Chainsaw gas and ethonal ?
- Thread starter woodsmaster
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
Ashful
Minister of Fire
It has probably become more sophisticated over the years, but this summer/winter diesel thing used to be just about varying the paraffin content. Can't run high paraffin in winter, as it gums up at cold temps.
colin.p
Burning Hunk
I love threads like this. Very informative without all the mud-slinging that sometimes develops. Definitely will watch this thread, and hopefully will come away a little smarter too.
It's not that I don't like the term "flat", it's that its VERY ambiguous and likens fuels to carbonated beverages. Fuels don't have any carbonation to lose, how can they go flat? What exactly is going flat? Using that term opens up more questions than it answers because of the ambiguity.
I fixed your "fix"... all fuels evaporate, it doesn't matter what is in it. They just evaporate at different rates. I hate to tell you this but the more volatile fractions of gasoline don't include ethanol, it's the butane and similar compounds that evaporate first. If your fuel is having problems due to ethanol evaporation you are either keeping it around in marginal containers for extended periods of time or you're keeping it in down-right terrible containers. Before any appreciable amount of the ethanol evaporates all of the other, more volatile stuff must evaporate first, that takes time.
We'll agree to disagree then; I think it's a fine octane booster...
What containers are you using? I don't have problems with my containers and I'm using standard Midwest Industries 5 gallon cans with aftermarket EZ-pour spouts. I do NOT use the tank vents that come with the spouts though because they don't maintain pressure, which allows the volatile fractions of the gas to evaporate off.
I also store, longer term, in 55 gallon oil drums. I don't have any problems with those even storing ethanol blends for over 2 years.
Ethanol that has taken on so much moisture that it can no longer remain soluble will separate. It's called phase-separation, it only happens when the ethanol has taken on a significant amount of water, which points back to storage issues. That being said, it's still better than e-free gas. E-free gas cannot tolerate any water, it will separate out instantly, whereas ethanol blends have some tolerance for moisture. It's all perspective and relativity; I look at it from the angle of: Ethanol gets me a built-in heet product that prevents the problems of years past where water in the fuel system would cause problems.
We can agree on that. Removing a crucial lubricant from diesel is asinine, leave it up to the EPA to determine what is best for us... That being said, biodiesel is a good substitute for the lubrication provided by the sulfur; unfortunately biodiesel comes with it's own set of downsides...Now they are messing with my diesel fuel. Pullin the sulfur out ( dang boy, its a lubricant) next thing ya no they will be pullin it out of my free machining steel as well
RE: free machining steels, I think we have some time before that happens, but it's pretty darn hard to find high-sulfur cutting oil as it is. I'm more worried about continuing to find that. I only know of 1 reliable source for it and that's online...
Seems to be some controversy on if they actually do that... and if so, it seems to be a regional thing (not in all areas).
That being said, from what I found, ethanol can be substituted for methanol in the transesterification process of making biodiesel. Because ethanol doesn't have the corrosive properties of methanol and it's cheaper to just buy more ethanol vs. wash it from the fuel and distill it for re-use (what they do with methanol), and it "can" run in a diesel engine, some biodiesel manufacturers may be leaving it in the fuel.
I had an 01 Dodge that would occasionally buck and stumble, blow out a bunch of blue smoke, and not get over 1600 rpms, and then smooth out. A trip to the Meijer gas station and a tank of B20 would make this disappear for a couple of weeks. I thought it was coincidence the first time, but after the second and third tanks made it run fine...
I could have had the injector pump replaced under warranty, the codes were there. I don't know much about the VP44, but my guess is there was something in there that the added lubricity of the B20 made all better.
I sold the truck a few months later to some punk kid, and I'm sure he immediately voided any remaining engine warranty.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I have an '05 Dodge with a gas engine that doesn't always idle well, and often stalls when it's not even in gear (eg. push clutch in to stop at traffic light, and it just stalls as I'm coasting to a stop). It's been that way since I drove it off the lot in 2005, and their tech's have never been able to solve the issue. I blame Dodge, not the gas. 
Ya, most of the injector pump issues with the '98.5-'02s came from Dodge mounting a lift pump, designed to push not pull, on the engine instead of next to or in the fuel tank. Lift pump failure leads to injector pump failure. Nothing to do with fuel, Cummins, or Bosch. Well, maybe ULSD played a role in my case, but no additive would make any difference, only biodiesel.
johneh
Minister of Fire
Try this web site for ethanol free fuel
In Ontario all Shell and Ultramar high test 91 octane fuel is ethanol free
http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp
In Ontario all Shell and Ultramar high test 91 octane fuel is ethanol free
http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp
Thanks for that link. It appears my favourite Gas station is 'E' free.
Also 7% cheaper.
- Status
