Click below 👇👇👇 for the links to the other questions... ⭐30 DAYS OF QUESTIONS⭐ - (Links will be updated as the videos are put out) 👉DAY 1 - Is A Stihl 4-Mix Engine A 2-Stroke Or A 4-Stroke? ➜ ruclips.net/video/QF__8hs0bo8/видео.html 👉DAY 2 - Are John Deere riding lawn mowers made by MTD? ➜ ruclips.net/video/iCJsWsd6SLo/видео.html 👉DAY 3 - How Do I Break In A New Chainsaw? ➜ ruclips.net/video/NE4Q1Y8v2U4/видео.html 👉DAY 4 - Does Soaking WeedEater Line In Water Actually Help? ➜ ruclips.net/video/84hFN_jveMc/видео.html 👉DAY 5 - Why Does My Briggs Lawn Mower Say Never Change The Oil? ➜ ruclips.net/video/IVGmetgOcgo/видео.html 👉DAY 6 - Can I Use Outboard Mix Oil In My Chain Saw? ➜ ruclips.net/video/AlmegbfUJpU/видео.html 👉DAY 7 - What Is Your Favorite Chain Saw? ➜ ruclips.net/video/wMJeH0jCcHM/видео.html 👉DAY 8 - Why Does My Grass Chute Keep Plugging Up? ➜ ruclips.net/video/WtbhiNy42IU/видео.html 👉DAY 9 - What Does The Purge Bulb Actually Do? ➜ ruclips.net/video/sbDPU73fQQY/видео.html 👉DAY 10 - What Is Your Favorite Penetrating Oil? ➜ ruclips.net/video/jrzNv_Db0ZA/видео.html 👉DAY 11 - How Do I UnFlood My Chainsaw Or Weed Eater? ➜ ruclips.net/video/n0UnfoL5qWk/видео.html 👉DAY 12 - What Is The Best 2-Stroke Gas / Oil Mix Ratio? ➜ ruclips.net/video/-bsbKqZbyrw/видео.html 👉DAY 13 - Why Does My Leaf Blower Bog Out When I Pull The Trigger? ➜ ruclips.net/video/O4fMjSg7Z_U/видео.html 👉DAY 14 - What Does WARRANTY Actually Mean? ➜ ruclips.net/video/D-8054Q6vx0/видео.html 👉DAY 16 - Why Is My Pressure Washer So Hard To Pull Start? ➜ ruclips.net/video/Apipsdmf8qs/видео.html 👉DAY 17 - Why does my chainsaw leak oil when I’m not using it? ➜ ruclips.net/video/3P5ITSFWUZg/видео.html 👉DAY 18 - Can I Use Old Dirty Motor Oil As Bar And Chain Oil In My Chain Saw? ➜ ruclips.net/video/ilRZNsBNE3Y/видео.html 👉DAY 19 - Should I Buy My John Deere Lawn Mower From Home Depot Or My Dealer? ➜ ruclips.net/video/IZRjSYwYhyc/видео.html 👉DAY 20 - Do Battery Powered Chain Saws Work Good? ➜ ruclips.net/video/Zb8XNGfHsQU/видео.html 👉DAY 21 - Honda Is Stopping Lawn Mower Production? FAKE NEWS!! ➜ ruclips.net/video/y4TSwWHFb-o/видео.html 👉DAY 22 - Will cleaning the rust off my flywheel help with spark? ➜ ruclips.net/video/w8-exMgUhuc/видео.html 👉DAY 23 - NO SPARK! How Do I Know If My Coil / Ignition Module Is Faulty? ➜ ruclips.net/video/HBFz_N0SxuY/видео.html 👉DAY 24 - Will I DESTROY My Pressure Washer By Doing THIS? ➜ ruclips.net/video/22OlLNAZKa8/видео.html 👉DAY 25 - How Do I Fix An On/Off Kill Switch? ➜ ruclips.net/video/IyaUpGh19CI/видео.html 👉DAY 26 - Why doesn’t my lawnmower have an oil drain plug on it? ➜ ruclips.net/video/BXJbWWhMk0s/видео.html 👉DAY 27 - Why Is There Black Oil Coming Out Of My Muffler? ➜ ruclips.net/video/SNHdUh5tRoA/видео.html 👉DAY 28 - Can I Put A LONGER Bar On My Chain Saw? ➜ ruclips.net/video/OrRux_GSQQQ/видео.html 👉DAY 29 - Why Does My Engine STOP Running After A Few Minutes? ➜ ruclips.net/video/m5LEwNi-geM/видео.html 👉DAY 30 - Can I Make A Lawn Mower Run On Propane? ➜ ruclips.net/video/UkYCa1WhFGs/видео.html
Purchased a new snow blower in 2020, gassed it up, ran it, then no snow for 2 years. First snow, wouldn't start. Ethanol destroyed the carb, had to have it replaced, over $100. Since then I remove the ethanol using the water method, never had a problem since, I use it in the snow blower, lawn tractor, mower, blower and all my small engines. No issues with the lower octane.
You're absolutely right that ethanol creates havoc for carbureted small engines. My boat with a Yamaha 4 stroke carbureted outboard engine would not start at all after having E10 gas sitting in the tank for a couple of months. I tried starting it with shots of ether to no avail. After completely draining the fuel system and filling it with fresh fuel, I finally got it to start after numerous attempts. Here's the thing I did. I want to store my outboard without having this issue every season. So I went to the gas station and bought a couple of gallons of 93 octane fuel. I poured it into a couple of empty jugs, filled each jug about 2/3 full. I added about a quart of water to each jug, and shook each jug vigorously for about a minute or so. Left them for about a minute or so, and you could already see the separation. The fuel was cloudy, so I let it sit overnight. The next day, the fuel sitting on top in each jug was crystal clear, and the separation point was clearly about 10% higher than it initially was, so that proved visual confirmation that the ethanol had gone into the water. I carefully siphoned the fuel from each container - and I will now use that fuel to store all my small engined power equipment and my boat - as ethanol free fuel will not absorb water and create corrosion issues. That might be why you'd want to do this! 😆 Anyways Steve, I've been a fan of your channel for quite some time and have found great information here on many occasions. Thank you for making quality videos and please do keep 'em coming. Cheers.. 🍻
Been separating ethanol for years. Been using it in my airplane Cheaper than a gas. I do 20 gallons of gas with 2 gallons of water. 2 gallons of water now become 4 gallons of ethanol/water. I use a cone bottom tank., I always do it outside, and I use 5psi of air flowing up from the bottom of the tank. I call it "churning the butter" Now the good part Regular has 10% Mid grade is 8% Premium 6%. Ethanol and you get high octane back using premium but how much do you need at any one time? Leave the waste in a vented bucket and put a grate one and let the ethanol evaporate. Taaddaaaa
I’ve done this procedure,, I added food coloring to my water before adding it to the gas,, very easy to see the separation. It definitely lowers octane rating,, was ok in my lawnmower and weed trimmers, but my ATV had spark knock like crazy.. so, you decide !
