Ethanol

[highgrit]

Just put STA-BIL in your gas jugs and you will be fine. Ethanol is reacting with the gel coat thats used in fiberglass gas tanks. The older Bertram gas boats are getting ruined by the ethanol. We southern folk are just so gullible.

[tsmaxx47]

[quote="ChrisB"]It is funny how I keep hearing how ethanol is so bad for small engines. It makes me wonder what small engine mechanics did all day before ethanol came along, they must not have had anything to do. I don't add stabilizer to anything and my mower and line trimmer both go 7-8 months without being used but still start and run fine in the spring and have for years. I'm just lucky I guess.

i've never used stbilizer in my stuff either, can't say as i've seen any difference with the ethanol, but the car and truck milage sure goes downhill fast.......

[1wlimo]

Ethanol only has 80% of the energy compared to gas, so milage will drop.

Ethanol will disolve some older compounds (plastic, etc) but newer componants should be more addapted

Dirt from the fuel system being relased, and the engine running lean are majour problems where using feuls containing Ethanol. By cleaning out the feul system and retunning for the lower power fuel many of the issues can be avoided.

An enine running on Ethanol properly will run cooler than one on gas so should actually be better off.

Use good clean air filters, better oil, and you need a very good spark plug for best performance.

[inbredredneck]

Ethanol only has 80% of the energy compared to gas, so milage will drop.

Ethanol will disolve some older compounds (plastic, etc) but newer componants should be more addapted

Dirt from the fuel system being relased, and the engine running lean are majour problems where using feuls containing Ethanol. By cleaning out the feul system and retunning for the lower power fuel many of the issues can be avoided.

An enine running on Ethanol properly will run cooler than one on gas so should actually be better off.

Use good clean air filters, better oil, and you need a very good spark plug for best performance.

Now the literature I've read shows E10 to be 111,836 btu's and gasoline with mbte or ebte to be 111,745 and 111,811 respectivly. Are those numbers incorrect?

[Jogeephus]

I choose to believe what my mechanic said and if I'm forced to use this crap then I guess I'll have to buy the stabilizer. Just another unnecessary cost.

See he is teaching you.

Yes, its a tough job but it is possible. Oh, BTW, you cannot compare relative humidities without also comparing the dew points. The according to the weather data Mn dew yearly average is 37.3 and Florida's is 62 thats why we typically run fans in our crowding areas and I must assume ya'll don't.

[regolith]

Ethanol only has 80% of the energy compared to gas, so milage will drop.

Ethanol will disolve some older compounds (plastic, etc) but newer componants should be more addapted

Dirt from the fuel system being relased, and the engine running lean are majour problems where using feuls containing Ethanol. By cleaning out the feul system and retunning for the lower power fuel many of the issues can be avoided.

An enine running on Ethanol properly will run cooler than one on gas so should actually be better off.

Use good clean air filters, better oil, and you need a very good spark plug for best performance.

Now the literature I've read shows E10 to be 111,836 btu's and gasoline with mbte or ebte to be 111,745 and 111,811 respectivly. Are those numbers incorrect?

That's deep psychology.
I'd hazard to say beyond the grasp of most of your readers here, inbred.

Though if you care to spend the next five pages explaining I'll make the popcorn.

[hooknline]

Btu's = british thermal unit= amount of energy produced.
Inbred, care to share the link where you got that info from.
If i read that right e10 contains more energy?

[hooknline]

How about this site that shows ethanol to have a far lower energy comtent than gasoline
http://zfacts.com/p/436.html


   
"With only 2/3 the energy of gasoline,
ethanol costs more per mile
 
 
  The energy of ethanol relative to gasoline
 A.  76,000  = BTU of energy in a gallon of ethanol
 B.  116,090 = BTU of energy in a gallon of gasoline
 C.  .655 = 2/3 = GGE of energy in a gallon of ethanol.  A / B.
 D.  1.53 = Gallons of ethanol with the energy of 1 gallon of gasoline.  D = B / A."

[1wlimo]

Ok I went back and did some more looking, seams that the more you look the more values you get. Ethanol, has aways got less energy than Gas however so E10 is lower than Gas.

[inbredredneck]

Btu's = british thermal unit= amount of energy produced.
Inbred, care to share the link where you got that info from.
If i read that right e10 contains more energy?

http://www.hho4free.com/gasoline_vs_ethanol.htm

[hooknline]

Everything your link shows is that ethanol reduces btu's.
Across the board.
And lets not even look at the fact that the site and numbers are from an alternative fuel proponent.

[inbredredneck]

Everything your link shows is that ethanol reduces btu's.
Across the board.
And lets not even look at the fact that the site and numbers are from an alternative fuel proponent.

As does every other type of oxygenate.

[B&M Farms]

Any gasoline fuel with alcohol whether it be ethanol or methanol with absorb more water than gasoline with mtbe additives. Thats just a undisputed fact. Air fuel mixtures for gasoline are optimum at 14.7 to 1. With 85% ethanol its 9.8 to 1. With E10 it would be closer to gasoline but enough to make a differance. Unless an engine is tuned to run on alcohol mixed fuels they wouldn't run optimumly. Newer auto engines with oxygen sensors and engine control modules can tune to these fuels automaticaly. Small engines and older auto engines would have to be rejetted to run optimumly. Because any alcohol fuel will have a lower energy density mass than gasoline it will take more fuel to produce the same amount of power regardless of tuning resulting in lower milage. Thats also an undisputed fact. Look up any studies done by an automotive performance company, not studies paid for by some corn distilling outfit. Alcohol of any kind is a much stronger solvent than gasoline therefore it with dissolve some seals and gasket materials found in older engine fuel systems. Engines sold farther north where they have used ethanol additives longer may have been tuned and built with seals and gaskets to except these fuels. I would think every engine would be built this way by now. I have never had a problem running E10 in anything but since before ethanol additives, I have made it a practice to not leave fuel in an engine that would set up for a while.

[novatech]

In a high humidity area and the due point being what it is, down south, we get condensation in the gas tanks when they are not topped off when stored. Way back when we used to add alcohol to the tank to suck up the water and disperse it before we could get the engine started. The white residue left in carbs may be the result of the alcohol containing water evaporating leaving behind what ever was contained in the water. Also it seems to me that with ethanol fuel the gas will contain high amounts of water after storage due to the alcohol sucking up the condensation. I would think that excessive amounts could be pretty harmful to the engine or at least cause a lot of corrosion in the carb.
Jogeephus ; What did the mechanic have to do to repair the engine?

[James T]

I think Novatech is right. It's all about condensation and outside air (with it's moisture) being introduced into the tank. And there's something called 'phase separation' whereas when the temperatures fluctuate, water and alcohol no longer stay in a mixed state but rather drop to the bottom of the tank. So, when and engine hasn't been run for a long time, the fuel pick-up gets what, on the first few cranks? Alcohol and water. Once this separation occurs (and this includes the separation of some important additives beyond President Bush's ethanol) what happens to the octane rating? It drops. This explains some of our problems with ethanol in fuel but doesn't explain why the inbred guy doesn't have problems with his small engines. My guess is that he is either using a Stabil-type product geared for ethanol or he is draining the fuel tanks on his small engines before storing them. As to no onein the North having problems with ethanol in their small engines? That's just not true.