I love ethanol blended fuels... an anecdotal story

[CountryBoy19]

First off, this isn't meant to be a debate. The debates never really accomplish much. This is simply to point out that there ARE true benefits to the ethanol blended fuels we have today.

Went out to do a little splitting this weekend... The splitter wouldn't start, it was being terribly stubborn. I pulled and pulled and pulled, it would fire, stutter, and then quit. No amount of fiddling with the choke would fix it. So I took the cap off to check in the fuel tank, and sure enough, a small amount of water in the bottom of the tank. Thinking about it, my splitter has an ancient 5 hp B&S engine with the fuel cap that has a small hole in it and my splitter sits outside. At one point the tarp came off during a storm a few weeks ago. I suspect it got enough water in the tank that it was sucking up too much water.

What to do? Drain the tank? Nah, I figured I would try a bit of ethanol blend fuel before that. As we all know, ethanol absorbs water into solution so it can be passed through the system. So it only makes sense that a little E10 may absorb enough to get things working. So I poured in just over 1/4 gallon, let it sit for a bit, splashed a little bit into the carb to get the engine to fire a bit better, and voila, 4-5 pulls and things took off excellent. The splitter ran great the rest of the day...

This is just an anecdote. Ethanol fuels may have some down-sides, but IMHO, I haven't seen much, if any, downside in my personal experience. That being said, E10 blend saved me from having to drain the gas tank on my splitter due to water in the fuel... that is only 1 benefit of E blends...

 

[F4jock]

Not even gonna try . . . .

 

[Grateful11]

My only question is how do see water at the bottom of a tank through the gas on top?

 

[stoveguy2esw]

you can see water through gas, ive seen it myself that way before.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Methanol and isopropyl alcohol are typically used as dry gas to help pass through H2O, not ethanol.

You could debate the benefits of ethanol gas...but you'd lose. It is the biggest scam ever pulled on the American taxpayer for an entirely inferior product.

 

[peakbagger]

Yes Ethanol blended fuel took away the market for "dry Gas" type products although some clueless folks still use it. Unfortunately it really helped the stock of Startron gas treatment and numerous carburetor cleaning products plus small engine dealers get more service work and sell more new equipment. Bar tradeoff to me.

 

[Babaganoosh]

Methanol and isopropyl alcohol are typically used as dry gas to help pass through H2O, not ethanol.

You could debate the benefits of ethanol gas...but you'd lose. It is the biggest scam ever pulled on the American taxpayer for an entirely inferior product.

I disagree. I believe bottled water is the biggest scam ever pulled on American people.

I'm on the younger side and just bought a house this year so everything gas powered is new and probably designed more with ethanol gas in mind. With the exception of my diesel lawn mower which is bad ass!

I know my dad has had some issues with ethanol in his equipment but some of that stuff is 25 years old. Time will tell.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Methanol and isopropyl alcohol are typically used as dry gas to help pass through H2O, not ethanol.

You could debate the benefits of ethanol gas...but you'd lose. It is the biggest scam ever pulled on the American taxpayer for an entirely inferior product.

I'm not going to take your bait on the debate... we've had it before, but I will question, what is your point with your first comment RE Methanol and isopropyl? Are you trying to say ethanol doesn't absorb water?

 

[sportbikerider78]

It absolutely will absorb water. That doesn't mean it is the best for getting an engine to run with an unknown amount of water in the tank. I could never imagine wanting to get a questionable tank to run instead of draining it and starting fresh. That doesn't make sense to me.

Ethanol pulls moisture every chance it gets. One of the main reasons it can run terribly and cause oil to separate from gas in 2 cycle engines.

Yes. You are certainly avoiding debate by titling your thread something like "I love ethanol". Perhaps a less 'baity' topic would be,,,"could ethanol have absorbed water in my tank?"

 

[CountryBoy19]

It absolutely will absorb water. That doesn't mean it is the best for getting an engine to run with an unknown amount of water in the tank. I could never imagine wanting to get a questionable tank to run instead of draining it and starting fresh. That doesn't make sense to me.

I don't care if it's "the best" at getting an engine to run with water in the tank. That fact of that matter is that it works.

Why can't you imagine wanting to get a tank to run through instead of draining it? Possibly because there was nothing wrong with the gas other than the water in it and it's a major PITA to drain... you have to pull the carb, pull the tank, find something to drain it into, drain it, mess with disposing of 1/4 gallon of gas that has a few teaspoons of water in it, if the carb gasket doesn't come off cleanly you have to go get a new one (15 mile drive for me) and then put it all back together. Seems like a LOT of work when simply adding a bit of alcohol based fuel solved the issue in a couple minutes... but yes, you're right, I can't imagine why anyone would possibly want to solve a problem in a couple minutes when they could spend hours solving it... especially if they have obligations that day and doing all that gives them an excuse to miss those obligations because they had to fix the log-splitter and finish splitter wood... bonus points for added complication if you were somewhere that you had to go get tools to do the job...

Yes. You are certainly avoiding debate by titling your thread something like "I love ethanol". Perhaps a less 'baity' topic would be,,,"could ethanol have absorbed water in my tank?"

So titling the thread that I love ethanol (which is a fact) is baiting? I made a factual statement that I love ethanol then offered an anecdotal story supporting one of the reasons why. The point wasn't at all to bait any sort of argument, it was to point out that often times many people overlook the benefits of ethanol to make some pretty wild claims on it's downsides.