You are absolutely correct. Removing the ethanol will definitely reduce your octane rating. Here in Ireland I purchase unleaded 97 for my 2 stroke machines as on the whole it contains zero ethanol or 5% at most.
I used to do that for my small engines before our local fuel distributor installed a dedicated non ethanol gas pump. No clue on the actual number but I've heard you lose roughly 3 octane points by removing ethanol from e-10 gasoline. I always started with 92, hoping I'd end up with atleast 89.
I used to have lots of trouble in small engines due to ethanol. For the past several years I've added Startron and have had zero trouble. Put it in your can when you buy your gas and you don't have to wonder if you remembered.
Good advice!! Removing the ethanol from gas information would be good information to know in a "have to" situation. I can't think of any right now but there might be one. ??
Hi Steve and cheers from Croatia, a small but beautiful country in south eastern Europe. I'm watching your channel for quite some time, being a DIYer, having all kinds of engines and such, also a BScME in mech. engineering. Here in Europe most of gasoline has a max 5% of ethanol added. I'm totally ignoring it, and never had any problems in 2stroke or 4stroke engines. Yes it's corrosive, yes it can eat up o-rings and gaskets, but many claims are exaggerated, especially for 2strokes where you can mitigate most problems with high quality 2stroke oil. Since using Stihl HP Ultra oil, and that's like 2-3 years now, I never had cold start problems in any of my 2stroke engines. And I'm not replacing carb membranes each year like I did before when I was using regular Stihl red oil. So I'm not sure whether all this methanol hullabaloo is even worth bothering. Tell me if I'm wrong.
Steve, every time I bring fuel home in 1 gallon can toys for mixing for steel equipment. I pour the oil in and I pour about 2 ounces of star Tron in there and I haven’t had a bit of trouble. The other thing you can do to knock out the water is to The cam other words screw cap down screw the the pourspout down cover the end of the pourspout was a piece of foil so that you’re taking away the free air and close the vent that gas last year two years at least
I have been using startron for years but watched a video Tarly Fixes all does a test with Mason jars and puts different additives like star Tron is one of them you’ll be surprised the results I was
Science with Steve. I'm sure if your carb gets gummed up, you have a video of how to rebuild it. Doesn't running your carb dry after each use help with carb issues?
Ethanol is causing a lot of problems in my pressure washer & my hotrods, if you let it sit for any length of time, you’re going to need to to dismantle your fuel system to undo the damage. The ethanol might increase the octane rating, but it’s also not going to burn as hot, so there’s a drop in power & performance. I’ll buy the octane booster.
The only place anywhere near me that sells non-ethanol gas is around 20 miles away making it a 40 mile round trip drive to get some. Just the fuel spent getting it makes it not worth it and the time just adds to that. Some people say it's best to leave it settle overnight I don't know if that's true or not.
If you have no source of E0 locally, this would be a good thing to do for winter storage of OPE (mowers, edgers, tillers, trimmers, etc). Those engines typically can tolerate lower octane, and the de-ethanoled fuel will have a better chance of not gumming up the carbs over winter. ATV's and the like have higher compression engines that are more likely to knock. Your only choice with those engines is to run them at least once a month.
Before it was available close to us I did this all the time. I used 91 octane and never had a problem. Now the price of non ethenal locally is getting higher so I might start doing it again.
I’ve known about adding water to ethanol gas and then removing the ethanol-laden water. And I’ve known that eliminating the ethanol reduces the octane. One possible solution to the reduced octane is to first buy high octane gas. The easiest solution where I live is to find those rare gas stations that still sell ethanol-free gas. Some sources have both regular and high-octane gas available with no ethanol. But removing ethanol can be done, but be aware of what remains to power your equipment.
I have never had any problem with ethanol gas in any of my small engine but I also use Sta-Bil in all my home gas. I don't know if that is why I don't have problems but it works for me.
Yeah, there aren't many ethanol free options where I live. I just mix with water and syphon off the top. I wait overnight though, until the mixture is fully settled and the gasoline on top is crystal clear.
I do this sometimes just to make sure the station isn't ripping me off. I add some water to clear container, mark the water level, add gas, shake, let settle. If the water level goes up, I know it had ethanol in it and I got ripped off. I'm just paranoid, never been ripped of yet, but gives me peace of mind. NO ETHANOL in my small equipment ever!
Fleet Farm gas stations have a non-eth version that isnt near as pricey as premium gas, makes it handy for keeping your small engines happy without the spendy option.
Some argue it doesn't work but I've been using Stabil for years without an issue. I don't let my gas sit in anything even with Stabil for more than a year but like I said it works for me! Can't wait for the replies....
Hey Steve and April… I’m not trying to beat this subject to death but to make a visual demonstration of alcohol/ methanol in your fuel try this. Find a slender glass container such as an olive jar with a lid. (Example, 2 1/2 “ diameter by 6-7” tall ). Mark the jar 1/4 of the way up from the bottom. Fill the jar with water exactly to your mark. Add your fuel sample to the top- full. Tighten lid and shake/ aggitate. Let it settle. The alcohol will combine with the water and the water level in the jar will rise above the mark on the jar. Measure the rise, that’s the percentage. 1/10”- 1/8” rise is 10%. It makes a great Show and Tell Demonstration.
Back when I snowmobiled a lot. We left our cans out overnight. We fueled up in the morning. We often had ice in the bottoms of the cans. We would break up and dump the ice out.
I run premix from the manufacturer, if it blows up because of fuel mix, its on them...its very expensive, but so is a replacement chainsaw, et al....keep the receipts!!
