been the gum formation. There are a variety of stabilizer
products you can add that are supposed to help. How much
better one might be than another, IDK. Would be great if
there was a study of some kind with data. IDK if there is
gas still available that you could buy without alcohol?
None I know of around here, nj.

On 10/25/2013 5:55 AM, wrote:
The last time I used my generator was in June. That's 5 months ago, and
already the gas went stale. In June it ran well. Now it wont start,
and that nasty stale gas odor is quite strong.

I removed the hose from the tank and let all that bad gas drain out.
Put the hose back, and poured in a cup of fresh gas, some carb cleaner,
and some Stabil gas stabilizer. Now I'm just letting it sit for a day
or so.

Will this Stabil and carb cleaner clean out any crud in the carburetor
after it works it's way in there, or will I have to rebuild it?

I cant believe that gas went bad so fast. They must be making some real
****ty gas these days. What's really bizarre is that I'll leave my
lawnmower sit all winter without draining the gas, and it starts right
up in spring. I guess the hot weather makes gas get stale faster.

Are there any other tips, or secrets to dealing with stale gas? I
really cant see that the carb would be varnished up yet, that's just too
short of a time span. But it would not even try to start, at least not
on that stale gas.


Might work.

I add Stabile to my generator gas as soon as I gas it up and am OK for 2
years. Than I use up that gas and any stored gas and replace with fresh.

Gas stored in an air tight container under an inert atmosphere in
absence of light should last forever. Oxidation and light are the
culprits and once any antioxidant is used up oxidation can be fast.

I got by for 5 years with stabilized 2 cycle mixed gas but it went bad.

Under adverse conditions, oil companies say gas is only good for maybe a
few months.

wrote:
On Friday, October 25, 2013 7:54:29 AM UTC-4, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 10/25/2013 5:55 AM, wrote:

The last time I used my generator was in June. That's 5 months ago, and

already the gas went stale. In June it ran well. Now it wont start,

and that nasty stale gas odor is quite strong.



I removed the hose from the tank and let all that bad gas drain out.

Put the hose back, and poured in a cup of fresh gas, some carb cleaner,

and some Stabil gas stabilizer. Now I'm just letting it sit for a day

or so.



Will this Stabil and carb cleaner clean out any crud in the carburetor

after it works it's way in there, or will I have to rebuild it?



I cant believe that gas went bad so fast. They must be making some real

****ty gas these days. What's really bizarre is that I'll leave my

lawnmower sit all winter without draining the gas, and it starts right

up in spring. I guess the hot weather makes gas get stale faster.



Are there any other tips, or secrets to dealing with stale gas? I

really cant see that the carb would be varnished up yet, that's just too

short of a time span. But it would not even try to start, at least not

on that stale gas.



The last time I dealt with stale gas, a spray of ether

on the air filter helped the motor start.



As to the Stabil and new gas cleaning out your carb,

I don't know. I guess you are the field tester?



Premium gas with no ethanol should work better, if it's

for sale near you.



--

.

Christopher A. Young

Learn about Jesus

www.lds.org

.

I've had success sometimes spraying carb cleaner into the
carb. Some carbs are more sensitive to the gas problem than
others, exactly why IDK. I can leave gas in my mower over
winter and it's not a problem. But the Tecumseh carb on
my snow blower has been fowled a couple times in just a few
months. That one I've had to rebuild.

As for the crappy gas, I'm not sure what can be done about
it. Gas by law has to have alcohol in it. Alcohol attracts
moisture and that forms the gum, corrodes metal parts, etc.
In my cases, I haven't seen corrosion really, it's always
been the gum formation. There are a variety of stabilizer
products you can add that are supposed to help. How much
better one might be than another, IDK. Would be great if
there was a study of some kind with data. IDK if there is
gas still available that you could buy without alcohol?
None I know of around here, nj.

