Refueled with REC Fuel

[Fixingfarmer]

A 3rd who doesn't know Jack S. Here is my tank being tumbled with contents of bolts, nuts, washers and water to try and save it from the E10 snot.

https://imgur.com/JqvEuls

There isn’t a drop of fuel here that hasn’t been e 10 or greater here in the last 20 years. What I’ve seen it do is loosen varnish from people who haven’t ever used it. Then they cry that ethanol caused a problem. Did it? Or was it something to be dealt with been lurking in there? Around here we use e85 to clean up those tanks others bring in.
Ethanol does collect and adsorb water like diesel. So as long as you make the switch and don’t waffle back and forth you are ok even if that did loosen a bunch of crud.
Heck the last 5 years I’ve been blending my own e50 at the pump in my Silverado. Good lord the stickers on the pump purchased by the oil companies I’ve been ignoring with that one. Sure hasn’t gummed up the works in that old girl. You are much more likely to have trouble at your premium no ethanol pump that is more expensive and nobody’s buying it.

 

[JMOR]

There isn’t a drop of fuel here that hasn’t been e 10 or greater here in the last 20 years. What I’ve seen it do is loosen varnish from people who haven’t ever used it. Then they cry that ethanol caused a problem. Did it? Or was it something to be dealt with been lurking in there? Around here we use e85 to clean up those tanks others bring in.
Ethanol does collect and adsorb water like diesel. So as long as you make the switch and don’t waffle back and forth you are ok even if that did loosen a bunch of crud.
Heck the last 5 years I’ve been blending my own e50 at the pump in my Silverado. Good lord the stickers on the pump purchased by the oil companies I’ve been ignoring with that one. Sure hasn’t gummed up the works in that old girl. You are much more likely to have trouble at your premium no ethanol pump that is more expensive and nobody’s buying it.

Like john in la said, if you live in the fly-over part of country..............and if you use it up shortly & don't let it sit vented to air, then maybe you will be just fine. Just because you haven't experienced what some of us have doesn't put a 'lid on the bucket'.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Like john in la said, if you live in the fly-over part of country..............and if you use it up shortly & don't let it sit vented to air, then maybe you will be just fine. Just because you haven't experienced what some of us have doesn't put a 'lid on the bucket'.

You have a point about me not living by the sea but of the 100s of small and large engines that have been through here the problems are generally caused by attempting to store gas in a vehicle long term it just doesn’t work that good. Doesn’t matter which fuel. Case in point all the 3 inch Honda pump motors on the coop tankers. We would drain them every year 7 were my responsibility. Some genius got hired up at a different location said he wasn’t going to take the couple hours to drain them add some sea foam. Says he’s stored something five years and it started right up. Ok great you do that I’ll do what I’ve always done. Well who’s started that spring dumping fresh gas in april 10th and who had 3 that didn’t spending a day wasting time called asking if I’d come help? Doesn’t matter what you dump in for fuel or extra additive storing in a vehicle for 6 months especially not draining the the carb you will eventually have trouble. Burn it up. Most people only have one or two things around snowblower lawn mower couple old tractors in our case. Find a home for the fuel or better yet give the tractor a workout.

 

[john in la]

You have a point about me not living by the sea but of the 100s of small and large engines that have been through here the problems are generally caused by attempting to store gas in a vehicle long term it just doesn’t work that good. Doesn’t matter which fuel. Case in point all the 3 inch Honda pump motors on the coop tankers. We would drain them every year 7 were my responsibility. Some genius got hired up at a different location said he wasn’t going to take the couple hours to drain them add some sea foam. Says he’s stored something five years and it started right up. Ok great you do that I’ll do what I’ve always done. Well who’s started that spring dumping fresh gas in april 10th and who had 3 that didn’t spending a day wasting time called asking if I’d come help? Doesn’t matter what you dump in for fuel or extra additive storing in a vehicle for 6 months especially not draining the the carb you will eventually have trouble. Burn it up. Most people only have one or two things around snowblower lawn mower couple old tractors in our case. Find a home for the fuel or better yet give the tractor a workout.