I use antifreeze to pull the alcohol from gas. Shaking isn't necessary, a few inversions is all that's necessary. Using water takes hours for all to settle out. A half gallon of antifreeze can be used for many gallons of gas.
If your using the equipment weekly or every few weeks its way not worth the hassle. If you store it longer just put some stabilizer storage stuff in there.
Thanks for the good info. I live in Tarrant county Texas where they can't sell no-ethanol fuel so i must drive to a station in Parker county where they are allowed to sell it. So i have to make a special trip to buy some ethanol free fuel for my small gas engines. It is worth the trouble though cuz they run better and are more trouble free. No telling how much trouble ethanol in the gas has caused us small engine owners ; )
Very good , that’s how I was shown to test gasoline for ethanol content in automotive applications. Would have ppl bring in their non E85 compatible vehicles with E85 ruining like crap .
Have a generator with non-E fuel sat 3 years carb drained & tank full, started 2nd pull. Similar machines sit with E-fuel, no question, if they dont get drained and fogged, the carb is either dirty or junk. We can no longer buy non-E fuel here. Fuel storage life is also a big factor. Cost breakout : - Canadian Tire "4 stroke non-E fuel" (TruFuel) = TEN frekking dollars Quart, not a Liter. - Comparison : $1.50 per liter pump gas, 10%E. STP Octane boost 310ml $13 treats 80 liters. 80 liters "washed" = $120 + "$15" = $135; yield 72 liters. 72 "liters" TruFuel = $720, or $680 if you buy the 3.25 liter cans. - Vegas Vacation : "You don't know when to quit, do ya Griswold? Here's an idea: Why don't you give me half the money you were gonna bet? Then, we'll go out back, I'll kick you in the nuts, and we'll call it a day." Stay gold.
Stihl hp super has a stabilizer in it so it keeps the mix good for a long time. I've tested this with a sample that I kept in a glass bottle over 2 years ago and it's still perfect. Kept in a cool dark place where the sun won't find it. Love these new videos Steve and April.
Knocked it out of the park Steve! I explain this to my customers in a very similar manner. When they question about octane loss, their next question ALWAYS goes like this: “I can add octane booster to my now ethanol free fuel to bring the octane back up, can’t I?” I explain to them that most octane boosters on the market have some sort of alcohol in them, so what would be the point of draining alcohol off if you’re just going to add alcohol back in? And why even bother spending the time to separate ethanol from your fuel, add an expensive octane booster to it, only to have a really expensive container of fuel that still has alcohol in it, and it took you an hour to make? It makes no sense to me, and when it’s explained to them, they tend to agree. You’ll ALWAYS have those that don’t agree or want to argue the validity of ethanol in small engine use. But it’s not a matter of IF they’ll have a problem, it’s a matter of when they’ll have a problem related to it.
You don’t add octane boost you remove ethanol from premium grade to make 87 octane and use that where appropriate. You use the ethanol free gas as your last use before winterizing a small engine which will make it fire right back up in the spring. This way you don’t have to blow out every fuel line
You’ve still wasted an amount of time and money buying high octane, then phase separating it to get ethanol free fuel. On top of that, what octane is it? You claim 87, and I’ll have to beg to differ. How did you test it for octane? ANY gasoline sold as motor vehicle fuel has 10% ethanol in it, sometimes more or less depending on locality.
the best reason i can think of for removing the ethanol from your fuel is so you can put it through a still (the water ethanol mix) and enjoy the ethanol. maybe as a wisky or maybe zambuca
Yes, you can remove the Ethanol like you said. But I prefer to buy Aspen2 or MotoMix for my Equipment (well at least the 2-Strokes). Never had problems since I use it.
You are exactly right I meant that non ethanol gasoline is very expensive. In my area it is about $7.00 per gallon. Sorry my typing mistake. I know what I meant but typed it wrong. Thanks for the correction.
I guess the real question is in my mind is say, is concos non ethanol fuel near my home really that. I like the idea of doing to premium as a commenter says. A stock stihl chain is what 7 to 1 so no biggy on the lower octane in my mind as no real detonation issue. Why i would go thru the trouble, is i saw a pretty good study on 2 stroke oil for example Stihl Ultra, it turned out to be the cleanest burning with non ethanol fuel compared to 4 other name brands. The study showed that the Stihl oil was horribly dirty when mixed with ethanol fuel 😳. I'll have to try your ethanol test on the conoco fuel i speak of near my home. I imagine would be same issue with "Castrol Go" 2 cycle oil since i hear that is same oil packaged for Stihl Ultra. One thing for sure no more ethanol for my chainsaw its nasty stuff. Just my opinion.
I've used Coleman campstove fuel or Walmart brand for years. Just add your oil mix to it. Its white gas and is the same stuff as the stihl moto mix. My stihl blower and weedeater is still going strong. 10 yes plus and not a single wrench put on them.
Living in Iowa, every chance ethanol produces and lobby gets, they push higher percentages to mix in our fuel. Being subsidized, you save a few cents at the pump while slowly destroying your vehicles. My rule is nothing more than 10% for our 2010 Honda CRVs. But every 2 and 4 cycle engine of mine gets No Ethanol Gas. I add an ounce of Sea Foam and 1/2 ounce of Star Tron as a stabilizer and carburetor conditioner per gallon. Is it necessary? Been running everything smooth over two years. It doesn’t hurt to start and run all generators, snow blowers, lawn mowers, etc once a month for five minutes to keep the carburetor clean. Am I doing it right? Thanks for the great information. .
Use one cup of water per gallon and use high test gas, it’s cheaper to make your own rather than buy it at the pump, been doing it for years and works great
There are virtually no ethanol-free gas stations in California. What other option do we have. I buy that expensive pre-mix. Now I hear the pre-mix is bad. Is there a way to do this water trick and then add something to get the octane back?
I would say that most people cannot go buy non-ethanol fuel easily. I have to go to an airport 50 miles away to buy MOGAS at $6.25/gal. That's in New Hampsire. There are less and less pump ethanol stations every day.
I have heard that fuel (gasoline) with no ethanol remains more stable during long-term storage. Is this correct? I am concerned about storing fuel for seasonal tools or emergency generators.
My question is you can buy premixed chainsaw gas with a 2 year shelf life. Other then cost is this the best way to go if you can't by ethenol free gas in your city in Canada?