Hmmm,
What stale gas? I dragged my John Deere lawn mower sitting in the shed
for 3 years doing nothing. The tank had gas so I ,by pulling cord a few
times, since weather was pretty chilly I removed the spark plug
and heated it on the kitchen range. Installed hot plug back, pulled the
cord couple times it fired up and started running. My snow blower, grass
trimmer are both 2 cycle engines, at the end of season I chuck them
away, when season starts I take them out and in a few minutes I can run
them ready to work. I never used fuel stabilizer or carb. cleaner. I
just keep every thing clean and use clean gas, clean oil all the time.

On 10/25/2013 12:05 PM, wrote:

As for the crappy gas, I'm not sure what can be done about
it. Gas by law has to have alcohol in it. Alcohol attracts
moisture and that forms the gum, corrodes metal parts, etc.
In my cases, I haven't seen corrosion really, it's always
been the gum formation. There are a variety of stabilizer
products you can add that are supposed to help. How much
better one might be than another, IDK. Would be great if
there was a study of some kind with data. IDK if there is
gas still available that you could buy without alcohol?
None I know of around here, nj.

Voila!
http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=NJ
I'm also not fond of gasohol.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

i cleaned some bearings with gasoline, left the gas to evaporate in a pan for a week, normally after that I would wipe out the pan with a old rag and toss the rag.

these days most of the gas never evaporates.......

exposed it turns to a mushey liquid. I put out a experiment pan, it ceaned nothing the gas didnt evaporate...

its amazing engines even run with current fuel

On Friday, October 25, 2013 1:58:14 PM UTC-4, bob haller wrote:
i cleaned some bearings with gasoline, left the gas to evaporate in a pan for a week, normally after that I would wipe out the pan with a old rag and toss the rag.



these days most of the gas never evaporates.......



exposed it turns to a mushey liquid. I put out a experiment pan, it ceaned nothing the gas didnt evaporate...



its amazing engines even run with current fuel

Equipment that has diaphram style carbs is less likely to have problems as very little gas sits in the carb. Equipment with float bowl carbs will have issues because the gas evaporates from the float bowl leaving a residue. That residue is often not dissolved by new gas. If it happens repeatedly the residue starts to be a problem. I try to minimize that by shutting off the gas while the engine is running then allow the engine to idle until it dies. This removes a lot of the gas form the float bowl.

I bought two string trimmers Saturday, $1750 for both. Both are as new.
Fired them both up, but don't think they had that bad a gas. The line
advance heads don't work great, so I'll try my new Rino line heads,
which work so much better for me than those self advance ones. The
string last many times longer.

As per gas, there's so little in there, just drain it out each time, and
run until carb runs out and engine dies. Old fuel will eat lots of
things in these little engines.

Steve

On 10/28/2013 1:05 PM, SteveB wrote:


I bought two string trimmers Saturday, $1750 for both. Both are as new.
Fired them both up, but don't think they had that bad a gas. The line
advance heads don't work great, so I'll try my new Rino line heads,
which work so much better for me than those self advance ones. The
string last many times longer.

As per gas, there's so little in there, just drain it out each time, and
run until carb runs out and engine dies. Old fuel will eat lots of
things in these little engines.

Steve
Did my program drop a decimal on you? One thousand,
seven hundred and fifty dollars?

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

SteveB wrote:


I bought two string trimmers Saturday, $1750 for both. Both are as new.
Fired them both up, but don't think they had that bad a gas. The line
advance heads don't work great, so I'll try my new Rino line heads,
which work so much better for me than those self advance ones. The
string last many times longer.

As per gas, there's so little in there, just drain it out each time, and
run until carb runs out and engine dies. Old fuel will eat lots of
things in these little engines.

Steve

I drain the tanks of my mowers, edger and power washer at the end of the
season. Since there is still some gas left in the hoses and the
carburetor, I let the engines run until there is no more gas.

For my 5 gallon can of gas, I add Stabil Marine and use that in my lawn
equipment during the season. After 2-3 months, I dump whatever is in the
5 gallon can into the car's gas tank. Then re-fill the can and add
Stabil again. Do a similar procedure for the two cycle stuff.

