Will 4 year old gas run in a generator?

[jeepman3071]

Honda builds fabulous OPE engines, and they seem, to me, to be wildly efficient even with a carb. Drawback: they have very precise jets, and everytime an old man spits on the sidewalk in Milwaukee, a Honda carburetor clogs. I’ve had my latest eu2000 apart 6 times to clean the jet, 2 times after installing an in-line filter. And I learned this from an HR lawnmower and found it consistent with another eu2k. If there was a glob of gel floating around in that fuel, it probably found it

The secret to Hondas and other OPE is to shut it off by turning off the fuel and let it run the carburetor dry before long term storage. I do this with all of my equipment, and have advised my customers to do the same, and those who do never have carb problems.

 

[64bawagon]

Carb kits are expensive. The last one I rebuilt on my Toro snowblower was from storing it with E10 during house construction (went to FL for the winter so it never got used) Lots of corrosion from the E10 a simple clean out didnt work.
All my stuff gets E0 before its put away after the season. I also run a little bit of 2 cycle oil in the unit before its stored.

 

[Astro_Guy]

I sold my Honda generator to a friend a few years back. It ran great for the hurricane. I think he ran it for a couple days. Anyways, with hurricane beryl, he said it ran for a little while the day before then wouldn't start the next day. You know, now that I think about it they do have that low oil shutdown thing that won't allow it to start. Anyways, do you think it could be his 4 year old gas that won't burn correctly?

Last summer I tried to run a generator that had sat idle for two years with fuel in the tank. It would start with starting fluid then quickly stall out. I then drained the little bit of stale fuel, added some fresh E0 and it started up and ran fine. IIRC Project Farm produced a video of testing old fuel and anything over a year was more or less begging for trouble.

 

[The motor guy]

Explains why my boat runs good everytime I add a good amount of fresh fuel

 

[Mechanician]

I buy my gas 5 gallons at a time, in a good sealing container, and use this every time.
Half an ounce treats 5 gallons, company claims it's good for 1 year.
Problem free

https://www.goldeagle.com/product/sta-bil-360-marine/

 

[jeepman3071]

I buy my gas 5 gallons at a time, in a good sealing container, and use this every time.
Half an ounce treats 5 gallons, company claims it's good for 1 year.
Problem free

https://www.goldeagle.com/product/sta-bil-360-marine/

Buying fuel a little at a time is your best bet for keeping it fresh. I use a 5 gallon "No-spill" brand fuel can in the summer when I use more fuel, and a smaller 2 gallon one in winter. I use a piece of tape and mark the date I fill the fuel can. If it is older than 3 weeks it goes into the car.

My grandfather is constantly having fuel related issues with his power equipment. He fills like 7 different 5 gallon cans each time he needs fuel, and then they sit there in his shed and aren't the well sealed kind.