If you leave gas in a small engine over a period of time and you have moisture in the air it will get into the gas and seperate, leaving ethnol and water on the bottom. If thats your carb corrosion will begin
Not much ethanol free gas in newsom controlled Ca. I just use 87 octane in everything, run the carbs dry if it’s going to sit for awhile and all has been fine. My Honda mower from the 90’s runs great, carb has never been touched. Check out Tayrl’s 2 year long fuel test.
I use the highest octane gas I can get and mix in STA-BIL ethanol treatment and stabilizer. It works great, I've let stuff sit over 6 months and has always started right up with no carburetor issues.
I didn't know about this product. I'll give it a try. I had a fairly new Stihl BG87CE blower blow a carb and it was cheaper to just replace it than to replace the carb and the starter coil spring that was damaged from trying to start it with the cylinder full of gas.
I used to do this. I had to replace 2 carburetors in 3 years 3:30 3:30 using the stable ethonal treatment. I switched to non ethonal gas and have not had a problem in 7 years. Of course now it won't start tomorrow 😂
I'm wondering to what you would do with the water+ethanol+unknown mixture you get as a result. I guess you could hand it in as hazardous waste. Back in the day we used to /add/ ethanol to deal with water in the fuel system :)
Use it as a cleaner and degreaser. It's basically similar to a diluted methylated spirits. I wouldn't use it on your windows though, because it will likely contain a small amount of petrol/gas. It might produce streaks.
Steve💯👍 Definitely would lower the octane rating and probably cause poor running by any carb. And, you are right- why would anyone take the time and trouble?
Saws lasting longer, fewer fuel problems, and consistency in how they preform. A saw that lasts years under daily use that runs slightly slower is fine with me.
In my area we do not have non-ethanol gas However i have never had a problem with ethanol gas every once in a while i will add fuel injector cleaner to my fuel and it's worked for 10 years or so however long ethanol's been in the gas actually I think it's been closer to 20 years without a problem.
The closest non ethanol fuel to me is 1.25 hours away and in fact I just made the trip to fill 3 five gallon cans. So that's a 2.5 hour round trip. My cost for the fuel I picked up and to drive there was $84 for 15 gal. Now if I had other business at that location anyway, that would be the way to do it. Otherwise I'll use a 5 gallon bucket with a spigot on the bottom, some water, a big mixing spoon, and use 93 octane with ethanol to start with so I end up with 90 or so octane when all is said and done. Probably take me 45 minutes to do 3 five gallon cans. Even if I end up with 14 gal, It's still better than driving 2.5 hours.
I think I would not do this as the pumps around me here in Louisiana are single hose for the non whisky gas. For pumps with 3 pumps tied to one hose you might get 1/3 gallon out of the hose and if your only wanting 1 gallon thats a lot of something your really don’t want.
Echo recommends 89 octane in their engines but my nearest station to purchase non-ethanol gasoline has only 87 octane. I always add an octane booster that doesn’t have ethanol in it. That seems to work for me.
If you reduce the octane level, will that cause knocking or be bad for an engine? Like using low octane fuel in high performance engines that requires premium fuel
I remove the ethanol as I mix gas with old oil and ATF for my ole cummins. Not sure the ethanol matters or not but I feel better about not running it through the system. I don’t worry too much about octane rating running through my diesel and I just buy 95 octane ethanol free for my small engine needs but it’s expensive.
Ethanol attracts water (as is apparent when adding water to fuel). Over time, the water breaks the gasoline down (that "varnish smell/buildup in the carburetor" plugs up every small orifice inside the carburetor... jets, ports, blah blah blah). Even "ethanol-free" gasoline will "go bad".... it just takes MUCH longer. That being said, instead of removing the ethanol, just add a fuel stabilizer (I added some seafoam to a generator that sat in a hot, humid trailer for FOUR+ years and it started on the second try.... forgot to choke it first time)
I got so tired of cleaning carburetors in my small engines that I switched to non-ethanol and burn nothing else. Since then, I haven't had to clean or rebuild a carburetor, and I leave gas in the tanks and carbs all year. No more problems. There used to be a Shell station in Tillamook OR that had non-e regular, off-road only. That station is gone, so I have to buy non-e premium. I don't care what it costs. I'll never burn ethanol in small engines again.
Click below 👇👇👇 for the links to the other questions...
⭐30 DAYS OF QUESTIONS⭐ - (Links will be updated as the videos are put out)
👉DAY 1 - Is A Stihl 4-Mix Engine A 2-Stroke Or A 4-Stroke? ➜ ruclips.net/video/QF__8hs0bo8/видео.html
👉DAY 2 - Are John Deere riding lawn mowers made by MTD? ➜ ruclips.net/video/iCJsWsd6SLo/видео.html
👉DAY 3 - How Do I Break In A New Chainsaw? ➜ ruclips.net/video/NE4Q1Y8v2U4/видео.html
👉DAY 4 - Does Soaking WeedEater Line In Water Actually Help? ➜ ruclips.net/video/84hFN_jveMc/видео.html
👉DAY 5 - Why Does My Briggs Lawn Mower Say Never Change The Oil? ➜ ruclips.net/video/IVGmetgOcgo/видео.html
👉DAY 6 - Can I Use Outboard Mix Oil In My Chain Saw? ➜ ruclips.net/video/AlmegbfUJpU/видео.html
👉DAY 7 - What Is Your Favorite Chain Saw? ➜ ruclips.net/video/wMJeH0jCcHM/видео.html
👉DAY 8 - Why Does My Grass Chute Keep Plugging Up? ➜ ruclips.net/video/WtbhiNy42IU/видео.html
👉DAY 9 - What Does The Purge Bulb Actually Do? ➜ ruclips.net/video/sbDPU73fQQY/видео.html
👉DAY 10 - What Is Your Favorite Penetrating Oil? ➜ ruclips.net/video/jrzNv_Db0ZA/видео.html
👉DAY 11 - How Do I UnFlood My Chainsaw Or Weed Eater? ➜ ruclips.net/video/n0UnfoL5qWk/видео.html
👉DAY 12 - What Is The Best 2-Stroke Gas / Oil Mix Ratio? ➜ ruclips.net/video/-bsbKqZbyrw/видео.html