So far it works. Fingers crossed.

On 10/28/2013 2:11 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 10/28/2013 1:05 PM, SteveB wrote:


I bought two string trimmers Saturday, $1750 for both. Both are as new.
Fired them both up, but don't think they had that bad a gas. The line
advance heads don't work great, so I'll try my new Rino line heads,
which work so much better for me than those self advance ones. The
string last many times longer.

As per gas, there's so little in there, just drain it out each time, and
run until carb runs out and engine dies. Old fuel will eat lots of
things in these little engines.

Steve
Did my program drop a decimal on you? One thousand,
seven hundred and fifty dollars?

They are just REAL GOOD string trimmersg

Jumping ahead, I agree with dumping the gas when the trimmer won't be
used for some time. (I generally have crappy luck with 2cycle engines
anywayg)

If you don't dump the gas, you might want to check with YOUR small
engine repair guru... I thought that I was doing good using Stabil for
my equipment. He said that it's good, but a better move is to use Sea
Foam. They make a number of additives (gas, marine, diesel) and the
claim is that they do a good job of not only preserving the fuel and
preventing varnish formation, but also clean the fuel system.

About $6.50/can which will treat a fair amount of gasoline.

Unquestionably Confused wrote:
On 10/28/2013 2:11 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 10/28/2013 1:05 PM, SteveB wrote:


I bought two string trimmers Saturday, $1750 for both. Both are as new.
Fired them both up, but don't think they had that bad a gas. The line
advance heads don't work great, so I'll try my new Rino line heads,
which work so much better for me than those self advance ones. The
string last many times longer.

As per gas, there's so little in there, just drain it out each time, and
run until carb runs out and engine dies. Old fuel will eat lots of
things in these little engines.

Steve
Did my program drop a decimal on you? One thousand,
seven hundred and fifty dollars?

They are just REAL GOOD string trimmersg

Jumping ahead, I agree with dumping the gas when the trimmer won't be
used for some time. (I generally have crappy luck with 2cycle engines anywayg)

If you don't dump the gas, you might want to check with YOUR small engine
repair guru... I thought that I was doing good using Stabil for my
equipment. He said that it's good, but a better move is to use Sea Foam.
They make a number of additives (gas, marine, diesel) and the claim is
that they do a good job of not only preserving the fuel and preventing
varnish formation, but also clean the fuel system.

About $6.50/can which will treat a fair amount of gasoline.

I never removed gas, but when my stihl dealer went over a blower of mine,
found particles in gas. Good to dump those things out ever so often.

Greg

Arnie Goetchius wrote:
I drain the tanks of my mowers, edger and power washer at the end of
the season. Since there is still some gas left in the hoses and the
carburetor, I let the engines run until there is no more gas.

I just run them dry when I'm not going to use them for months. I also don't put
in a lot more gas than I'm going to need for the job. An running them dry for me
means full throttle when they are about to run out, and choke or primer bulb
pushing as they run out to burn up as much available fuel as possible. And maybe
a few pulls with the choke on after.

On 10/29/2013 12:04 AM, gregz wrote:
I never removed gas, but when my stihl dealer went over a blower of mine,
found particles in gas. Good to dump those things out ever so often.

Greg

Remembering my snow blower, two cycle Tecumseh
engine, on a Toro branded machine. Fuel had a
bunch of black specks of gosh knows what. I
ended up splicing in a fuel filter, and it runs
much better, now. used to have to dissemble the
carb and clean out the jet every few minutes of
run time. Didn't get much work that way.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Mon, 28 Oct 2013 23:04:04 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

Arnie Goetchius wrote:
I drain the tanks of my mowers, edger and power washer at the end of
the season. Since there is still some gas left in the hoses and the
carburetor, I let the engines run until there is no more gas.

