Fuel with out stabilizer is only supposed to last a few months. Fuel with can go six months to a year. That is what my inorganic chem prof told me but he could be wrong.
I have exceeded these limits on both.
The biggest problem with fuel storage is water getting in via condensation. That is why you are supposed to fill your tank before storage or better yet drain it.
This topic is funny. There are those folks in the motorcycle world who will only use fresh gas pumped that day. There are millions of americans who start up their lawnmowers on whatever fuel they left in there the year before. These people who claim that gas spoils in a month have pretty high standards of freshness. I mean cripes, fresher is always better but there’s a long ways between fresh and spoiled.
I’ve never heard of many people actually taking gasoline to the dump so it all gets used somehow. I will dilute questionable gas with fresh and run it in a cheap engine like a lawnmower mostly because I just don’t know a good way to get rid of it. Bad diesel would go on a bonfire, used oil gets recycled, but gas is harder to deal with.
I consider gas to be “bad” when it reaks of foul stale fuel. If you don’t know the smell then you’ve never smelt it. It is a distinctive spoiled gas smell.
Many years ago I began treating ALL gas that I put in the gas can with sta-bil stabilizer. It is cheap and easy and I’ve never had gas go bad since. Every brand of 2-stroke oil that I’ve bought also claims to be a fuel stabilizer so the mixed gas for saws is double stable.
If you have ever had the joy of cleaning out carbs gunked by old gas…
I am just relaying what a prof told me....
In my engines I put stabilizer in all the fuel. I want my crap to last a lifetime and I don’t want to clean the carbs in my chainsaw/snowblower/lawnmower.
Dump the old gas into something that you are burning fuel in all the time. I doubt it will hurt it at all.
All my neighbours use their old gasoline to start fires.
This topic is funny. There are those folks in the motorcycle world who will only use fresh gas pumped that day. There are millions of americans who start up their lawnmowers on whatever fuel they left in there the year before. These people who claim that gas spoils in a month have pretty high standards of freshness. I mean cripes, fresher is always better but there’s a long ways between fresh and spoiled.
I’ve never heard of many people actually taking gasoline to the dump so it all gets used somehow. I will dilute questionable gas with fresh and run it in a cheap engine like a lawnmower mostly because I just don’t know a good way to get rid of it. Bad diesel would go on a bonfire, used oil gets recycled, but gas is harder to deal with.
I consider gas to be “bad” when it reaks of foul stale fuel. If you don’t know the smell then you’ve never smelt it. It is a distinctive spoiled gas smell.
Many years ago I began treating ALL gas that I put in the gas can with sta-bil stabilizer. It is cheap and easy and I’ve never had gas go bad since. Every brand of 2-stroke oil that I’ve bought also claims to be a fuel stabilizer so the mixed gas for saws is double stable.
funny is i a small engine tech once told me not to use old gas in a small engine because inadequate combustion could blow the rings,like my snowblower’s, so now i use fresh gas for small engines & dump old in carbureted truck.
Another thing...boat mechanics in my area claim that most carb problems now are from ethanol mixed into gasoline carried in fiberglass tanks, (as on a power boat). They claim it turns some of the FG to sludge; (er, for lack of a better word). So, anyone have a way to overcome this?
Another thing...boat mechanics in my area claim that most carb problems now are from ethanol mixed into gasoline carried in fiberglass tanks, (as on a power boat). They claim it turns some of the FG to sludge; (er, for lack of a better word). So, anyone have a way to overcome this?
organic,carbon,yes.
thought i heard ethanol interacted with the rubber hoses to make trouble.
GOV. has a site “ask a scientist” where u can email & get answer.
That’s one of the problems with using the new diesel in older equipment such as tractors. Seals tend to dissolve causing $$$ problems. That’s progress.
FWIW, the local stihl dealer said stihl advised premium non-alcohol gas with stabilizer. He also recommended the same mix for all small engines. Actual additional cost is really small, and after several years now with chainsaws, mowers, etc., never have had a problem. I no longer drain tanks over the winter and run the carbs dry. I will shoot fogging oil in the cylinders of the engines though.
yeah yeah I know, but I didn’t think of the question about gasoline till I was in inorganic chem. class. Organic chem was scarring enough. Inorganic well, we don’t talk about it anymore…
I made through inorganic because the rules were pretty preditable: A usually combines with B in certain ratios and makes C
My roommate had organic where a + b equals 8 different kinds of c, left hand, right hand, this or that. Totally overwhelming to me and thankful didn’t have to take it. If you made that, hats off to you.
BOT: I use 92 no alcohol as base in all my small engines. Straight in 4 cycles, mixed with synthetic oil for two cycles, blended with varying ratios of synth oil and 100+ race gas for the motorcycles.
Did engine research many years back in grad school. I am not so much concerned with the effects of alcohol as most newer stuff has the right seals and metals. Also, ethanol is not nearly as agressive as methanol. But in presence of moisture, alcohol absorbs the water, then the mix of the two can drop out of the gas. Those particles tend to strip lube off points in the 2 cycle engine. No big deal if used again, but if it goes into winter storage, not good, can cause local pitting. More applicable to the motorcycles, but I just got into habit of avoiding it in all my small engines.
And I just put the old premix (more than 3 months) through the van. A gallon in 15 gallons is insignificant. But it is an older van.
I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had a problem with bad gas.
I do know that my motorcycle and my Sea Doo both *hate* stabilized fuel, and will run like crap until it gets a fresh tank. I don’t bother with stabilizer anymore.
I do try and remember to close the fuel shutoff and run the carb dry when I put a machine away for a while. Bad gas is way overblown in my opinion, but a gunked up carb sure-enough sucks!!!
-Dan
BTW - the oldest gas I’ve ever knowingly used was over 4 years old. it was in an ATV I had in storage in a buddies barn. I had drained the carb, so there were no clogged orifices to mess anything up. And the quad ran well enough that the first guy to come see it took it home with him!
All my neighbours use their old gasoline to start fires.
That is horrifying. The inability of so many modern humans to start fires with a lighter, paper, kindling, and wood is frightening. In my experience it is macho men who like to start fires with fuel, whereas women actually know how to start fires without wasting fuel and have enough patience to do so. Okay, just a few men, but I have chased a man with gasoline away from his own firepit and a friend and I took over. He was a kind of dumb guy, though.
All my neighbours use their old gasoline to start fires.
That is horrifying. The inability of so many modern humans to start fires with a lighter, paper, kindling, and wood is frightening. In my experience it is macho men who like to start fires with fuel, whereas women actually know how to start fires without wasting fuel and have enough patience to do so. Okay, just a few men, but I have chased a man with gasoline away from his own firepit and a friend and I took over. He was a kind of dumb guy, though.
The Kootenays are famous for being super green. That is why every spring the valley fills up with smoke as everyone and his dog is burning brush piles....
And if you are going to burn green piles of sticks what starts a fire better than gas? Premix even better.
