Will I cause more damage....

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infinitymike

infinitymike

Minister of Fire
Aug 23, 2011
1,835
Long Island, NY
Will I cause more damage by draining the gas and then running until empty?

I have 5 generators, 2 gas powered air compressor, 2 snow blowers, 1 riding lawn mower and 1 lawn vac/chipper. Yes I have to much, buts for another thread.

For 25 years I just left the gas in them until I used them again. Sometimes that could be a year or two. Especially with the generators, since I am not running 4 framing crews any more.

So theres been some threads about gas with ethanol and I got a bug up my butt and went out to the shed and drained all the gas and ran them dry. NO i didnt fog them. I was to lazy to go to the store to get some.

My thinking is that the carbs may varnish over and the needles may clog.

Any thoughts?
 
You will get fifty different answers for this question. What you do is up to you. I pour out the gas that is in small equipment like saws, put them on the shelf. I take the line from the bottom of the tank and drain things you can't pour like the splitter, grass cutter or snowblower. I don't believe in running 2 strokes dry especially while working them, (cutting wood). You might be OK letting them idle until they stop, I am more comfortable pouring the tanks out. My trimmer and saws have gas in them all summer long, I never had any problems. YMMV
 
When you visit a chainsaw store, none of the new saws on the shelf have fuel in them. Doesn't seem to hurt them to sit there for (years?) dry. Once the gasoline/ethanol in your saw has been run dry and then evaporated, there's nothing left but a minute amount of residue. The manufacturers say to run them dry for storage...perhaps they know more about chainsaws than we do.
 
Pour them out and run them dry.
 
peakbagger said:
Pour them out and run them dry.
Click to expand...

this is what I and all the people i know do^^^^ , pour out and run dry... someone had said also to make sure you always use the blueish/greenish colored fuel storage stuff instead of the red color stuff (NEVER use the red colored stuff, something about lessor quality or ethanol or w/e)... just giving the advice ive heard on this site many times now.... good luck!
 
I have a couple riding mowers, and push mowers I keep at different rental properties. The last mowing of the season I mix a gallon of fresh regular gas with a strong solution of red Stabil and as I'm done with the equipment for the season, I drain the fuel with a syphon hose and pour in a little stabilized fuel. Start it until I'm sure the treated fuel is in the carb and drain the rest of the treated stuff back into my stabilized can for the next place. ( I tried the marine grade green stabilizer with the same results - no problem with the red so far) I then drain the oil while hot, sharpen the blade while it drips dry, and fill with fresh oil. The next summer they take right off on the first pull and everything else is ready to go for the season. One gallon of treated fuel takes care of many pieces of equipment at the end of the season.
The 2 cycle stuff, leaf blowers and trimmers, I pour out and run dry. Most 2 cycle oil has fuel stabilizer in it anyway. As it dies I choke it to pull the last remaining fuel from carb. and pump the primer to empty that system. This does lean them out as they die, but with no load for a few seconds does no harm.
Aircraft are always shut down by idling down until cool and starving of fuel, not by shutting off the spark. This prevents washing down cylinders with fuel by coasting with no spark. A film of oil from running is better than washing down with fuel.
The only way to shut a diesel down is shut off the fuel as well.
 
I had a little MTD mower that I sold the other day. I had parked it last spring without touching it, and wasn't looking forward to getting it running. I got it out last week, replaced the five year old battery, cranked it for about half a second, and fired it right up on the crappy old gas. My other mower always got Seafoam in the last tank, and I never had any fuel problems with it. Not sure what I'm going to do with the new mower.
Generator gets the fuel shut off at the tank and ran out of gas. I keep Seafoam in the tank, and it's always decent. I get it out and run it for an hour or so every 4-6 weeks, and then top off the fuel.
My splitter always gets run dry. The float sticks sometimes and dribbles gas all over. Usually, by the end of the third tank I'm ready to be done, so it's no extra effort. It sits for months at a time, and I never have a problem restarting it.
My saws run ethanol-free racing fuel, and don't sit long enough to be a problem, anyway.
My trimmer never ceases to amaze me. Dump the old gas out, pour some fresh stuff in, and it always starts on the second or third pull. Sunday, after fifteen years, the head flew apart, and I finally had an excuse to buy an Oregon Speed-Feed.
 
