Is it overkill to run race-fuel in my small engine tools?

[vash]

Honda generator, echo chainsaw, Stihl weedwacker and Husky leaf-blower.

I just took the carb out of the Honda EU-2000 generator and blasted it clean with solvent. It runs great again.

I bought husky 4-stroke fuel for it. one gallon. And I bought a gallon of w-stroke fuel ffor the other tools. Both gallons cost me around $20(!)

I’m going out next weekend with one of my bosses to help clear a road at his Mendocino hunt club. We will burn a lot of fuel.

Got me thinking. Non-ethanol fuel is difficult to find. Impossible thus far. I seem to remember a fuel pump at the race track. 100 octane? Might be more. It has to be less than 20 dollars a gallon no?

How’s everyone been anyways ?

[vash]

Oh. Btw. I’m considering stepping up my fuel choice because last time with the boss I filled my chainsaw and it leaked like a sieve. The shop said my hoses were eroded and some plastic housing cracked. He said it was an ethanol fuel problem.

And the generator gummed up the jet.

[911boost]

My generator gums up if I don’t drain it too. Fortunately I finally found a place that sells ethanol free fuel.

[pwd72s]

Any marinas in the bay area that sell no booze fuel? In Oregon, we were lucky enough to get an exemption, so no booze fuel is available. Alcohol's hydroscopic qualities made gasahol extremely problematic in boats to the point of it becoming dangerous. Maybe California allows boaters better fuel?

If not, check airports for low lead 100. Not good to have fuel lines freeze in aircraft, so they burn no alcohol. This also has lead, but if no catalytic converter, should be no problem.

(edit) Probably no help to the unfortunates living in Californicate, but others here may appreciate this link:

https://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp

[mepstein]

A long time Porsche tech at our shop runs race fuel in his power tools and motorcycle. Says it works way better and doesn't go bad over the winter. Lasts longer as well. I'm going to do it in my motorcycle. Can't hurt.

[Por_sha911]

No ethanol with Sta-bil and I've had no problems with storage all winter long.

[KFC911]

My mama taught me not to talk to strangers

I won't pay $20/gal for the "rich stuff", and gave a virtually new baby Stihl to my uncle because it was finicky even on non-ethanol pump gas, because of the small carb jets (tree climbing saw)...replaced with a Motronic pro saw . I will not run ethanol gas in anything but my F150...and it just sucks in 2-cycle stuff...avoid at all costs imo.

I can get 93/90/89 non-ethanol at several convenient pumps, but would source from a marina or airport pumps otherwise.

Ethanol gas just sucks

Although I've used the Stihl 2-cycle oil mixing for decades, my Stihl dealer suggested I not (particularly the grey bottles...the orange synthetic is slightly better), so I now use Echo Red Armour as it's "supposed" to be better and also contains stabilizer.

Bye stranger....good to see ya

[Tobra]

You can get ethanol free gas for your small engines at the hardware store here.

[cabmandone]

I run 91 octane ethanol free fuel in all my small engines.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by 911boost

My generator gums up if I don’t drain it too. Fortunately I finally found a place that sells ethanol free fuel.

You can google that. I found a place just a few miles from here.
I used StaBil for years with corn gas with no problems, but I didn’t let it sit more than a couple of months.if you have a generator you should fire it up once a month long enough to warm it up.

[Gretch]

or use a bit of startron, if you cannot get ethanol free sauce.

[911boost]

I agree, unfortunately it’s built into my RV and I do not store it at my house.....

[Jims5543]

One of the blessings of living in a coastal town. Many gas stations offer ethanol free fuel.

The one on the corner from my house carrys REC90. I use it in all my lawn equipment and my 78 mini and my 81 BMW.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Cajundaddy]

StaBil works pretty well to keep gas from going bad and gumming up the works. Probably simpler and less expensive to use than race fuel. I think 100 octane was $12/gal last week at WSIR.

[PorscheGAL]

Will the ethanol matter if you are running through it? If it is sitting, it would be a problem but if you're burning through it, it should not effect things, right?

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

Will the ethanol matter if you are running through it? If it is sitting, it would be a problem but if you're burning through it, it should not effect things, right?

Depends on the age of the car. It's terrible on old style rubber fuel lines made made before E#10 fuels became mandatory. Also bad on old style fuel pump diaphrams, other rubber parts.

