Which is better for the Environment, Dino or Syn?

[Maritime Storm]

Here's a question that run accross mty mind on Friday, Which breaks down faster in the lake Dino or Synthetic TC-W3 2-stroke oil? We all know that the average 2-stroke outboard spits gas & oil out of the exhaust, but which does more harm?

 

[wileyE]

Found a chart somewhere (I'll post if I run across it) that shows mineral 0-30% biodegradeable, and synthetics 0-100% depending on which product is used. It's not as easy as saying one is more than the other. Also depends on the engine and how much of the oil is degraded in combustion. For example the state of Montana tested 4 name brand popular "synthetic" snowmobile oils for emmisions, (it online if you search), results varied quite a bit as they used different kinds of synthetic basestocks. Things aren't as simple as just saying one is better than the other. Synthetic doesn't wear a white hat and mineral doesn't wear a black. FWIW, ALL manufactures claim their product to have excellent biodegradibilty which means nothing. Worst place to research oil if you want some truth is an oil companys website.

 

[KBFXDLI]

2 stroke engines will no doubt be outlawed someday by the EPA. I am surprised they allow them at all. I saw a demonstration with a 2 stroke PWC in a clear tank of water. It ran for about 5 minutes and turned all the water in the tank gray & cloudy with oil and exhaust by products. The guy was running synthetic oil. The host of the experiment said the synthetic oil was not biodegradeable at all and was becoming a real environmental mess. I would guess dino is not much better but beter.

 

[Maritime Storm]

Interesting, more research into this required I guess. I work at a garage/parts store, Friday I was working on the parts side of it. A customer asked for a synthetic 2-stroke oil for his snowmobile(we actually finally got enough snow for them to use them), anyway, hewas bragging how he only uses syntheic because it doesn't breakdown easily, this is where it got me thinking, I was synthetic 2-stroke in my old Merc kicker motor on my sailboat, what am I doing to my lake?

 

[TimVipond]

Synthetic oils can be chemically designed to perform well in an engine, yet be low toxic and biodegradable. There are a few of these available. Redline, AMSOIL and others make these.

 

[TeeDub]

The organic esters used as the basestock for synthetic two stoke oils are very biodegradeable, since they are essentially fatty acids.

 

[wileyE]

Quote:

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Interesting, more research into this required I guess. I work at a garage/parts store, Friday I was working on the parts side of it. A customer asked for a synthetic 2-stroke oil for his snowmobile(we actually finally got enough snow for them to use them), anyway, hewas bragging how he only uses syntheic because it doesn't breakdown easily, this is where it got me thinking, I was synthetic 2-stroke in my old Merc kicker motor on my sailboat, what am I doing to my lake?

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Study's I've read show it's the fuel and it's components that is the big water polluter in outboards. Depending on the engine up to 1/4 of the fuel isn't combusted. Only 2% (50:1) of it is oil, and that assumes none of it degraded during combustion. Oil sheen is the most visable though so gets the biggest notice. 2nd to runoff from the roads twostroke outboards are tha major water polluter in lakes.

 

[TimVipond]

Even gasoline isn't the biggest polluter. It is the Methyl-Tertiary-Butyl-Ether that was added to gasoline to reduce air pollution. Little did the EPA know that by requiring gasoline to contain MTBE, that the MTBE was not naturally biodegradeable and would pollute a large percentage of surface and subsurface water and eventually get into drinking water.

 

[Steve S]

I wouldn't worry about it .

 

[alreadygone]

Matitime Storm,

If you're using an old Merc kicker, whatever oil you use is mostly going in lake! If you're that geeen minded, get a modern 4cycle.

Bob