Mowed the lawn for the first time this year, left the gas in all winter.

[MSCH]

All I have to say is that those of you who have not had any problems leaving E10 in your OPE over the winter (or summer) have been very, VERY lucky. For every person who claims to have done this and not had a problem, there 9 other people who have had problems doing this. For many years I made a good living off of people who habitually did this.

you mut know my neighbor. He buys a new generator every time we have a hurricane.. it either wont start or he blew a hole in the engine because he ran it out of oil...

anyway I don't know where you come up with your numbers, or if they are accurate but for most of my adult life my SOP with all small engines is to fill them with gas, use them , then drain the gas back into the can and run the small engine out of fuel... I can't do this with my lawn tractor mower but I rarely put gas in it until it is low. ( I do live in Florida so it never sits for 6 months at a time of I would simply run it out of gas in autumn)

I dont know if I absolutely need to follow the routine I use, but I do know I don't have small engine problems for fuel related issues.

 

[repairman54]

I pulled my Husky 455 rancher out of the shed yesterday to help my new, not to smart, neighbor who cut down a big tree in his yard with an electric chainsaw. He brushed his house with the limbs BTW. He got lucky and I felt bad for the dummy.
My saw has been in the shed for 2 yrs without being run. Topped it off with fresh gas and a couple pulls it cranked up and ran perfectly cutting up 20 in. dia. stuff.
E0 with marine stabilizer when put away. This is the saw that I had to replace the OEM fuel lines a few years ago that I mistakenly used and put away with E10 in it. Lesson learned back then.

 

[jeepman3071]

I've never had an issue leaving E10 in my OPE for any amount of time. I actually want the condensation advantages of ethanol.

Why would you want condensation in your fuel?

 

[brianl703]

Why would you want condensation in your fuel?

I think he's referring to ethanol's ability to function as a "dry gas" additive and absorb any water that makes it into the tank.

It's probably not an issue with a fuel system designed to meet evaporative emissions requirements. I think the one in my riding mower is.

 

[Propflux01]

I normally drain and run out my equipment (except my trimmer and blower which use Truefuel) of any non-ethanol gas. This last year I didn't. Its been way to rainy to mow yet, so we will see how they start this year.

 

[ka9mnx]

Used and never liked StaBil.

I use E0 and Seafoam. It's advertised as a two year fuel stabilizer, plus, it keeps my engines running very well.

 

[brianl703]

All I have to say is that those of you who have not had any problems leaving E10 in your OPE over the winter (or summer) have been very, VERY lucky.

My riding mower doesn't have a functioning gas cap (instead of a rag or a sock) and isn't stored indoors out of the elements due to luck.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

All I have to say is that those of you who have not had any problems leaving E10 in your OPE over the winter (or summer) have been very, VERY lucky. For every person who claims to have done this and not had a problem, there 9 other people who have had problems doing this. For many years I made a good living off of people who habitually did this.

Never had a problem in a 30 year old Mower, a Generac OHV and the 27 year old flatty Tecumseh SK in the old Yardmachines Walmart snowthrower. I do use Marine Stabil treat AND a hefty amount of SAE 30 ND top oil in all ODPE.

Now the new-ish, expensive HD Toro snowblower - which I am finding is a junk design - had bad surging and low power last storm.
I pulled the garbage Chinese carb off the garbage Chinese LONCIN engine, but didn't see an issue - Not that I can see well I did pull the main jet and emulsion tube out.

I will be looking at the "Rube Goldberg" governor mechanism and it's proper adjustment this summer.

No E0 around here unless you decant it yourself from E10 or head to the airport.
@Kestas what do you do with the Ethanol? Make Chevron Vodka? Hic !

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Used and never liked StaBil.

I use E0 and Seafoam. It's advertised as a two year fuel stabilizer, plus, it keeps my engines running very well.

OMG! Seafoam - Which has 10-30% alcohol in it last I looked at the SDS.

Well at least 2 Propanol is better than Methanol which is MUCH WORSE than Ethanol

 

[brianl703]

OMG! Seafoam - Which has a lot of ethanol in it last I looked at the SDS

I think it's isopropanol in Seafoam. Just another alcohol.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I think it's isopropanol in Seafoam. Just another alcohol.

Good catch, Yes I fixed that - but not quick enough

 

[CharBaby]

All I have to say is that those of you who have not had any problems leaving E10 in your OPE over the winter (or summer) have been very, VERY lucky. For every person who claims to have done this and not had a problem, there 9 other people who have had problems doing this. For many years I made a good living off of people who habitually did this.

My BIL would agree with you but mainly with outboard boat motors. He hates E10 fuels and explains all of the issues with or because of it. Especially the old Johnson & Evinrude or Mercs.

I mean, I don’t love E10 fuels nor do I advocate for it. Give me real gas please! However, I’ve been using E10 fuel for over 20 years without isseue. And not with just one piece of equipment or vehicle but with multiple(s).

 

[Warlord]

I always get my dad to run his equipment out of gas at the end of the season so I don’t have to fix it all in the spring. Sure enough he didn’t run his push mower dry in the fall and now it won’t run. Went over and drained the gas/varnish and put some new stuff in and got it to run but not well. It’s gonna need a carb clean when I can spare the time to do it.

 

[Skippy722]

I just fire the mower up once a month during the winter and always put some Sta-Bil in the gas. Never had a problem.

Only problem I had was running gas in the snowblower that was 2 years old and all that resulted in was it surging unless it was under load. Ran an entire bottle of Techron through it and cleared it right up.

 

[nomas]

According to one guy here , E10 will dissolve your fuel lines and even your plastic gas tanks and fuel cans . I wonder how long it
takes ? I've got an Edger that's 10 yrs old and a Generator that's nearly that old . They run just fine and have never seen a drop of E0 .

 

[benjy]

use some E-10 BUT at seasons end last fills are E-O BUT looking at Chickanics vids a pro shop she tests several $$$$ canned E-O's that prove to have about E-5 content + if interested testers are cheep + EZE! i run my carb'd stuff dry + fill my gas tanks no air = no rust!!

 

[blufeb95]

use some E-10 BUT at seasons end last fills are E-O BUT looking at Chickanics vids a pro shop she tests several $$$$ canned E-O's that prove to have about E-5 content + if interested testers are cheep + EZE! i run my carb'd stuff dry + fill my gas tanks no air = no rust!!

I can't find a video where she tested canned fuel, the only thing I can find is where she tested getting ethanol free gas from a pump that also dispenses E10, and if you're filling a small 1 gallon can the residual E10 left in the hose is enough to add a few percent of ethanol to your gas.

 

[bobdoo]

I make my own E0 by mixing E10 with water, then decant the gasoline.

That reduces the octane...

 

[jhellwig]

use some E-10 BUT at seasons end last fills are E-O BUT looking at Chickanics vids a pro shop she tests several $$$$ canned E-O's that prove to have about E-5 content + if interested testers are cheep + EZE! i run my carb'd stuff dry + fill my gas tanks no air = no rust!!

Because no chemical on the earth other than ethanol is miscible with water…………

 

[brianl703]

According to one guy here , E10 will dissolve your fuel lines

Must be fuel lines made of high-grade Chinesium.

Denatured alcohol is, in my experience, a pretty weak solvent...compared to, say, gasoline, or xylene or toluene (both components of gasoline).

In fact I have a plastic spray bottle I filled with denatured alcohol to use as a disinfectant cleaning spray when disinfectants were hard to come by. The denatured alcohol didn't harm the pump, nozzle, or the bottle, all made of plastic.