Stihl MotoMix, TruFuel, VP SEF, Echo RedArmor canned fuel - any meaningful difference?

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Jan 2, 2004
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Is there any difference between these canned fuels? My parents have a Stihl blower and trimmer, I had to replace the carb on the blower recently. It saw nothing but TruFuel 50:1. This video made me think about the fuel used in these:
 
All you need is this. It's cheap and works exceedingly well.

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I always suggest freshly pumped E-free fuel and a quality two stroke oil at 32 to 1.

A properly tuned engine won't smoke on 32 to 1 and the power/protection you get by having the proper mix is reassuring.

Don't purchase premixed fuel/oil.
In CA, all I can get is E10 unless I get avgas from the local airport or go out of my way to an ethanol-free gas station. I could buy TruFuel 4-stroke or Sunoco Optima from the local Chevron/P66 jobber and mix it with Red Line 2T but I don’t use OPE all that often.
 
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I'm trying TruFuel for the first time this winter. I drained the tank and fill it up with TruFuel only. In the Spring, hopefully I can turn the key and it fires up 👍
 
I always suggest freshly pumped E-free fuel and a quality two stroke oil at 32 to 1.
I use e-free 92 octane and Echo power blend at 50:1 in my 20 year old echo trimmer and blower. They start in a pull or three with practically no smoke and still run great.
 
In CA, all I can get is E10 unless I get avgas from the local airport or go out of my way to an ethanol-free gas station. I could buy TruFuel 4-stroke or Sunoco Optima from the local Chevron/P66 jobber and mix it with Red Line 2T but I don’t use OPE all that often.
Airport here won't sell to carry out customers. I tried
 
I’ve only used VP and TruFuel. The VP smells a little bit sweeter is my best description. Finding E0 is a royal pain and I don’t use that much of it so it’s worthwhile for me to buy the premix.
 
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VPracing C9 mixed 40:1 with VPracing 2stroke or Motul run it in every piece of equipment I have Sthil Echo and Husky.
 
I use pump gas and 32:1 oil ratio mix and I don't seem to have any problems with my 2 husky weed wackers and the back pack blower. The one blower and back pack blower are 23 years old. People are so fooled by marketing claims.
 
Used to be able to buy ethanol free gas here in Canada - Shell V-Power 91 or Costco 91.

Now it's going to have 10% ethanol so will have to find an alternative.

VP C9 is priced at $185CAD (137US) for 5 gallons so seems a bit much.

Airport here won't sell to carry out customers. I tried

I've read on other forums to try asking smaller airports. I found a local flying club who will sell to the public.

I didn't go through with the idea as there are worries about breathing in the exhaust if using avgas.

Are the fears unfounded is the big question..
 
So far I’ve just ran the Stihl in my Stihl trimmer. It’s worked well. Everything we have ran TruFuel in after about a year the fuel lines have rotted and purge bubble busted. Can’t necessarily prove it was the TruFuel but I do believe that maybe part of the issue. Haven’t had any carburetor related issues or anything with any fuel so far. I originally bought the Stihl fuel strictly to get the extra warranty coverage and I just stuck with it since then. It’s not as widely available but works good.
 
So far I’ve just ran the Stihl in my Stihl trimmer. It’s worked well. Everything we have ran TruFuel in after about a year the fuel lines have rotted and purge bubble busted. Can’t necessarily prove it was the TruFuel but I do believe that maybe part of the issue. Haven’t had any carburetor related issues or anything with any fuel so far. I originally bought the Stihl fuel strictly to get the extra warranty coverage and I just stuck with it since then. It’s not as widely available but works good.
Looks like I’m not the only seeing things with TruFuel. I’m making a slow move towards electric(Ryobi 40V, which HD says is comparable to EGo), so looking to get the most life out of what I have.

I had to replace a Stihl carb, it saw TruFuel. Not sure if it was a coincidence, I had to junk two Echo machines recently. Both saw 50:1 TruFuel - before they ran on 50:1 Echo PowerBlend and Chevron 91 pump gas.
 
I’ve looked at the Toro brand on the GC-MS. I want to look at the others and see how similar they are.

My immediate reaction was that it seems a lot “cleaner” and simpler than pump gas. I also didn’t see any apparent oxygenate(no alcohols or ethers) and a not insignificant aromatic content.

I can share the data I have now and future data if folks are interested.

BTW, I like the canned fuels for my blower and trimmer. My lawnmower went through a steady diet of E10 mixed 32:1 this year, although I intentionally ran it out close to the end of the last mow and nursed the last few strips along with Echo red armor. I wanted E0 fuel to be the last thing it saw before putting it away(plus didn’t want to mix more fuel that I’d then have to discard).

Of course now that I have a few more two stroke mowers I’m working on reviving, I’ve been slowly doling out more expensive 50:1 premix.

With all of that said, and I know not really related to the thread topic, but I’ve wondered before if there’s any merit to running a really heavy mix(say 24:1 or even 16:1) briefly before winter shut-down to get a good coating of oil on everything.
 
I always suggest freshly pumped E-free fuel and a quality two stroke oil at 32 to 1.

A properly tuned engine won't smoke on 32 to 1 and the power/protection you get by having the proper mix is reassuring.

Don't purchase premixed fuel/oil.
Not everyone has that luxury. In my area, you won't find any Ethanol free fuel, everything is 10%. Marinas and airports are cracking down on people who are just trying to get fuel there.

The VP racing is the best canned fuel I've found, but since I go through a lot of fuel I just use Opti-2 at 50:1 and regular 87 mixed in a 1 gallon can and never have issues.
 
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