I just run them dry when I'm not going to use them for months. I also don't put
in a lot more gas than I'm going to need for the job. An running them dry for me
means full throttle when they are about to run out, and choke or primer bulb
pushing as they run out to burn up as much available fuel as possible. And maybe
a few pulls with the choke on after.

The instructions for every gas tool I've had recently says to do just
the opposite; fill the tank when putting it away for any time. If
it's going to be more than a few months, a stabilizer should be used.

wrote:
On Mon, 28 Oct 2013 23:04:04 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

Arnie Goetchius wrote:
I drain the tanks of my mowers, edger and power washer at the end of
the season. Since there is still some gas left in the hoses and the
carburetor, I let the engines run until there is no more gas.

I just run them dry when I'm not going to use them for months. I also don't put
in a lot more gas than I'm going to need for the job. An running them dry for me
means full throttle when they are about to run out, and choke or primer bulb
pushing as they run out to burn up as much available fuel as possible. And maybe
a few pulls with the choke on after.

The instructions for every gas tool I've had recently says to do just
the opposite; fill the tank when putting it away for any time. If
it's going to be more than a few months, a stabilizer should be used.

if you google it, you will find both ways.

On 10/29/2013 07:52 PM, wrote:
The instructions for every gas tool I've had recently says to do just
the opposite; fill the tank when putting it away for any time. If
it's going to be more than a few months, a stabilizer should be used.

Yes, I've noticed that too...but the tank on my generator holds 5 gallons.

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

"ralph" wrote in message
...
On 10/29/2013 07:52 PM, wrote:
The instructions for every gas tool I've had recently says to do just
the opposite; fill the tank when putting it away for any time. If
it's going to be more than a few months, a stabilizer should be used.

Yes, I've noticed that too...but the tank on my generator holds 5 gallons.

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10
fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.


I quit buying the e10 for the small engines and use fuel that is ethonol
free. Costs more, but worth it to me. Even then I use the stabil in it.

On 10/30/2013 4:10 AM, ralph wrote:
....

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

For how long? Unless it's been multi-years, just use it up. It'll
start a little hard the following spring first go; just squirt a little
fresh in the carb, clean the plug and go the first start of the spring
and you'll use it all up...

I never do anything special over winter and haven't in 40+ yr nor did
dad nor granddad before that...pull 'em in to the shed, turn off supply
line and let them run 'til out of fuel to empty the carb and that's it.

A little stabilizer sometimes, sometimes, not...

I do try to avoid the ethanol in the older small engines that have
o-rings or other plastics not intended for it but other than that I've
never had any trouble at all.

The myth of the horrors or stale gas are far overblown from reality...

--

On Wed, 30 Oct 2013 10:09:47 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 10/30/2013 4:10 AM, ralph wrote:
...

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

For how long? Unless it's been multi-years, just use it up. It'll
start a little hard the following spring first go; just squirt a little
fresh in the carb, clean the plug and go the first start of the spring
and you'll use it all up...

I never do anything special over winter and haven't in 40+ yr nor did
dad nor granddad before that...pull 'em in to the shed, turn off supply
line and let them run 'til out of fuel to empty the carb and that's it.

A little stabilizer sometimes, sometimes, not...

I do try to avoid the ethanol in the older small engines that have
o-rings or other plastics not intended for it but other than that I've
never had any trouble at all.

The myth of the horrors or stale gas are far overblown from reality...
That depends on the gas - and your reality. And your storage
conditions. Storing the lawnmower over the winter is seldom a problem.
Storing the snow blower over the summer is a different story
sometimes. If the gas still looks and smells like gas you are likely
OK. If the gas is dark and skunky, don't even think about trying to
"run it through"

In article , dpb wrote:

On 10/30/2013 4:10 AM, ralph wrote:
...

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

For how long? Unless it's been multi-years, just use it up. It'll
start a little hard the following spring first go; just squirt a little
fresh in the carb, clean the plug and go the first start of the spring
and you'll use it all up...