(edit) here's a cut and paste from a Mustang site I visit...a post by a guy very much in the know technically speaking. Answering a lady who posts there with a question about her '68 Mustang:

Vicki,
Huge issues with todays gas and older vehicles to be mindful of...
I still run 3 carb'ed vehicles...issues I protect against:

todays gasohol reeks havoc on older cars, alcohol is exceedingly caustic
* change all your fuel lines to modern alcohol resistant hoses. Older rubber hoses WILL corrode/disintegrate from the alcohol, creating a fire hazard...not what you want in a classic vehicle!!!
* because of the rubber issue, an item typically never considered/overlooked is the mechanical fuel pump....which has a fuel facing rubber diaphragm...corrodes...fails...pouring gas into your engine diluting the oil...there goes your engine
because of this risk, I have eliminated the mechanical fuel pump in all my vehicles and installed an electric pump. However, electric pumps aren't as reliable as old mechanicals, so, I always keep a mech pump
in the vehicle in case I ever have issues, and can do a quick temp swap out. Be sure to protect your vehicle with oil pressure cut offs or other style safety switches. Also, given variable to high pressure potential of electric pumps, I also installed a fuel pressure limiter (set to 4-5 lbs psi) to protect the carb from being force fed (high pressure will cause issues with your float and inlet needle valve)
* another issue answered with the electric pump is vapor lock. The mechanical fuel pump draws fuel from the tank, the low pressure created in the line exacerbates vapor lock with todays fuel given the fuel will more readily boil than non-alcohol fuels...alcohol has lower boiling point. If your old car experiences more vapor lock issues in hot conditions than it did in the past, guaranteed this is your problem in todays world. The electric pump however pressurizes the fuel line from the tank to the engine, and virtually eliminates all vapor lock issues in carb engines, even in worst case hot conditions, given it significantly raises the boiling point.
* alcohol, being caustic, also causes havoc within the carb, deteriorating fragile components, floats, excellerator pumps, etc etc.

Using Stabil can mitigate against corrosion issues, but will NOT completely eliminate the risks, nor will it do anything about the vapor lock issue.
I only use my vehicles for occasional recreational use, and even with the above protections, I almost always use non-ethanol fuel...its worth the extra $$ for the piece of mind.

The only other issue with older vehicles are generational in metallurgy, eg, engines built in the leaded gas era. The biggest issue were the valve seats, which were too soft to endure non leaded gas for long, and can eventually cause valve train issues. Most cars by early 70's started hardening seats in preparation for the coming non-lead days, but...not sure about 69. So, if your heads have never been rebuilt, that may eventually drive poor running conditions in your engine with burned out valve seats. A Vacuum gauge...if you can actually find anyone nowadays who even knows how to interpret one, can quickly/easily determine burned seats.

[VincentVega]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

Will the ethanol matter if you are running through it? If it is sitting, it would be a problem but if you're burning through it, it should not effect things, right?

For modern stuff yes. Just run it dry, add your $$ fuel flavor at the end and run it for 30 seconds To fill the carb. Drain the bowl afterward if you want to. I'm very happy with seafoam as a stabilizer, use it all the time in every small engine. I had to clean an outboard carb this year but it was new to me and I have no idea how it was used before me.

[dlockhart]

If you don't have ready access to sober fuel this might be your best option.
https://vpracingfuels.com/small-engine-fuels/

[gduke2010]

Ethanol free plus Stabil in my chainsaw. The last drive of the year and in my Porsche, I top off with Ethanol free and drive about 100 miles and top off again with Ethanol free and Stabil. Then park the car.

[Robert Coats]

For the Honda generator, if you know you're going to burn through a few gallons on a job, regular unleaded is fine. You won't see any legit performance gains with higher octane, or non-ethanol fuel. Honda small gas engines run just fine, provided you limit the fuel to no more than 15% ethanol.

However, avoid storing any outdoor power equipment with any fuel for more than 30 days. Use some commercially-available tabilizer if you do, or the ideal situation is to fully drain the tank/carburetor bowl before storage. When it is time to go back in service, use fresh fuel if at all possible. Honda's guidelines are here:

Avoiding Fuel Problems

ProTip: Even treated, non-ethanol fuel effectively 'expires' after a year and not worth the headache using it with small gas engines. Otherwise, it is totally fine to dump such fuel into your non-carbureted vehicle's tank.

I used to include a caveat here about working for Honda, but retired back in June. :-)