Bad gas (not from tofu)

[oltrunt]

Hello All.

Well, I learned a lesson—but not without considerable pain to reinforce it.  Gasoline really does go bad.  A year ago I replaced the Yamaha ef3000iseb genny in my bus with a brand new model of the same ilk.  Same rip snorting electron pushing device I had but with all the eco friendly junk like a charcoal canister and exhaust sniffer or something.  I figured I was set for life.  Not so.  After only 24 hrs of metered use, the thing began surging at idle with wild fluctuations of rpm's and flashing red lights.  It worked fine under load but I'll bet that wouldn't have lasted.  Per the net, this apparently isn't all that uncommon regardless of the generator brand.  The fix seems to be carb repair and gas tank cleaning.
I removed and dissembled the carb in which I found an amazing amount of varnish.  I did a though cleaning of the float bowl and all the jets and emptied the tank.  After reassembling the carb and adding fresh gas, the genny is purring like a kitten again!
Feeling good about my success with the Yamaha I decided to have a look see at the Powermate Genny on the pop up camper I tow with the bus Toad.  I've only used the new PM once since I installed it about a year and a half ago.  Damn thing wouldn't even start!  I finally got it to run on ether—but only until the either ran out.  This is where the pain comes in.  I put the PM on a work bench next to where the Toad was parked and proceeded to vigorously pull the starter rope.  With each pull the genny moved closer and closer to the Toad until it was just close enough so that a good yank on the rope brought my elbow into contact with the edge of the rain gutter on the Toad.  The result was a new hole in my shirt and a new hole in my elbow and a really pissed off tendon.
The PM is a knock off of the Yamaha, about a third the cost and half the power and a tad bit noisier.  The carb looks like a miniature of the Yamaha and had clogged up in all the same places.  It too is again purring like a kitten.
Lesson learned (X2) :  Look before you pull the starter rope;  add fuel stabilizer to the gas.
Jack

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[kyle4501]

ethonol free gas definitely lasts longer than the crap with ethonol!

[Iceni John]

And that's exactly why I converted my emergences-only generator to propane.   I hope to not need it more than once every few months, so gasoline even with Sta-Bil just won't work for me.   On gasoline it started first pull every time, now on propane it starts third pull every time and seems to run quieter, and it definitely has a less smelly exhaust.

John   

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

I try to run my bus diesel engine and my diesel genset under a load at least once a month for about 20 minutes to keep the cobwebs out of it.  Also, I was always told that you should drain the gas out of your lawn mower carburetor and run the engine dry every fall before putting it away as it will gum up.  This saves you some hassle in the long run.  Not that I always did this, but that is what I was told. 

[Beluga Bus]

Modern gas starts to loose octane rating in just a few months. I use stabil and starton in any gas that sits. Like Gary, I run mine under load for 30 min each month and shut off the fuel supply and run the carb dry.
Matt

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

Yes, I have heard of Stabil too.  Another thing we did was to run the old snowmobile gas in the lawn mowers after we put them away for the summer before it went bad. It smoked quite a bit because it was mixed with oil, but it ran fine. 

Lawnmowers only hold about a quart of fuel so we just dumped it out.

[windtrader]

Just wondering how much of this still applies with today's formulations. Clearly, over the decades, fuel additives have improved a lot, so just curious how much of this is old tales and not indicative of the current state?

[Dave5Cs]

Jack like new Lawn morwers don't have a fuel shutoff. Anything gas I have for around the yard or construction , I cut the fuel line and insert a 1.00 plastic shutoff. Before i finish with that engined unit I simply turn off the shutoff and let it die. To start just turn it back on and start it. It leaves no fuel in the tank. If there is any fuel left I just turn it over and pour it out into the gas container and then let it die.

[luvrbus]

I got tired of that crap I use 100LL Avgas in all my gasoline equipment it cost about 5 bucks a gal (CA price) well worth it to me

[Hi yo silver]

I've had good performance using ethanol free gas with "Seafoam" added for the last ten years. I don't run equipment dry at the end of the season. Was told by a mechanic that the seals seem to suffer from drying out. Works for me.
Dennis

[Beluga Bus]

Don, todays 10% ethanol formulated gas is far worse than old non ethanol fomulations. The ethanol is a octane booster (pure ethanol is over 112 octane) and is mixed with a petroleum with around 85 octane. The trouble is that ethanol is very good at absorbing moisture from the air and as it does it quickly looses octane numbers. Ethanol also reacts poorly to aluminum, rubber, and many plastcis that may be in your fuel system.

Modern ethanol gas (e10) has caused millions of dollars of damage to engines and fuel systems in the marine industry and to industrial equipment powered by small gass engines.

Matt

[Oonrahnjay]

Don, todays 10% ethanol formulated gas is far worse than old non ethanol fomulations.

     Yep!

[windtrader]

Is the only way to get non-ethanol gas through aviation or racing sources? I only this year started using premium in my gas blower and power washer. Next year step up. LOL

[chessie4905]

If you Google non ethanol gas stations, there are a couple of sites that list locations state by state. There probably aren't any in California as using leaded gas is probably a death penalty crime.

[opus]

Hi-test [do they still call it that?] is always best.  I start all my gensets every month and run them.  I used to put Sta-bil in them but no longer.  I'm thinking that cause me more issues than I would have had if I did nothing.

I do like this however: http://www.starbrite.com/startron