I never do anything special over winter and haven't in 40+ yr nor did
dad nor granddad before that...pull 'em in to the shed, turn off supply
line and let them run 'til out of fuel to empty the carb and that's it.

A little stabilizer sometimes, sometimes, not...

I do try to avoid the ethanol in the older small engines that have
o-rings or other plastics not intended for it but other than that I've
never had any trouble at all.

The myth of the horrors or stale gas are far overblown from reality...


I agree that the problem of stale gas may be exaggerated. But the
problem of gas evaporating and gumming up your carburetor is real.

I always run the gas out of the carburetor when finished running my
engine. Once when having a problem, I removed the carburetor and found
it full of gas! It turned out that the valve was leaking and not
completely shutting off the gas supply.

Because of this, I vote for NOT leaving gas in the tank for long term
storage.

Fred

On Tue, 29 Oct 2013 22:11:08 -0400, Arnie Goetchius
wrote:

wrote:
On Mon, 28 Oct 2013 23:04:04 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

Arnie Goetchius wrote:
I drain the tanks of my mowers, edger and power washer at the end of
the season. Since there is still some gas left in the hoses and the
carburetor, I let the engines run until there is no more gas.

I just run them dry when I'm not going to use them for months. I also don't put
in a lot more gas than I'm going to need for the job. An running them dry for me
means full throttle when they are about to run out, and choke or primer bulb
pushing as they run out to burn up as much available fuel as possible. And maybe
a few pulls with the choke on after.

The instructions for every gas tool I've had recently says to do just
the opposite; fill the tank when putting it away for any time. If
it's going to be more than a few months, a stabilizer should be used.

if you google it, you will find both ways.

"If you google it, you will find" *someone* who says it. I'd prefer
to go with the manufacturer of the appliance.

On Wed, 30 Oct 2013 05:10:31 -0400, ralph wrote:

On 10/29/2013 07:52 PM, wrote:
The instructions for every gas tool I've had recently says to do just
the opposite; fill the tank when putting it away for any time. If
it's going to be more than a few months, a stabilizer should be used.

Yes, I've noticed that too...but the tank on my generator holds 5 gallons.

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

Put it in your car, perhaps a gallon at a time.

On 10/30/2013 7:26 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 29 Oct 2013 22:11:08 -0400, Arnie Goetchius
wrote:

wrote:
On Mon, 28 Oct 2013 23:04:04 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

Arnie Goetchius wrote:
I drain the tanks of my mowers, edger and power washer at the end of
the season. Since there is still some gas left in the hoses and the
carburetor, I let the engines run until there is no more gas.

I just run them dry when I'm not going to use them for months. I also don't put
in a lot more gas than I'm going to need for the job. An running them dry for me
means full throttle when they are about to run out, and choke or primer bulb
pushing as they run out to burn up as much available fuel as possible. And maybe
a few pulls with the choke on after.

The instructions for every gas tool I've had recently says to do just
the opposite; fill the tank when putting it away for any time. If
it's going to be more than a few months, a stabilizer should be used.

if you google it, you will find both ways.

"If you google it, you will find" *someone* who says it. I'd prefer
to go with the manufacturer of the appliance.


In reality they say that because they know you won't empty the tank, and
if you were to try to empty it and something happened, you might sue
them. So the legal group has them fill it (so no air so it can't blow
up) and stick stabilizer in.. not the best for the appliance, but not a
legal problem either.
Stabilizer won't hurt it, but fresh is better.
But stabilizer is better than no stabilizer.

--
Jeff

On 10/30/2013 11:09 AM, dpb wrote:
On 10/30/2013 4:10 AM, ralph wrote:
...

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10
fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

For how long? Unless it's been multi-years, just use it up. It'll
start a little hard the following spring first go; just squirt a little
fresh in the carb, clean the plug and go the first start of the spring
and you'll use it all up...

I never do anything special over winter and haven't in 40+ yr nor did
dad nor granddad before that...pull 'em in to the shed, turn off supply
line and let them run 'til out of fuel to empty the carb and that's it.

