sure wish I could get gas with no ethanol

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My power washer gets tru fuel since I run it 3-5 times a year. The lawn mower gets 93 octane E10 with a half a can of sea foam...2.5 gallon can. The last two mows of the season I run tru fuel just to keep issues at bay. My Sthil gets their 50:1 E0 fuel.
 
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I just brought my 1.5 year old Echo 770 back pack blower in. Had it at the shop in October as it wouldn't rev up. Did all the new fuel, plug scenario's. I use premium, echo oil and a small amount of startron. They had to adjust the carb. I used it twice over winter to blow fresh powder snow from walks. Yesterday same scenario wouldn't rev up.

Shop person recommended the Stihl premix (or trufuel). but it's $34/gallon.

Funny my older Stihl handheld blower and weed wacker using same fuel mix have no issues sitting same amount of time.

My BIL works not far a place that lists VP racing in Stamford CT that has E0. Might need to get 10 gallons to keep around for the rest of the stuff (generator, pressure washer, mowers when not using excess amounts). Not sure how I feel traveling 1.5 hours on next family visit with 10 gal in cans.
 
E10 prints me money. Every year, I get dozens of Briggs flathead mowers for free that need nothing more than the water + bad fuel drained from the carburetor. I get money for "servicing" some folks machines by literally loosening the bowl nut and draining the water. Fuel lines fail much faster on 2 cycles than previously (5+ years vs 3 years) and I sell a lot more carburetors as the clean and rebuild rate is so much lower anymore. I sell tons of fuel stabilizers and other chemicals to limit ethanol damage. I'd complain, but between all that and the EPA making 2 cycles run so lean I get paid money to tune them properly isn't hurting me.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: bvance554
I have no issues with E10. Even year old E10.


+1. I've used E 10 in OPE, including my Echo weed wacker, for 15-20 years with never a problem.
I don't have any issues either with old E10 gas.

My lawn mower ran out of gas a couple weeks ago and I refueled it and it wouldn't start, I figured it was old gas that was in the can and dumped it and refueled with fresh and it ran great. Then I realized it wasn't gas in the gas can, I forgot that it was diesel fuel in it LOL. No wonder the mower wouldn't run.


Thats why yellow cans for diesel, blue for kero and red for gas :p
 
I always see posts like this, and I assume you aren't making things up. But I use E10 in all my OPE (not by choice but I live in a non-attainment area). This includes my 15-year old string trimmer, my 14-year old snow thrower, my 14-year old garden tractor and my 23-year old lawnmower. So far I haven't had to replace anything I would attribute to a fuel issue, and believe me I'm not always careful about running things out of fuel for the winter. I just don't understand why others have so many problems with E10.

Originally Posted By: PhilsSmallEngine
E10 prints me money. Every year, I get dozens of Briggs flathead mowers for free that need nothing more than the water + bad fuel drained from the carburetor. I get money for "servicing" some folks machines by literally loosening the bowl nut and draining the water. Fuel lines fail much faster on 2 cycles than previously (5+ years vs 3 years) and I sell a lot more carburetors as the clean and rebuild rate is so much lower anymore. I sell tons of fuel stabilizers and other chemicals to limit ethanol damage. I'd complain, but between all that and the EPA making 2 cycles run so lean I get paid money to tune them properly isn't hurting me.
 
Originally Posted By: lars11
Three stories about e10; the one about how it eats out fuel lines and corrodes all engines, and the one about how it attracts water over time which then separates and plugs your carbs, and the last one about how it chemically deteriorates and become unusable.

All can be true to some extent but we have e5 for a loong time and I have not seen any totally shot engines or very serious problems at all. It actually works quite ok. Still, I use Alkylate (like stihl premix) in small stuff sitting for a long time and pour some Stabil in stuff that will sit shorter times.

Actually, all modern cracked gasolines will deteriorate, e0 or not, ie it will not be as good in 3-6 months as it was in the pump. That's why you need Stabil more now than 50 yrs ago when most gas was cooked.
Water is always a prmblem so keep your cans shut tight and avoid temp variations and heat. Stabil marine can also help a bit.

Truefuel seems horrendously expensive, and Im from Sweden where e5 95 oct is $2 a liter/quart...
Check for bigger cans of stihl premix/nomix or equivalent and see if the price goes down enough to run for the last tank before storage at least. Another plus is that it is less poisonous to you when running the stuff.



+1 Lars.

Use critical /logical thinking when reading stuff on the internet these days.

Q.
 
I am sure some people might have problems but I never seam to have any.

John Deere 318. Never had the carb rebuilt or fuel line replace since new in 92. E10 with no stabil or anything else in it when I parked it last October. Didn't have a maintinence charger on the battery. Battery is six years old.
 
The only problems I have with my ope and alky in the fuel are with the fuel lines. If I have starting or running problems the first thing I do is to drain the float bowl out.
 
I burn 20+ gallons of 2 cycle mix during the warm season, and all I use is 100LL av gas mixed 100:1 with amsoil sabre. My OPE sees more use in a single season than most see in 5 yrs and I have never had a problem. During the off season they get full tanks of the avgas amsoil mix and put away. Never had a no start, nor a carb need rebuilt or cleaned. Left my Husky 357xp saw sitting with a full tank for two years and when I needed it, it fired up and ran on two pulls of the cord.

The big equipment (mowers, tractor, etc) get a splash of avgas in the fall and put away. Same thing, never had a no start. But then again, I am 5 min away from my small municipal airport and at 5.25/gal it's a nominal expense.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
I've been weed whacking for the last month on sundays.I'm running trufuel hoping to prevent carb issues. I'm going through a lot of gas! Stuff is expensive @$7 a qt.

I have an oil I really like and would prefer to mix my own but I can't get good gas.

Anybody coming this way want to bring some? LoL

If you have a small local airport anywhere near you, bring a 5 gallon gas can and tell them you want to buy 5 gallons of 100LL avgas (should be under $6.00 a gallon, a lot cheaper than Trufuel). You might have to tell them it's "for a plane" or otherwise they won't sell it to you. Don't tell them it's for 2 cyl OPE. Stuff runs just fine. The lead will help prolong the life of your crank bearings as well. I mix it to 20:1 with Mobil 1 racing 2t.

Additional tip. Buy a free-water removing funnel (teflon coated stainless screen filter, around 5 micron filtration) to catch any water from the airports storage tank before you put it in any of your engines.
 
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