Keep carb full or dry while storing?

[toneydoc]

I have some small engines on generator and other OPE that I only use occasionally.
On my generator with a fuel cutoff switch, I run the carb out of fuel and then store it. With the others, they have fuel in them while sitting in the garage.
Question is does it matter to the carb if it has fuel in it while being stored? Does running it empty help prevent gumming?

 

[2civics]

Did you mean to say storing it empty?

 

[Merkava_4]

Empty it out if you possibly can - if not - make sure you have a preservative in the fuel like STA-BIL.

 

[dave123]

Long term storage on my 4stroke dry and 2stroke wet. Almost everything run on VPracing OPE fuel.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Store wet with Sta-Bil.

 

[Propflux01]

I store mine dry, but I also can see storing wet with stabil. I don't think it's wrong either way, but I've found small engines don't seem to run that well on that first tank of stabil-ised gas.

 

[Donald]

I run them empty using stabilized E0 gas. But there will still be some in the carb.

 

[boraticus]

Drain the carb.

Even fuel stabilizers can deteriorate over time.

If there's nothing in the carb, gumming will not happen.

I've been doing it for many years with a perfect record of no carb issues when pulling the machine out of storage.

On machines that don't have a fuel shut off valve or are a pain to drain the fuel tanks (ATVs come to mind), I'll add a fuel stabilizer. As much as I don't like snake oils, I will capitulate when necessary.

 

[Skittles]

You want a fuel stabilizer that mixes with the gas. Some only create a barrier on top of the gas to prevent oxygen from depleting the addditives. This is fine for gas cans but doesn't work very well in a carb.

With a good stabilizer Either way is fine. Personally I just add seafoam to all my OPE gas cans so I never have to worry about it. It is already mixed and in the machines so I can put them away at any time. I just recently ran my chainsaw after 6-7 years of sitting with gas in it. It fired right up and ran like it does with fresh gas.

 

[demarpaint]

Up to one year I store mine fogged, wet, with a UCL and Stabil Marine. I let one of my power washers go over 2 years stored that way. I drained the tank, filled it with fresh fuel. It started right up and ran fine, probably luck. I wouldn't make a habit out of that though.

 

[topbliss]

use stabilizer and drain the carbs on all my equipment

 

[Rand]

Hot topic, depends on how long you are storing.

If its for a month or 2 I prefer wet with blue stabil.

If its 6month-year or longer Dry

 

[Cujet]

I always run the carb out of gas. I even use the choke to get every last bit out.

This method has served me well for the last 30 years.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: topbliss
use stabilizer and drain the carbs on all my equipment


Yeah I do this too.

OPE carbs aren't airtight and the "good" part of gasoline will evaporate, weep, or leak out. This leaves the nasties. If you leave the petcock on, more gas comes in and the nasties build up even more.

The stabilizer might help what's left in the tank, but I don't count on it. I found some green mountain-dew type stuff after six months using red stabil (junk) and E10. No matter, drain the tank, blast the carb needle, get back in business.

 

[hatt]

I've seen carb gaskets dry out, shrink, and crack after dry storage. I keep my stuff wet and only use ethanol free gas.

 

[bubbatime]

Running it completely out of gas, dropping the carburetor bowl and wiping it completely dry is the best way to do it.

 

[philipp10]

I store them wet every year with no Stabil and have NEVER had a carb related problem....so I guess use of Stabil proves nothing.

 

[spasm3]

I use marine stabil and tcw3 (1oz in 5 gallons) and i leave my carbs wet. If if was going to leave it more than through the winter, i might run them dry. The TCW3 seems to keep the floats and needle seat from sticking.

 

[NateDN10]

Originally Posted By: philipp10
I store them wet every year with no Stabil and have NEVER had a carb related problem....so I guess use of Stabil proves nothing.

As a counter-point, the first summer after I bought my snow blower I stored it wet without Sta-Bil. The next winter it wouldn't keep running and was really hard to start until I cleaned out the carb.

Next summer I stored it wet with marine Sta-Bil and had zero problems the following winter.

 

[Quest]

for carb bowl with drain screw (like Honda OPE): I drain them before storage;

for carb bowl w/o drains screw (such as those walbro LMS carb clones in side-draft B&S), I leave the doped gas within.

Doped as in strong fuel stabiliser added, this is what I'm currently using:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88hu_ZlXqoE

Q.