If you use 10% ethanol gasoline with your 2 cycle oil mix be warned. Don't keep the mix for than 30 days. The ethanol will make the oil separate and poor lubrication will result during the atomize of the fuel. I buy No ethanol gas. Some gas stations like Fast track sell it. It's about 90 octane and won't hurt your small engine. Also Echo silver synthetic oil mix adds more life to your engine.
2 cycle and ethanol gas
- Thread starter Technoid
- Start date
Hmmm. I do not believe this. Did you read this on the internets?
Wherever you read that dont go back there.
There are two major problems with Ethanol, and that isn't one of them. The first problem is that Ethanol is corrosive to Aluminum, which your carburetor is made of. It doesn't have a good effect on plastic fuel lines either. The second problem is that it is hydrophilic, meaning that it attracts and mixes with water. A mix of water and Ethanol is heavier than gasoline, meaning it will settle to the bottom of your tank. A mix of water and Ethanol don't make a particularly good fuel. You can overcome these problems to a certain extent by treating your fuel with Sta-bil or something similar. Alternatively you can just use Ethanol free fuel. I don't use much 2-cycle fuel, so I find the premixed Tru-Fuel products to be convenient. Luckily 89 Octane E0 gas is available nearby, so I run that in all the 4-cycle lawn toys.
Just shake your saw a few seconds before ypu use it if your worried about the gas and oil seperating.
Sometimes the motivation of new users is just mystifying to me. In this case you joined just to bring us this warning about EtOH and gasoline and the unusual post about charging systems? No welcome to anyone, just start posting somewhat weird posts which almost sound like a cut-and-paste from some website. Then after making the posts you apparently go offline.
As a technical response to EtOH and gasoline, I live in an EPA nonattainment area and all we've had here for the past 27 years is RFG. I have a lawn mower built in 1992, a garden tractor and weed trimmer from 2000 and four old cars. None have any of the problems you indicate and trust me, my fuel sits for much longer than 30 days (especially over the winter). So from that standpoint I think all of what you say is not really some technical discussion you wish to have but instead some odd motivation for joining and making posts. Either that or we are shortly going to see the discussion morph into a promotion for some gasoline additive.
Do you think this is the first user to post the things you've said?
Been using standard gas right at the pump for years and sometimes it sits for a year in the gas can or 2-stroke tank on tool it is used in. Never seen any issues with the gas causing problems. Once had a car sit fort 2 years then sold it. New owner fired it right up and drove it away.
Originally Posted by Technoid
If you use 10% ethanol gasoline with your 2 cycle oil mix be warned. Don't keep the mix for than 30 days. The ethanol will make the oil separate and poor lubrication will result during the atomize of the fuel. I buy No ethanol gas. Some gas stations like Fast track sell it. It's about 90 octane and won't hurt your small engine. Also Echo silver synthetic oil mix adds more life to your engine.
Kestas
Staff member
I mix my gas and oil and store it in a clear bottle. I don't see any separation even after months of storage.
Don't take advice from that site you visited.
Originally Posted by Technoid
If you use 10% ethanol gasoline with your 2 cycle oil mix be warned. Don't keep the mix for than 30 days. The ethanol will make the oil separate and poor lubrication will result during the atomize of the fuel. I buy No ethanol gas. Some gas stations like Fast track sell it. It's about 90 octane and won't hurt your small engine. Also Echo silver synthetic oil mix adds more life to your engine.
4WD
$50 site donor 2023
Same ... I do keep some E0 around for the smaller engines and if it's not used up by each Spring ... I'll burn it in a larger motor and get some more ...
It's also 92 octane
I think most newer equipment can handle the ethanol but vintage machines have real issues with it eating up fuel lines and materials inside the carb.
I take 93 E10 mix with water. Drain the water out. That removes the ethanol. Makes roughly 90 octane E0. I'll add Amsoil Saber at 80:1 or so. My Sthil has been on this for two years and loves it. Took the muffler off recently after doing it's first tune up and the exhaust port was clean. I also run the E0 in my lawnmower and it loves it too.
I used to have issues in my ATV carbs with the brass jets corroding and I d have to tear them down and clean them.
I treat my E10 gas with SeaFoam at 1 once to a gallon and all problems have ceased. I've left gas in equipment for over a year without issue. I will say on some of my small equipment like weedeaters and Chainsaws, the fuel feed and prime hoses have got soft and fell apart and had to be replaced.
I blame this more on poor Chinese copies of Tygon that wasn't the real deal more than the fuel. Any factory lines or real marked Tygon hose seem uneffected.
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E 10 for 4 cycle and pure for 2 cycle. I use stabil 360 in 2 cycle and the 4 cycle gets it in the last month of cutting season and
right at beginning. I only buy enough gas to last 1 month during cutting season. 1 gal of 2 cycle is more than I need for the chainsaws since
I now use battery powered trimmer. I keep the 2 cycle fuel no more than a year.
Its been here for long enough that we know how to remove ethanol from our fuel if we cant buy straight petrol.
anyone who comes with horror stories about ethanol simply doesnt know how to manage their fuel yet, but could learn by reading on here.
Meh. If you're going to use it up right away who cares? That being said I use pure gas just to eliminate a potential problem. My little engines burn so little fuel over the course of a year that it only costs me a few dollars more. Does it matter? Probably not.