A little stabilizer sometimes, sometimes, not...

I do try to avoid the ethanol in the older small engines that have
o-rings or other plastics not intended for it but other than that I've
never had any trouble at all.

The myth of the horrors or stale gas are far overblown from reality...

--



My chain saw , trimmer and blower (all 2 cycle) like fresh gas. The
chain saw will die after a while on stale gas. put fresh gas and she
runs fine..

My lawn tractor has no problem on stabilized gas.

--
Jeff

there was a study of some kind with data. IDK if there is
gas still available that you could buy without alcohol?
None I know of around here, nj.

There's a fella who keeps track of places
that have it. Note: read through his commentary
about other sources such as airports and marinas
which might not be listed.

http://pure-gas.org/

- I found a station (which later I saw was on his list) that
was charging about 25 cents more/gallon than I'd guess
the "normal" price would have been. Other places hit you
with hefty surcharges of a dollar or even more.


--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key

[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

I believe that stale gas can be a factor in getting an engine that's been sitting for months or even years to start.

However, I believe this discussion is missing the point. Most often, when an engine that's been sitting for months or years has trouble starting, the problem isn't with stale gas; it's with lack of compression.

You see, while the engine is idle, the oil film that normally coats the cylinder walls drains away, and it's that oil film that's essential for the engine to have good compression when it's cranking.

So, my recommendation would be to remove the spark plug(s), pour a fluid ounce of 10W30 into each combustion chamber, pull the recoil starter cable slowly to rotate the crankshaft and spread the oil all over the cylinder walls, and then faster to blow the excess oil out of the combustion chamber, and then replace the spark plug and connect the ignition cable. NOW pull the recoil starter and you should find the engine starts right away.

It could be the engine won't start because the old gas isn't volatile enough to vapourize properly, but my experience has been that the more common cause of hard starting if the engine hasn't run in a long time is lack of compression. At the relatively low cranking speed you get with a engine starter or recoil starter, you need an oil film on the cylinder walls to get good compression, otherwise the engine won't start.

On 10/30/2013 04:27 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 30 Oct 2013 05:10:31 -0400, ralph wrote:

On 10/29/2013 07:52 PM, wrote:
The instructions for every gas tool I've had recently says to do just
the opposite; fill the tank when putting it away for any time. If
it's going to be more than a few months, a stabilizer should be used.

Yes, I've noticed that too...but the tank on my generator holds 5 gallons.

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

Put it in your car, perhaps a gallon at a time.


Only a blithering idiot would suggest such a stupid idea.

On 10/30/2013 7:27 PM, wrote:

Yes, I've noticed that too...but the tank on my generator holds 5 gallons.

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

Put it in your car, perhaps a gallon at a time.

I presume you mean pour it under the back seat?
Or, would you put it in the radiator? Trunk?

It's clear to me, you mean in the " " but
not all people are as car savvy.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 10/31/2013 5:01 AM, Patty wrote:
On 10/30/2013 04:27 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 30 Oct 2013 05:10:31 -0400, ralph wrote:

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of
e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

Put it in your car, perhaps a gallon at a time.


Only a blithering idiot would suggest such a stupid idea.

Yeah, he should have written "pour it in the gas
tank, and burn it while you drive". I agree, it's
unsafe to pour stale gasoline on the upholstery.

So, what does Patty do with stale gasoline?

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Thu, 31 Oct 2013 07:48:20 +0100, nestork
wrote:


I believe that stale gas can be a factor in getting an engine that's
been sitting for months or even years to start.

However, I believe this discussion is missing the point. Most often,
when an engine that's been sitting for months or years has trouble
starting, the problem isn't with stale gas; it's with lack of
compression.

You see, while the engine is idle, the oil film that normally coats the
cylinder walls drains away, and it's that oil film that's essential for
the engine to have good compression when it's cranking.