👉DAY 13 - Why Does My Leaf Blower Bog Out When I Pull The Trigger? ➜ ruclips.net/video/O4fMjSg7Z_U/видео.html
👉DAY 14 - What Does WARRANTY Actually Mean? ➜ ruclips.net/video/D-8054Q6vx0/видео.html
👉DAY 16 - Why Is My Pressure Washer So Hard To Pull Start? ➜ ruclips.net/video/Apipsdmf8qs/видео.html
👉DAY 17 - Why does my chainsaw leak oil when I’m not using it? ➜ ruclips.net/video/3P5ITSFWUZg/видео.html
👉DAY 18 - Can I Use Old Dirty Motor Oil As Bar And Chain Oil In My Chain Saw? ➜ ruclips.net/video/ilRZNsBNE3Y/видео.html
👉DAY 19 - Should I Buy My John Deere Lawn Mower From Home Depot Or My Dealer? ➜ ruclips.net/video/IZRjSYwYhyc/видео.html
👉DAY 20 - Do Battery Powered Chain Saws Work Good? ➜ ruclips.net/video/Zb8XNGfHsQU/видео.html
👉DAY 21 - Honda Is Stopping Lawn Mower Production? FAKE NEWS!! ➜ ruclips.net/video/y4TSwWHFb-o/видео.html
👉DAY 22 - Will cleaning the rust off my flywheel help with spark? ➜ ruclips.net/video/w8-exMgUhuc/видео.html
👉DAY 23 - NO SPARK! How Do I Know If My Coil / Ignition Module Is Faulty? ➜ ruclips.net/video/HBFz_N0SxuY/видео.html
👉DAY 24 - Will I DESTROY My Pressure Washer By Doing THIS? ➜ ruclips.net/video/22OlLNAZKa8/видео.html
👉DAY 25 - How Do I Fix An On/Off Kill Switch? ➜ ruclips.net/video/IyaUpGh19CI/видео.html
👉DAY 26 - Why doesn’t my lawnmower have an oil drain plug on it? ➜ ruclips.net/video/BXJbWWhMk0s/видео.html
👉DAY 27 - Why Is There Black Oil Coming Out Of My Muffler? ➜ ruclips.net/video/SNHdUh5tRoA/видео.html
👉DAY 28 - Can I Put A LONGER Bar On My Chain Saw? ➜ ruclips.net/video/OrRux_GSQQQ/видео.html
👉DAY 29 - Why Does My Engine STOP Running After A Few Minutes? ➜ ruclips.net/video/m5LEwNi-geM/видео.html
👉DAY 30 - Can I Make A Lawn Mower Run On Propane? ➜ ruclips.net/video/UkYCa1WhFGs/видео.html
@Darryl Vaillancourt I had no idea this was a possibility.
Purchased a new snow blower in 2020, gassed it up, ran it, then no snow for 2 years. First snow, wouldn't start. Ethanol destroyed the carb, had to have it replaced, over $100. Since then I remove the ethanol using the water method, never had a problem since, I use it in the snow blower, lawn tractor, mower, blower and all my small engines. No issues with the lower octane.
You're absolutely right that ethanol creates havoc for carbureted small engines.
My boat with a Yamaha 4 stroke carbureted outboard engine would not start at all after having E10 gas sitting in the tank for a couple of months.
I tried starting it with shots of ether to no avail.
After completely draining the fuel system and filling it with fresh fuel, I finally got it to start after numerous attempts.
Here's the thing I did.
I want to store my outboard without having this issue every season. So I went to the gas station and bought a couple of gallons of 93 octane fuel.
I poured it into a couple of empty jugs, filled each jug about 2/3 full. I added about a quart of water to each jug, and shook each jug vigorously for about a minute or so. Left them for about a minute or so, and you could already see the separation. The fuel was cloudy, so I let it sit overnight.
The next day, the fuel sitting on top in each jug was crystal clear, and the separation point was clearly about 10% higher than it initially was, so that proved visual confirmation that the ethanol had gone into the water. I carefully siphoned the fuel from each container - and I will now use that fuel to store all my small engined power equipment and my boat - as ethanol free fuel will not absorb water and create corrosion issues.
That might be why you'd want to do this! 😆
Anyways Steve, I've been a fan of your channel for quite some time and have found great information here on many occasions.
Thank you for making quality videos and please do keep 'em coming. Cheers.. 🍻
Been separating ethanol for years.
Been using it in my airplane
Cheaper than a gas.
I do 20 gallons of gas with 2 gallons of water.
2 gallons of water now become 4 gallons of ethanol/water.
I use a cone bottom tank., I always do it outside, and I use 5psi of air flowing up from the bottom of the tank. I call it "churning the butter"
Now the good part
Regular has 10%
Mid grade is 8%
Premium 6%.
Ethanol and you get high octane back using premium but how much do you need at any one time?
Leave the waste in a vented bucket and put a grate one and let the ethanol evaporate.
Taaddaaaa
I’ve done this procedure,, I added food coloring to my water before adding it to the gas,, very easy to see the separation. It definitely lowers octane rating,, was ok in my lawnmower and weed trimmers, but my ATV had spark knock like crazy.. so, you decide !
That food coloring might give your ethanol cancer. 😂
Hey Steve and April, made up some of your Acetone and ATF fluid mix for frozen nuts and bolts and man did it work great. Awesome.
Very old mechanic trick
When I have frozen nuts, I go see my wife 🤣
Do the additives/stabilizers that have that correct for ethanol work? There is nowhere within 50 miles that have no ethanol gas.
Yes it is some work, but I just purchased 4 Cycle Ethanol-Free Fuel 2.1 Gal from Home Depot,, $44.98 + tax. VERY EXPENSIVE. Great video. thanks
April you have a nice smile!
I have to re-watch April"s smile hypnotized me. Hi April and Steve
Our local fill station use to never have non ethanol fuel. The current owner is a motorcycle rider and we now have non ethanol 91 octain.
You are absolutely correct. Removing the ethanol will definitely reduce your octane rating. Here in Ireland I purchase unleaded 97 for my 2 stroke machines as on the whole it contains zero ethanol or 5% at most.
I used to do that for my small engines before our local fuel distributor installed a dedicated non ethanol gas pump. No clue on the actual number but I've heard you lose roughly 3 octane points by removing ethanol from e-10 gasoline. I always started with 92, hoping I'd end up with atleast 89.
I used to have lots of trouble in small engines due to ethanol. For the past several years I've added Startron and have had zero trouble. Put it in your can when you buy your gas and you don't have to wonder if you remembered.
