Fuel stabilizer for chain saw

[taskswap]

Just brainstorming here...

I'm going through scrounge after scrounge this winter, and haven't really ever felt like it was time to "put away" my chain saw. I'm no arborist, but I'm definitely using it at least 6 hours a month - usually a couple of hours every weekend, give or take.

I've never really been at the point where I felt like I should be draining the fuel or running the stabilizer through it. I don't really know what's in the stuff, though. I'm wondering if I should just do that "winter maintenance" cycle just for pure maintenance reasons even if I'm still using it all the time. I like this saw and want to keep it healthy a long time. What do you guys do when you're not actually putting the saw into long term storage?

 

[dustytools]

I always run Sta-Bil in my mix. I just never know how long it will be until I use the two strokes again with my work schedule and all. Its pretty cheap insurance.

 

[Nosmo]

Stabilizer

There is Sta-bil for non-leaded gasoline. There is Ethanol Sta-bil for Ethanol gasoline. Another stabilizer is an additive which is in Sthil's 2-cycle oil .

I've used the Ethanol Sta-bil for my log splitter and riding mowers and have had no problems later on when I wanted to use either of them. For my chainsaws I just use the Stihl 2-cycle oil I mentioned above.

Nosmo

 

[groundup]

The best thing you can do for a 2 stoke engine is run it regularly.

I run mine about like you do and use Stihl oil, which as mentioned has stabilizers in it.

 

[gugge]

I use Stab-bil in all my outdoor equipment. I put it in the gas can befrore going to fill them up. Has always worked well for me everything starts right up when needed.

 

[deutzman]

I just started using StarTron. Read a lot of reviews and many good ones. The flyer that the cashier gave me said it can keep gas fresh up to 2 years. Online I've read a year or more. $5.99(Oreillys) for 8 ounces and 1 ounce treats 6 gal. and is rated for E10. I'll use it on all my lawn and garden engines and both Dolmars. I can still get ethanol free gas here local but if that disappears I'll try it on E10.

Asked if they stocked Startron at Oreillys and the gal said they didn't carry it. When I said chainsaws she said wait a minute. They had it stored behind the counter with the Stihl 2 stroke oil mix.

 

[flashhole]

opcorn:

 

[brenndatomu]

At work we use the little 2 cycle oil packettes, just mix with 2.5 gallons of gas, ready to go. They have stabilizer in them already, we just run that all the time, good insurance. At home I'm burning up a couple gallons of Yamalube 2 snowmobile oil in my saws, weedeaters, etc, so I have to add the stabilizer, which I still run almost all the time.

I just ran across the Startron brand at the local NAPA recently, bought some to try in the gas and also the stuff for the diesel equipment too. If it works half as good as they claim, I will be buying more.

 

[Whitespider]

I've never used a stabilizer in 2-cycle engines... I use Stihl oil, which contains a stabilizer and I've never had an issue (but I dump the tanks if I think they'll sit for more than a few days).
I use Sta-Bil in the portable generator and swap out the fuel every 12-months. Even so, the last 6-gallons went bad in less than 6-months... put fresh, non-ethanol, 91-octane with Sta-Bil added in it last July and when I tried a test run in December the fuel had soured (it seemed fine in October).
The only time I use Sta-Bil in other 4-cycle power equipment is when I put them away for the season (fill 'em up with Sta-Bil treated fuel)... the stuff I run year round never gets it.

Side note - I never use ethanol-blended fuel in anything... ever!

 

[REJ2]

Many of the name brand mix oils, Stihl, Husky, Echo, and others already have a stabilizer in them. I dont add any more, no problems yet.

 

[084]

Star-tron hands down. Kiss replacing carburetor 's good by!

 

[unclemoustache]

What about SeaFoam? This stuff any good?

 

[JeffHK454]

I've never ran stabilizer in anything I've owned. Weather it's a 2 or 4 stroke when I'm done useing it I toss it in the shed never knowing if it's the last time that it will get used for the year.

Maybe my Cincy weather lets me get away with that..to be truthful I've always thought those additives are snakeoil.

 

[VTWoodchuck]

I've never used a stabilizer in 2-cycle engines... I use Stihl oil, which contains a stabilizer and I've never had an issue (but I dump the tanks if I think they'll sit for more than a few days).
I use Sta-Bil in the portable generator and swap out the fuel every 12-months. Even so, the last 6-gallons went bad in less than 6-months... put fresh, non-ethanol, 91-octane with Sta-Bil added in it last July and when I tried a test run in December the fuel had soured (it seemed fine in October).
The only time I use Sta-Bil in other 4-cycle power equipment is when I put them away for the season (fill 'em up with Sta-Bil treated fuel)... the stuff I run year round never gets it.

Side note - I never use ethanol-blended fuel in anything... ever!

I'm curious how you test your fuel. I've heard of testing it for water but not for being "sour". Is it a kit?