So, my recommendation would be to remove the spark plug(s), pour a fluid
ounce of 10W30 into each combustion chamber, pull the recoil starter
cable slowly to rotate the crankshaft and spread the oil all over the
cylinder walls, and then faster to blow the excess oil out of the
combustion chamber, and then replace the spark plug and connect the
ignition cable. NOW pull the recoil starter and you should find the
engine starts right away.

It could be the engine won't start because the old gas isn't volatile
enough to vapourize properly, but my experience has been that the more
common cause of hard starting if the engine hasn't run in a long time is
lack of compression. At the relatively low cranking speed you get with
a engine starter or recoil starter, you need an oil film on the cylinder
walls to get good compression, otherwise the engine won't start.


Well, I've had a lot of experience over about 50 years with engines
and particularly with old engines having sat for a length of time, and
not starting due to bad compression has NEVER been a problem for me
(except on engines that were parked with bad compression, or the odd
stuck valve), while bad gas has often been a problem.
If my old Onan genset sits for more than 6 months it won't start
without taking the bowl off the carb and tickling the needle valve to
get it to let gas in, and then half the time if I don't run the old
gas out and put in fresh, the needle will stick open and drain the
gas. With fresh gas, that has never happened. And even after I get the
needle unstuck, it runs poorly untill FULLY warmed up on old gas -
runs great on fresh gas.
Used to service a 4.2 Jag. It was put away every fall, and every
spring we had to pull the SU carbs apart and clean them out to get it
to start. Ran like a bag of rocks untill the old gas was run through
(94 Octane leaded premium untill that was no longer available, then
leadfree premium).
I suggested they go to the airport and get 5 gallons of 100LL Avgas,
drive the car till it ran out of gas, pour in the Avgas, and drive it
home and park it. Next spring (and every year after) it started
perfectly - never had those blasted carbs apart again after that. The
Avgas doesn't go sour.
I've bought quite a few old cars over the years, and if the gas was
over a couple years old they would never start. Drain the crap out,
put in new gas, and away they went. Worked for a farm equipment
dealer - had a lot full of used equipment. First thing you did when
you wanted to start one of the "lawn ornaments" was drain the old gas
and put in fresh. - and that was all before the advent of E10. With
E10 it just got worse..

On Wed, 30 Oct 2013 21:37:24 -0400, woodchucker
wrote:

On 10/30/2013 7:26 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 29 Oct 2013 22:11:08 -0400, Arnie Goetchius
wrote:

wrote:
On Mon, 28 Oct 2013 23:04:04 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

Arnie Goetchius wrote:
I drain the tanks of my mowers, edger and power washer at the end of
the season. Since there is still some gas left in the hoses and the
carburetor, I let the engines run until there is no more gas.

I just run them dry when I'm not going to use them for months. I also don't put
in a lot more gas than I'm going to need for the job. An running them dry for me
means full throttle when they are about to run out, and choke or primer bulb
pushing as they run out to burn up as much available fuel as possible. And maybe
a few pulls with the choke on after.

The instructions for every gas tool I've had recently says to do just
the opposite; fill the tank when putting it away for any time. If
it's going to be more than a few months, a stabilizer should be used.

if you google it, you will find both ways.

"If you google it, you will find" *someone* who says it. I'd prefer
to go with the manufacturer of the appliance.


In reality they say that because they know you won't empty the tank, and
if you were to try to empty it and something happened, you might sue
them. So the legal group has them fill it (so no air so it can't blow
up) and stick stabilizer in.. not the best for the appliance, but not a
legal problem either.

No, because they know their hardware better than someone writing a
Wiki.

Stabilizer won't hurt it, but fresh is better.

False choice.

But stabilizer is better than no stabilizer.

I've only had trouble once (snow blower), and that cleared fairly
easily.

On Wed, 30 Oct 2013 21:40:58 -0400, woodchucker
wrote:

On 10/30/2013 11:09 AM, dpb wrote:
On 10/30/2013 4:10 AM, ralph wrote:
...