We're lucky we have a buc-ee's in Richmond ky. The non-ethanol fuel pup has its own hose!
Very descriptive, Steve,👍👍
Thanks Steve and April.
Im getting vapor lock on my boat. My engine is a 1985 Mercruiser. I think i may try that StarTron fuel stabilizer snd see if it works.
Good advice!! Removing the ethanol from gas information would be good information to know in a "have to" situation. I can't think of any right now but there might be one. ??
Hi Steve and cheers from Croatia, a small but beautiful country in south eastern Europe. I'm watching your channel for quite some time, being a DIYer, having all kinds of engines and such, also a BScME in mech. engineering. Here in Europe most of gasoline has a max 5% of ethanol added. I'm totally ignoring it, and never had any problems in 2stroke or 4stroke engines. Yes it's corrosive, yes it can eat up o-rings and gaskets, but many claims are exaggerated, especially for 2strokes where you can mitigate most problems with high quality 2stroke oil. Since using Stihl HP Ultra oil, and that's like 2-3 years now, I never had cold start problems in any of my 2stroke engines. And I'm not replacing carb membranes each year like I did before when I was using regular Stihl red oil. So I'm not sure whether all this methanol hullabaloo is even worth bothering. Tell me if I'm wrong.
Steve, every time I bring fuel home in 1 gallon can toys for mixing for steel equipment. I pour the oil in and I pour about 2 ounces of star Tron in there and I haven’t had a bit of trouble. The other thing you can do to knock out the water is to The cam other words screw cap down screw the the pourspout down cover the end of the pourspout was a piece of foil so that you’re taking away the free air and close the vent that gas last year two years at least
I have been using startron for years but watched a video Tarly Fixes all does a test with Mason jars and puts different additives like star Tron is one of them you’ll be surprised the results I was
I never knew that, learn something new every day. This is good to know and educational.
Love your explanation, thank you!
Science with Steve. I'm sure if your carb gets gummed up, you have a video of how to rebuild it. Doesn't running your carb dry after each use help with carb issues?
Ethanol is causing a lot of problems in my pressure washer & my hotrods, if you let it sit for any length of time, you’re going to need to to dismantle your fuel system to undo the damage.
The ethanol might increase the octane rating, but it’s also not going to burn as hot, so there’s a drop in power & performance.
I’ll buy the octane booster.
The only place anywhere near me that sells non-ethanol gas is around 20 miles away making it a 40 mile round trip drive to get some. Just the fuel spent getting it makes it not worth it and the time just adds to that. Some people say it's best to leave it settle overnight I don't know if that's true or not.
If you have no source of E0 locally, this would be a good thing to do for winter storage of OPE (mowers, edgers, tillers, trimmers, etc). Those engines typically can tolerate lower octane, and the de-ethanoled fuel will have a better chance of not gumming up the carbs over winter. ATV's and the like have higher compression engines that are more likely to knock. Your only choice with those engines is to run them at least once a month.
Before it was available close to us I did this all the time. I used 91 octane and never had a problem. Now the price of non ethenal locally is getting higher so I might start doing it again.
Thanks Steve!
I’ve known about adding water to ethanol gas and then removing the ethanol-laden water. And I’ve known that eliminating the ethanol reduces the octane. One possible solution to the reduced octane is to first buy high octane gas. The easiest solution where I live is to find those rare gas stations that still sell ethanol-free gas. Some sources have both regular and high-octane gas available with no ethanol. But removing ethanol can be done, but be aware of what remains to power your equipment.
I never heard that before and I use to haul gas. Back then we had to add the ethanol to the trailer. Thanks, James Out.
I have never had any problem with ethanol gas in any of my small engine but I also use Sta-Bil in all my home gas. I don't know if that is why I don't have problems but it works for me.
Yeah, there aren't many ethanol free options where I live. I just mix with water and syphon off the top. I wait overnight though, until the mixture is fully settled and the gasoline on top is crystal clear.
If you live near a lake check some of the marinas, most of them sell corn free gas
I do this sometimes just to make sure the station isn't ripping me off. I add some water to clear container, mark the water level, add gas, shake, let settle. If the water level goes up, I know it had ethanol in it and I got ripped off. I'm just paranoid, never been ripped of yet, but gives me peace of mind. NO ETHANOL in my small equipment ever!
Good idea
@@jb-ik8sj I'm from Erie, PA. A Sheetz gas station had DIESEL fuel in one of their big GAS holding tanks. True story, you just never know.
I am tempted to try this. I have seen some videos, and am confident I can do it. Thanks, Steve and April!
Fleet Farm gas stations have a non-eth version that isnt near as pricey as premium gas, makes it handy for keeping your small engines happy without the spendy option.
Thanks god bless
Some argue it doesn't work but I've been using Stabil for years without an issue. I don't let my gas sit in anything even with Stabil for more than a year but like I said it works for me! Can't wait for the replies....
Thanks!
Hey Steve and April…
I’m not trying to beat this subject to death but to make a visual demonstration of alcohol/ methanol in your fuel try this. Find a slender glass container such as an olive jar with a lid. (Example, 2 1/2 “ diameter by 6-7” tall ).
Mark the jar 1/4 of the way up from the bottom.
Fill the jar with water exactly to your mark.
Add your fuel sample to the top- full. Tighten lid and shake/ aggitate.
Let it settle.
The alcohol will combine with the water and the water level in the jar will rise above the mark on the jar. Measure the rise, that’s the percentage. 1/10”- 1/8” rise is 10%.
It makes a great Show and Tell Demonstration.
Yup, I already did that video! Its in my playlist...
@@StevesSmallEngineSaloon
Sorry.
Back when I snowmobiled a lot. We left our cans out overnight. We fueled up in the morning. We often had ice in the bottoms of the cans. We would break up and dump the ice out.
So what do you do with the ethanol/water once removed?
I run premix from the manufacturer, if it blows up because of fuel mix, its on them...its very expensive, but so is a replacement chainsaw, et al....keep the receipts!!
Should you run a carburetor dry before storing over winter?
yes
Av gas works great an small engines. Even large engines. Costs a little more, but saves on carb repair/replacement.
I was told buy mid or high grade. Then do the procedure. Loose some fuel ratio. But wont be less than 87 octane. I get the mid grade.