 

[F4jock]

I don't care if it's "the best" at getting an engine to run with water in the tank. That fact of that matter is that it works.

Why can't you imagine wanting to get a tank to run through instead of draining it? Possibly because there was nothing wrong with the gas other than the water in it and it's a major PITA to drain... you have to pull the carb, pull the tank, find something to drain it into, drain it, mess with disposing of 1/4 gallon of gas that has a few teaspoons of water in it, if the carb gasket doesn't come off cleanly you have to go get a new one (15 mile drive for me) and then put it all back together. Seems like a LOT of work when simply adding a bit of alcohol based fuel solved the issue in a couple minutes... but yes, you're right, I can't imagine why anyone would possibly want to solve a problem in a couple minutes when they could spend hours solving it... especially if they have obligations that day and doing all that gives them an excuse to miss those obligations because they had to fix the log-splitter and finish splitter wood... bonus points for added complication if you were somewhere that you had to go get tools to do the job...



So titling the thread that I love ethanol (which is a fact) is baiting? I made a factual statement that I love ethanol then offered an anecdotal story supporting one of the reasons why. The point wasn't at all to bait any sort of argument, it was to point out that often times many people overlook the benefits of ethanol to make some pretty wild claims on it's downsides.

You could have sucked it out with a syphon pump.and / or a turkey baster. Why do people always have to overthink things? K.I.S.S. As for the "debate" I'm not gonna play. Ethanol and Isopropanol will do the same thing. Say what you will, I won't be running my 69 Vette on that mix tho. Not only does it not have the octane but the all original components save the Rochester that I dumped in favor of a Holly Double-Pumper, would NOT like moonshine!

 

[CountryBoy19]

You could have sucked it out with a syphon pump.and / or a turkey baster. Why do people always have to overthink things? K.I.S.S.

Still pretty hard to get that little bit of water down at the bottom of the tank... and I don't have a siphon pump, only a shake siphon which would be rather difficult in this situation...

IMHO, the simplest, most easy solution was dump in some sort of alcohol, I had a can of E10 with me at the time, it solved the problem nearly instantly...

As for the "debate" I'm not gonna play. Ethanol and Isopropanol will do the same thing. Say what you will, I won't be running my 69 Vette on that mix tho. Not only does it not have the octane but the all original components save the Rochester that I dumped in favor of a Holly Double-Pumper, would NOT like moonshine!

I don't blame you one bit... as for older engines that may have incompatible materials or have decades of "stuff" built up in the fuel system ethanol blends absolutely can be a nightmare...

 

[Adios Pantalones]

You could have sucked it out with a syphon pump.and / or a turkey baster. Why do people always have to overthink things? K.I.S.S. As for the "debate" I'm not gonna play. Ethanol and Isopropanol will do the same thing. Say what you will, I won't be running my 69 Vette on that mix tho. Not only does it not have the octane but the all original components save the Rochester that I dumped in favor of a Holly Double-Pumper, would NOT like moonshine!

Adding a blended fuel (which is amazingly available, and worked) is overthinking it? Was the OP suggesting that you run any other vehicle with it?

I think that you are manufacturing an argument.

 

[Grisu]

or a turkey baster.

Tried that once although I should have known better. The gas completely corroded the baster. Had to throw it away.

 

[F4jock]

Tried that once although I should have known better. The gas completely corroded the baster. Had to throw it away.

Obviously but when I did it, it lasted long enough to do the job.

 

[TreePointer]

First off, this isn't meant to be a debate. The debates never really accomplish much....

...and then your very next sentence states a frequently debated premise. Next you go on to present your interpretation of your observations and even make conclusions, which are indeed debatable to say the least.

DON'T FEED THE ETHANOL TROLLS.

 

[TreePointer]

EVERYONE, there are SAFER alternatives to using ethanol gasoline to clear water in your fuel.

If you add something to your fuel to address a water issue, please note that the particular alcohols (not ethanol) in products designed to render water harmless are a lot less likely to cause phase separation than ethanol. A phase separation makes the problem even worse!

DON'T FEED THE ETHANOL TROLLS.

 

[CountryBoy19]

...and then your very next sentence states a frequently debated premise.

Debatable? If you don't think there are any benefits to ethanol then you're clearly living in the dark...

If you add something to your fuel to address a water issue, please note that the particular alcohols (not ethanol) in products designed to render water harmless are a lot less likely to cause phase separation than ethanol. A phase separation makes the problem even worse!

Do you realize how asinine this statement is? I'm continually wowed by the ignorance of people that are anti-ethanol... what do you think phase-separation is? Could it possibly be where something like water is not mixed with something like oil (gas in this case)? Is that maybe what phase-separation is?

Don't you think that I had already experienced phase separation with the water/gas in the fuel tank? IE, the water had already sank to the bottom and was causing problems. Ethanol doesn't cause phase separation, gas & water have NEVER wanted to mix without a little help. Ethanol is that help, and in this particular case, the ethanol in my E10 gas REVERSED the phase separation that was causing me problems... Do you care to enlighten me as to how ethanol made the problem of phase separation worse?

Don't come here trying to act smart about this, it's very clear that you're fairly ignorant on the science behind this stuff...

FWIW, you're the one trolling here...