While no ethanol gasoline will evaporate and leave a sticky varnish behind it will not phase separate or hold water suspended in it like ethanol does.
Our biggest problem with ethanol in our humid climate is that it attaches and holds water.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I had never heard of the term "rec fuel".
Had to look it up.
Around here we call it non ox or racing gas as it's usually 90 octane.
It costs nearly twice the price of 87 octane that we burn in our vehicles but
I have had enough troubles with gummed up carbs with green crap in the float bowls to learn that it is definately worth paying the extra price for the small amount I use in my small engines. The lawnmower, snowblower, chain saw and pressure washer get non ox exclusively.
Used to be if I did not suck the last drops out of the gas tank with a turkey baster and run the carb dry at the end of the season it was a sure bet I would be doing some tinkering when I used it next fall or spring. I will not say what works for others but I know what works for me.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

Just because you two haven't experienced the severe problem with E10 does NOT mean anything! Just remember the worst snotty cold you ever had and think of a gas tank full of what you blew out and coughed up and that is what E10 does if it sits exposed to air long enough. BTDT. You have to spoon it out of the tank or replace the tank.

And it stinks to high Heaven as well !

 

[Fixingfarmer]

While no ethanol gasoline will evaporate and leave a sticky varnish behind it will not phase separate or hold water suspended in it like ethanol does.
Our biggest problem with ethanol in our humid climate is that it attaches and holds water.

I don’t argue that for a second but the idea is as long as you keep using the ethanol you are getting the water and crud out that’s collected at the bottom because of that property. I don’t doubt for a second that if you are switching over for the first time or storing it awhile you will have trouble. If you ask everyone who tried ethanol did they use it the next 10 fills. Certainly not they switched right back. Makes common sense hard to blame them and usually they will start not putting it in anything. But if they were willing to stick at it they would have much less trouble with cleaning carbs. If anything you will find a chunk that was my last thing found in the trash pump this spring that had sat 4 years empty I figured it had varnished nope clean it and it was a rock in the main jet. That’s been it for a very very long time on our small engines. Especially if you purchase something new start with the ethanol and keep at it.

But once you are there and gotten past the clean out I have always figured I’ve had much less trouble than everyone whose sure the fuel is the boogeyman because I’ve been willing to burn in everything and my bulk tank goes down faster.

I do get that I don’t live in a costal area and you aren’t 10 miles from the ethanol plant like me and could have alot of transportation issues getting it to you anyway. I would be more suspect of the fuel supply than the humidity causing you day to day problems. 20 years of water sitting in the bottom of a tank maybe. Granted it’s only for 2 months while the crop is finishing growing but around here you can’t walk out and see during august from the humidity and you will be sweating into a puddle. Not to mention snow here on some vehicles kept outside. At least the times I’ve been to the coast it is a more pleasant amount of humidity.

 

[Tony in SD]

No, my generator is diesel powered.

 

[miangus]

Just because you two haven't experienced the severe problem with E10 does NOT mean anything! Just remember the worst snotty cold you ever had and think of a gas tank full of what you blew out and coughed up and that is what E10 does if it sits exposed to air long enough. BTDT. You have to spoon it out of the tank or replace the tank.

I believe that the reason people have such varying experiences regrading letting E10 set in a generator tank is, the result depends on the amount of water that has been absorbed in the ethanol which likely varies widely by region. This coupled with the variability of the evaporation rate of the gasoline in question can change results. If the ethanol has absorbed no water, it will stay mixed with the gas and there will be no issue. If the ethanol has absorbed a lot of water as the gas in the system evaporates at some point the ethanol water mixture will separate from the gas and as further gasoline evaporates all that remains is the ethanol water mixture. As this mixture evaporates it creates the white salt that plugs the carb jets. I prefer to store my generator with REC gas even though it is a pain in the neck. I envy some of you who only use your generator every four years unfortunately my electric distribution grid is not that reliable.

 

[Scott 730]

Just because you two haven't experienced the severe problem with E10 does NOT mean anything! Just remember the worst snotty cold you ever had and think of a gas tank full of what you blew out and coughed up and that is what E10 does if it sits exposed to air long enough. BTDT. You have to spoon it out of the tank or replace the tank.

^^^This^^^ I recently had the pleasure of cleaning the carb on a Yamaha generator that had been sitting a few years. The bowl and jets were filled with the prettiest emerald green snot you have ever seen. Anything that is expected to sit for any length of time at my place gets 100LL in it for storage.

 

[Watthour]

As previously mentioned, allowing storage tanks to respirate is NOT a good thing.

I have to grin whenever I see a comment on just how terrible E-10 (or 22) can be, just to continue onward with the same sources praising the benefits of SeaFoam. Just a little bit of cursory research can shoot a hole in the bottom of that boat in an instant.

 

[Watthour]

No, my generator is diesel powered.

As long as it doesn't gel, that's a great solution.