Just run over the border into Wisconsin, premium gas no ethanol, problem solved! Thanks Steve and April!
I use antifreeze to pull the alcohol from gas. Shaking isn't necessary, a few inversions is all that's necessary. Using water takes hours for all to settle out. A half gallon of antifreeze can be used for many gallons of gas.
If your using the equipment weekly or every few weeks its way not worth the hassle. If you store it longer just put some stabilizer storage stuff in there.
Great video 🤗
Thanks for the visit
Thanks for the good info. I live in Tarrant county Texas where they can't sell no-ethanol fuel so i must drive to a station in Parker county where they are allowed to sell it. So i have to make a special trip to buy some ethanol free fuel for my small gas engines. It is worth the trouble though cuz they run better and are more trouble free. No telling how much trouble ethanol in the gas has caused us small engine owners ; )
If you take the ethanol out of the gas , I seen you can buy a small can of octane boost wonder if that added will run the octane up
Very good , that’s how I was shown to test gasoline for ethanol content in automotive applications. Would have ppl bring in their non E85 compatible vehicles with E85 ruining like crap .
I wonder how well Startron will work in non-ethanol gas?
Have a generator with non-E fuel sat 3 years carb drained & tank full, started 2nd pull. Similar machines sit with E-fuel, no question, if they dont get drained and fogged, the carb is either dirty or junk. We can no longer buy non-E fuel here. Fuel storage life is also a big factor. Cost breakout :
- Canadian Tire "4 stroke non-E fuel" (TruFuel) = TEN frekking dollars Quart, not a Liter.
- Comparison : $1.50 per liter pump gas, 10%E. STP Octane boost 310ml $13 treats 80 liters.
80 liters "washed" = $120 + "$15" = $135; yield 72 liters.
72 "liters" TruFuel = $720, or $680 if you buy the 3.25 liter cans.
- Vegas Vacation : "You don't know when to quit, do ya Griswold? Here's an idea: Why don't you give me half the money you were gonna bet? Then, we'll go out back, I'll kick you in the nuts, and we'll call it a day."
Stay gold.
Stihl hp super has a stabilizer in it so it keeps the mix good for a long time. I've tested this with a sample that I kept in a glass bottle over 2 years ago and it's still perfect. Kept in a cool dark place where the sun won't find it. Love these new videos Steve and April.
Knocked it out of the park Steve! I explain this to my customers in a very similar manner. When they question about octane loss, their next question ALWAYS goes like this: “I can add octane booster to my now ethanol free fuel to bring the octane back up, can’t I?” I explain to them that most octane boosters on the market have some sort of alcohol in them, so what would be the point of draining alcohol off if you’re just going to add alcohol back in? And why even bother spending the time to separate ethanol from your fuel, add an expensive octane booster to it, only to have a really expensive container of fuel that still has alcohol in it, and it took you an hour to make? It makes no sense to me, and when it’s explained to them, they tend to agree. You’ll ALWAYS have those that don’t agree or want to argue the validity of ethanol in small engine use. But it’s not a matter of IF they’ll have a problem, it’s a matter of when they’ll have a problem related to it.
You don’t add octane boost you remove ethanol from premium grade to make 87 octane and use that where appropriate. You use the ethanol free gas as your last use before winterizing a small engine which will make it fire right back up in the spring. This way you don’t have to blow out every fuel line
You’ve still wasted an amount of time and money buying high octane, then phase separating it to get ethanol free fuel. On top of that, what octane is it? You claim 87, and I’ll have to beg to differ. How did you test it for octane? ANY gasoline sold as motor vehicle fuel has 10% ethanol in it, sometimes more or less depending on locality.
Steve, what type of Petro/gasoline, do you use in your lawn equipment?
Great question today SteveO , I agree buy the non ethanol if that’s what you want! Cheers 🍻 Steve and April out
the best reason i can think of for removing the ethanol from your fuel is so you can put it through a still (the water ethanol mix) and enjoy the ethanol. maybe as a wisky or maybe zambuca
Yes, you can remove the Ethanol like you said. But I prefer to buy Aspen2 or MotoMix for my Equipment (well at least the 2-Strokes). Never had problems since I use it.
Luckily we have non ethanol pumps where I live. Thanks yall.
You are exactly right I meant that non ethanol gasoline is very expensive. In my area it is about $7.00 per gallon. Sorry my typing mistake. I know what I meant but typed it wrong. Thanks for the correction.
I guess the real question is in my mind is say, is concos non ethanol fuel near my home really that. I like the idea of doing to premium as a commenter says. A stock stihl chain is what 7 to 1 so no biggy on the lower octane in my mind as no real detonation issue. Why i would go thru the trouble, is i saw a pretty good study on 2 stroke oil for example Stihl Ultra, it turned out to be the cleanest burning with non ethanol fuel compared to 4 other name brands. The study showed that the Stihl oil was horribly dirty when mixed with ethanol fuel 😳. I'll have to try your ethanol test on the conoco fuel i speak of near my home. I imagine would be same issue with "Castrol Go" 2 cycle oil since i hear that is same oil packaged for Stihl Ultra. One thing for sure no more ethanol for my chainsaw its nasty stuff. Just my opinion.
I just go for the swedish Aspen 💪
I did this last year and used the ethanol-free gas for my chainsaw, weedwacker, etc. I started with premium gas.
You nailed it buddy.... 💯
I've used Coleman campstove fuel or Walmart brand for years. Just add your oil mix to it. Its white gas and is the same stuff as the stihl moto mix. My stihl blower and weedeater is still going strong. 10 yes plus and not a single wrench put on them.
Living in Iowa, every chance ethanol produces and lobby gets, they push higher percentages to mix in our fuel. Being subsidized, you save a few cents at the pump while slowly destroying your vehicles. My rule is nothing more than 10% for our 2010 Honda CRVs. But every 2 and 4 cycle engine of mine gets No Ethanol Gas. I add an ounce of Sea Foam and 1/2 ounce of Star Tron as a stabilizer and carburetor conditioner per gallon. Is it necessary? Been running everything smooth over two years. It doesn’t hurt to start and run all generators, snow blowers, lawn mowers, etc once a month for five minutes to keep the carburetor clean.
Am I doing it right? Thanks for the great information. .
My #1 question, what to do with the water/ethanol mixture after you remove it from the gas.