All major 2 stroke oil mix has a fuel stabilizer in it already. For the other stuff I like the blue Sta Bil. I think that the blue sta bil has something in it for the ethanol in most gas. I still use sta bil when I make a 5 gal can of saw mix, and it has not given me any trouble.
 
The local small engine equipment shop near me sells a special gas with no ethanol in it. It comes ready to use for 2 strokes, (a 50:1 mix), and a four stroke version. It says that it is good for storing your equipment WITH THE FUEL IN IT for 2 years. It does cost about $7 a quart, but for off-season storage, it's way better than a non-running motor and a carb fix.......
 
I personally don't run anything dry. I just start everything once a winter, maybe begining of february and let it run for 15 min. although the owners manual for my new motor ( bought off a friend with a blown motor due to no oil because of dipstick broken) for my scag 48in walk behind says differently. Kawasaki 4 stroke air cooled v-twin 17hp. it says "engine to be stored over 30 days should be completely drained of fuel to prevent gum deposits forming on essential carburetor parts, fuel filter, and tank"

-drain fuel tank.
-to remove fuel from carb, run engine to use up fuel.
-remove spark plugs and pour approx 1-2mL of engine oil through the spark plug holes and then screw the plugs back in after turning the engine over a few times. Slowly turning the engine until you feel compression and then leave it there. This blocks the air inside the cylinder ans prevents rust inside the engine..
-Wrap engine with plastic sheeting and store in a dry place.

This was directly from the owners manual. ME PERSONALLY, just run it every once and a while and be done with it.
 
Thanks guys. Like I said for 25 years I just let everything sit with the gas in it and then I start it when ever I need to use it. No problems. This forum has been so great and is giving me a new perspective on things so now its time for a change. All my straight gas powered equipment that wont be used for at least 7 months (snow blowers) and up to who knows how long (generators) has been drained of all gas and ran on idle until the carb went dry. I like the one post about putting a little oil in the piston cylinder.
 
Tanks full of treated fuel or empty, not in-between. Carbs should be dry either by running them dry or draining the bowl (preferrable). Draining the bowl via a supplied drain or removing it and dumping the fuel will prevent the varnishing you're concerned about. Doesn't hurt to wash the interior with carb cleaner if you already have the bowls off. Prevents the float from sticking.

Where you store is important too. If the machine sits in a garage or somewhere that it will not be exposed to 100 deg plus temperatures then storing with full tanks of treated fuel is fine. If it will sit and be baked all summer, like in a tool shed, then it should be stored dry since the fuel in the tank won't be much good anyways, even if treated.

Of course anything going into super-long term storage (18-24 months or longer) should have the oil changed, fuel tanks/carbs drained/dry and fogged.
 
The seaonal stuff (use it again in 5-6 months) I just park just the same if I was going to use it again the next day. Have not had an issue beyond having to pull the carb bowl off and clean that out once in a while... probably more from bits of junk getting in there over the summer. We don't have ethanol fuel here though, also been told that our gas is "heavier" than L48 fuel so it doesn't evaporate quite the same.

(don't know the whole deal on that, just what I was told)
 
MasterMech said:
Tanks full of treated fuel or empty, not in-between. Carbs should be dry either by running them dry or draining the bowl (preferrable). Draining the bowl via a supplied drain or removing it and dumping the fuel will prevent the varnishing you're concerned about. Doesn't hurt to wash the interior with carb cleaner if you already have the bowls off. Prevents the float from sticking.

Where you store is important too. If the machine sits in a garage or somewhere that it will not be exposed to 100 deg plus temperatures then storing with full tanks of treated fuel is fine. If it will sit and be baked all summer, like in a tool shed, then it should be stored dry since the fuel in the tank won't be much good anyways, even if treated.

Of course anything going into super-long term storage (18-24 months or longer) should have the oil changed, fuel tanks/carbs drained/dry and fogged.
Click to expand...