 

[indiansprings]

We recommend that customers mix as small as 2 cycle mix as they can so they will use it up and keep it fresh. Use one gallon if it will get you by, we recommend MARINE stabil or Starton, and we tell customer's not to let fuel sit in saws longer than 3 months or keep fuel longer than 3 months. Personally, I use Ultra at 40:1 because Ultra has 20% more lubricicity than convential oil, 40% more detergents for less carbon build up and a additive that protects the brass and copper in the carbs and protect the system from ethanol for 3 months.

 

[Whitespider]

What about SeaFoam? This stuff any good?

SeaFoam is not a fuel stabilizer, it’s a fuel treatment that lubricates moving parts, absorbs free water, dissolves gum/varnish, and slightly raises the octane rating of fuel… but it will not “stabilize” (retard the oxidation process).

SeaFoam contains just three things…

1. Pale Oil (mineral oil)
2. Naphtha (lighter fluid)
3. Isopropyl Alcohol

SeaFoam is the most effective when used after the fuel has gone bad and the carb has gummed/varnished up. Say, for example, you left the fuel tank of your mower half full over winter, the fuel went bad and the carb gummed up… now it won’t start. Often you can dump the old fuel, put a healthy dose of SeaFoam and fresh fuel in it, pull it/crank it over a few times to distribute the mix, dump a little straight SeaFoam directly in the air intake of the carb, and let it sit overnight. The next day put a new plug in it and you probably have an 80% chance it will start after a few pulls/cranks… let it run for a while to finish “cleaning up” the carb, then change oil. I knew a guy that ran a small engine repair shop for years… in the spring, when people would bring in their mowers because they wouldn’t start, that was his standard “spring tune-up” (along with sharpening blades). I don’t remember what he charged, but he told me he saved more time and made more money doing that, rather than pulling carburetors… heck, he could “fix” and tune-up over a dozen mowers and garden tillers a day that way (he did the same thing with snow blowers in the fall).

Actually you can make your own SeaFoam if you want… just mix 5 parts mineral oil (or automatic transmission oil) with 3 parts lighter fluid (or even camp stove fuel) and 2 parts isopropyl alcohol (approximate for all three, it don’t have to be exact). Heck, a couple of years ago dad’s tiller wouldn’t start... the fuel in the tank was plain rancid. I dumped it and poured in fresh fuel but it still wouldn’t start. I couldn’t find the can of SeaFoam I was sure I had, so I just dumped in some tranny oil, lighter fluid and isopropyl with out measuring… all by guess-and-b’gosh. It surprised the heck out’a me when it fired up on the fifth pull the next day… smoked like crazy for a couple minutes and settled right in.

But it can not “stabilize” fuel… it does not contain an oxidation inhibitor.

 

[Whitespider]

I'm curious how you test your fuel. I've heard of testing it for water but not for being "sour". Is it a kit?

LOL... "Sour" is just my word for "bad". Ain't no science to it, I just use my nose and eyes. The "smell" of gasoline changes as it goes bad, at first it's subtle, barely noticeable unless you know what you're "smelling" for, but steadily gets worse... it comes through experience. The other thing that happens to gas as it "sours" is it changes in appearance...at first it gets a little cloudy, or milky (again, subtle and barely noticeable... experience), but eventually turns "dark" as varnishes and gums form.

 

[H 2 H]

If you guys/gals are worried about you gas going "Sour" only buy it one gallon at a time and if you have any gas left after three weeks dump it in your car/truck; each of those (car/truck) can stand "Sour" gas better than a one cylinder chain saw



JMO

 

[Whitespider]

...dump it in your car/truck; each of those (car/truck) can stand "Sour" gas better than a one cylinder chain saw

Yeah, you got that right, especially these new-fangled, computer controlled, compensation fuel systems.
All my "questionable", and "bad" gas goes right in the wife's mini-van. Her van sucked up that "sour" 6-gallons I drained from the generator without so much as a hiccup... but the generator wouldn't start unless i squirted a bit of good fuel directly in the cylinder through the spark plug port, then it ran like crap.

 

[Vibes]

All good advice above. But I'm gonna add that I don't buy Hi Test in the winter. That gas has been sitting in underground storage since around August when the lawn mower crews, and the motorcycle guys start putting away there machines. I used to pump a little bit of gas in the truck, then fill a Mason jar full and let it sit for a minute or 2 and see what happened. Well the mason jar never looked good this time of year so I just quit doing that and bought 87 octane and added octane boost.

I know its another additive but the 87 octane gas was always fresh and I figure fresh gas is better than old gas. Its a ##### mixing, and adding but the gas is crap these days. Ethanol will be looked upon as one of the biggest economic disasters that was ever put over the head of the American public in years to come. Gas that comes out of the pump today is very differant than the gas we had when Stabil was first brought out. The old red Stabil was made to keep the old gas from turning into Shelac. It doesn't work for ethanol that is a corn alcohol that absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, and disolves and evaporates fast.

I check my gas cans whenever I put gas in them and clean out all the moisture curdles that are left in them. I pull the mufflers on my saws every so often just to see what it looks like down there. I tune my carbs every time I go to cut, and when that saw starts cutting better than it should, I shut it down and grab the other saw. Lean seisures are a ##### also and usually happen when that saw is screaming along.

I also swear by Star Tron, and Maxima octane boost.