Use one cup of water per gallon and use high test gas, it’s cheaper to make your own rather than buy it at the pump, been doing it for years and works great
There are virtually no ethanol-free gas stations in California. What other option do we have. I buy that expensive pre-mix. Now I hear the pre-mix is bad. Is there a way to do this water trick and then add something to get the octane back?
It stores longer much longer! In Los Angeles one gallon of ethanol free gas is $15
Where in LA can you get ethanol free gas?
All fuel station gas in Ontario now has ethanol, including premium check it out
I would say that most people cannot go buy non-ethanol fuel easily. I have to go to an airport 50 miles away to buy MOGAS at $6.25/gal. That's in New Hampsire. There are less and less pump ethanol stations every day.
I have heard that fuel (gasoline) with no ethanol remains more stable during long-term storage. Is this correct? I am concerned about storing fuel for seasonal tools or emergency generators.
My question is you can buy premixed chainsaw gas with a 2 year shelf life. Other then cost is this the best way to go if you can't by ethenol free gas in your city in Canada?
If you leave gas in a small engine over a period of time and you have moisture in the air it will get into the gas and seperate, leaving ethnol and water on the bottom. If thats your carb corrosion will begin
That applies to all engines not just small engines it's a nightmare waiting to happen.
No source for nonalcoholic gas in my area of California USA. So I make 5 gallons every year for chainsaw and log splitter.
Not much ethanol free gas in newsom controlled Ca. I just use 87 octane in everything, run the carbs dry if it’s going to sit for awhile and all has been fine. My Honda mower from the 90’s runs great, carb has never been touched. Check out Tayrl’s 2 year long fuel test.
I use the highest octane gas I can get and mix in STA-BIL ethanol treatment and stabilizer. It works great, I've let stuff sit over 6 months and has always started right up with no carburetor issues.
I didn't know about this product. I'll give it a try. I had a fairly new Stihl BG87CE blower blow a carb and it was cheaper to just replace it than to replace the carb and the starter coil spring that was damaged from trying to start it with the cylinder full of gas.
I used to do this. I had to replace 2 carburetors in 3 years 3:30 3:30 using the stable ethonal treatment. I switched to non ethonal gas and have not had a problem in 7 years. Of course now it won't start tomorrow 😂
E10 87 octane with no ethanol is 84/85 octane. Can find the specs on Magellan midstream pipeline website, "v grade sub octane gasoline"
Very interesting. I had no idea you could do that. Probably not worth the effort though.
I'm wondering to what you would do with the water+ethanol+unknown mixture you get as a result. I guess you could hand it in as hazardous waste.
Back in the day we used to /add/ ethanol to deal with water in the fuel system :)
Use it as a cleaner and degreaser. It's basically similar to a diluted methylated spirits. I wouldn't use it on your windows though, because it will likely contain a small amount of petrol/gas. It might produce streaks.
@@dalriada842 hmm... That's probably pretty smart!
Didn't Steve do a video on a funnel or a filter that removes water from gasoline? Could this be used for removing water/ethanol mix from gasoline?
The only ethanol free gas near me is 100 octane. Will that damage a chainsaw or trimmer?
Steve💯👍 Definitely would lower the octane rating and probably cause poor running by any carb. And, you are right- why would anyone take the time and trouble?
Because we have no source of ethanol free gas beyond the pre-mix.
Saws lasting longer, fewer fuel problems, and consistency in how they preform. A saw that lasts years under daily use that runs slightly slower is fine with me.
In my area we do not have non-ethanol gas However i have never had a problem with ethanol gas every once in a while i will add fuel injector cleaner to my fuel and it's worked for 10 years or so however long ethanol's been in the gas actually I think it's been closer to 20 years without a problem.
The closest non ethanol fuel to me is 1.25 hours away and in fact I just made the trip to fill 3 five gallon cans. So that's a 2.5 hour round trip. My cost for the fuel I picked up and to drive there was $84 for 15 gal. Now if I had other business at that location anyway, that would be the way to do it. Otherwise I'll use a 5 gallon bucket with a spigot on the bottom, some water, a big mixing spoon, and use 93 octane with ethanol to start with so I end up with 90 or so octane when all is said and done. Probably take me 45 minutes to do 3 five gallon cans. Even if I end up with 14 gal, It's still better than driving 2.5 hours.
For long term emergency storage it might be worth the effort and cost
Aspen premix is the cleanest 2 stroke.
Yes, but over $50 for a jug.
Your killin it dude!
I think I would not do this as the pumps around me here in Louisiana are single hose for the non whisky gas. For pumps with 3 pumps tied to one hose you might get 1/3 gallon out of the hose and if your only wanting 1 gallon thats a lot of something your really don’t want.
Fill up your car first to clear the line then your jerry can.
Echo recommends 89 octane in their engines but my nearest station to purchase non-ethanol gasoline has only 87 octane. I always add an octane booster that doesn’t have ethanol in it. That seems to work for me.
If you reduce the octane level, will that cause knocking or be bad for an engine? Like using low octane fuel in high performance engines that requires premium fuel
Don't forget the colder the environment the better.
I remove the ethanol as I mix gas with old oil and ATF for my ole cummins. Not sure the ethanol matters or not but I feel better about not running it through the system. I don’t worry too much about octane rating running through my diesel and I just buy 95 octane ethanol free for my small engine needs but it’s expensive.
Ethanol attracts water (as is apparent when adding water to fuel). Over time, the water breaks the gasoline down (that "varnish smell/buildup in the carburetor" plugs up every small orifice inside the carburetor... jets, ports, blah blah blah). Even "ethanol-free" gasoline will "go bad".... it just takes MUCH longer.
That being said, instead of removing the ethanol, just add a fuel stabilizer (I added some seafoam to a generator that sat in a hot, humid trailer for FOUR+ years and it started on the second try.... forgot to choke it first time)
It would be nice if ethanol-free 93 octane was available. I've only seen ethanol-free 87 octane at murhy's in S. TX.
I got so tired of cleaning carburetors in my small engines that I switched to non-ethanol and burn nothing else. Since then, I haven't had to clean or rebuild a carburetor, and I leave gas in the tanks and carbs all year. No more problems. There used to be a Shell station in Tillamook OR that had non-e regular, off-road only. That station is gone, so I have to buy non-e premium. I don't care what it costs. I'll never burn ethanol in small engines again.