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10
fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

For how long? Unless it's been multi-years, just use it up. It'll
start a little hard the following spring first go; just squirt a little
fresh in the carb, clean the plug and go the first start of the spring
and you'll use it all up...

I never do anything special over winter and haven't in 40+ yr nor did
dad nor granddad before that...pull 'em in to the shed, turn off supply
line and let them run 'til out of fuel to empty the carb and that's it.

A little stabilizer sometimes, sometimes, not...

I do try to avoid the ethanol in the older small engines that have
o-rings or other plastics not intended for it but other than that I've
never had any trouble at all.

The myth of the horrors or stale gas are far overblown from reality...

--



My chain saw , trimmer and blower (all 2 cycle) like fresh gas. The
chain saw will die after a while on stale gas. put fresh gas and she
runs fine..

Define "stale". Week? Month? Year?

My lawn tractor has no problem on stabilized gas.

On Thu, 31 Oct 2013 02:01:39 -0700, Patty wrote:

On 10/30/2013 04:27 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 30 Oct 2013 05:10:31 -0400, ralph wrote:

On 10/29/2013 07:52 PM, wrote:
The instructions for every gas tool I've had recently says to do just
the opposite; fill the tank when putting it away for any time. If
it's going to be more than a few months, a stabilizer should be used.

Yes, I've noticed that too...but the tank on my generator holds 5 gallons.

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

Put it in your car, perhaps a gallon at a time.


Only a blithering idiot would suggest such a stupid idea.

Why would you think so? It works fine. That's where I always put the
leftovers. *NEVER* had a problem.

On Thu, 31 Oct 2013 07:49:53 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

On 10/31/2013 5:01 AM, Patty wrote:
On 10/30/2013 04:27 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 30 Oct 2013 05:10:31 -0400, ralph wrote:

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of
e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

Put it in your car, perhaps a gallon at a time.


Only a blithering idiot would suggest such a stupid idea.

Yeah, he should have written "pour it in the gas
tank, and burn it while you drive". I agree, it's
unsafe to pour stale gasoline on the upholstery.

So, what does Patty do with stale gasoline?

Seems she'd rather drink it than burn it.

On Thu, 31 Oct 2013 07:48:10 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

On 10/30/2013 7:27 PM, wrote:

Yes, I've noticed that too...but the tank on my generator holds 5 gallons.

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

Put it in your car, perhaps a gallon at a time.

I presume you mean pour it under the back seat?

Only if there is a smoker back there.

Or, would you put it in the radiator? Trunk?

I put it in the trunk on the way *home* from the gas station, silly!

It's clear to me, you mean in the " " but
not all people are as car savvy.

I think you have a point.

On 10/31/2013 9:06 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 31 Oct 2013 02:01:39 -0700, Patty wrote:

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

Put it in your car, perhaps a gallon at a time.


Only a blithering idiot would suggest such a stupid idea.

Why would you think so? It works fine. That's where I always put the
leftovers. *NEVER* had a problem.

I'm wondering what Patty does with stale gas.
Might be s/he takes it in to a company that
charges large ammounts of money to eco friendly
process the stuff, and make it all good.

Meaning that the old guy goes and pours it in
his car's gas tank out back and doesn't say
anything to the customer.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Fri, 01 Nov 2013 07:32:15 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

On 10/31/2013 9:06 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 31 Oct 2013 02:01:39 -0700, Patty wrote:

I wonder what the manufacturers would have me do with 5 gallons of e10 fuel
that has gone bad after sitting in storage.

Put it in your car, perhaps a gallon at a time.


Only a blithering idiot would suggest such a stupid idea.

Why would you think so? It works fine. That's where I always put the
leftovers. *NEVER* had a problem.

I'm wondering what Patty does with stale gas.
Might be s/he takes it in to a company that
charges large ammounts of money to eco friendly
process the stuff, and make it all good.

Meaning that the old guy goes and pours it in
his car's gas tank out back and doesn't say
anything to the customer.

Most likely. Noticed the drive-by posting.