Hence the name "Master Mech";)

I will go back and pull bowls and clean/fog them. Again my concern was that even though I drained them and then ran them dry there still might be a drop of fuel that "clung" (due to a molecular static) to the carb needle and then hardened over or that any seals might dry out.

I think the general consensus is it will be fine.

Great Stuff.
 
My boat I run dry,everything else gets fired up once a month.The weather here alows for at least once per month to fire every thing up.Were talking 10 hand helds(trimmers,blowers,saws) 3 mowers,compressers and welders.The garage can be humming at times in the winter.
 
After replacing two carbs, one on the splitter and one on one of the generators, and seeing the rust in those bowls I now run'em dry.
 
If it's a 2 stroke, and will be sitting for an extended period of time, I would fog with storage oil, then shut down & drain all gas from tank, carb & line. Sometimes you can just spray the fog in until it stalls on its own, while idling. If you're real good at the timing and balancing acts, you might be able to drain the tank, start up, and fog it just as it starts to run out of gas.

The problem with just running it out of gas, is that there might not be enough lube left in the bottom end to prevent a crank bearing from starting to rust - which doing the fogging fixes. That all depends though on how long things sit, and the environment it is sitting in - along with some luck of the draw thrown in. I fog just to be on the safe side.
 
maple1 said:
If it's a 2 stroke, and will be sitting for an extended period of time, I would fog with storage oil, then shut down & drain all gas from tank, carb & line. Sometimes you can just spray the fog in until it stalls on its own, while idling. If you're real good at the timing and balancing acts, you might be able to drain the tank, start up, and fog it just as it starts to run out of gas.

The problem with just running it out of gas, is that there might not be enough lube left in the bottom end to prevent a crank bearing from starting to rust - which doing the fogging fixes. That all depends though on how long things sit, and the environment it is sitting in - along with some luck of the draw thrown in. I fog just to be on the safe side.
Click to expand...

If you fog with seafoam then the engine will continue to run on it until you flood it out. Requires two cans (aerosol) to shut down some bigger engines. ==c
 
I have a generator that the last time it was run was around 1987. The tank got pretty rusty and there was a bit of junk in the carb bowl but it actually ran on the gas that was almost 25 years old. I dumped out what was left in the tank and it wouldn't even catch fire in my burn barrel!

Pretty much if I treat the small engines like crap or treat them good them seem to work just the same. I don't go out of my way to maintain them beyond what the book calls for, waste of time and money.
 
nate379 said:
I have a generator that the last time it was run was around 1987. The tank got pretty rusty and there was a bit of junk in the carb bowl but it actually ran on the gas that was almost 25 years old. I dumped out what was left in the tank and it wouldn't even catch fire in my burn barrel!

Pretty much if I treat the small engines like crap or treat them good them seem to work just the same. I don't go out of my way to maintain them beyond what the book calls for, waste of time and money.
Click to expand...


Thats when gas was gas. Ahh the good ole days.
 
maple1 said:
If it's a 2 stroke, and will be sitting for an extended period of time, I would fog with storage oil, then shut down & drain all gas from tank, carb & line. Sometimes you can just spray the fog in until it stalls on its own, while idling. If you're real good at the timing and balancing acts, you might be able to drain the tank, start up, and fog it just as it starts to run out of gas.

The problem with just running it out of gas, is that there might not be enough lube left in the bottom end to prevent a crank bearing from starting to rust - which doing the fogging fixes. That all depends though on how long things sit, and the environment it is sitting in - along with some luck of the draw thrown in. I fog just to be on the safe side.
Click to expand...


Hopefully the four strokes should be fine. I didn't drain the oil out, so a rusty crank shouldn't be a problem. Hey wait, when did we start talkin about my mother in-law!
 
infinitymike said:
Thats when gas was gas. Ahh the good ole days.
Click to expand...

His gas IS gas. No ethanol in Alaska.

infinitymike said:
Hopefully the four strokes should be fine. I didn't drain the oil out, so a rusty crank shouldn't be a problem. Hey wait, when did we start talkin about my mother in-law!
Click to expand...

Unless it's a vertical shaft, the crank isn't (shouldn't be) submerged anyway. Best to store with clean oil in 'em.
 
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