Fuel stabilizer for chain saw

[Whitespider]

Gas pumps are required to have a sticker that says it "MAY" contain up 10% ethanol. It doesn't mean it has ethanol in it, but that it may.

Texas law ain't the same as every other State...
For example, Iowa law says any pump dispensing gasoline containing 1% or more ethanol must be labeled as containing ethanol.
But on the flip, several States do not require any label of any sort... Minnesota, Kentucky, Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and others...
Meaning your post is only valid in Texas... our stickers do not have the word "MAY" on them, and several States don't even require stickers of any sort.
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[USMC615]

Simply buy and use a fuel stabilizer...pennies on the dollar. It's a safeguard I'm willing to sell my soul on...again...zero failures in years. What else ya want me to tell ya??...is what it is.

 

[Whitespider]

Simply buy and use a fuel stabilizer...pennies on the dollar. It's a safeguard I'm willing to sell my soul on...again...zero failures in years. What else ya want me to tell ya??...is what it is.

Ahhhhhh yes... it-is-what-it-is.

I've never used any stabilizer or additive in two-cycle mix (other than what's in the oil)... I've had zero failures (fuel going bad) in over 35 years.
Although, I've never used an ethanol blended fuel for two-cycle mix neither... I don't use ethanol blended fuel in anything.

But, I have had failures with gasoline (going bad) in the four-cycles, both treated and untreated with fuel stabilizer... both regular grade (87 octane) and premium grade (91-93 octane). None of those failures, with and without stabilizer added, were related to long-term storage... a few weeks to a couple months. That suggests to me that stabilizer effectiveness (if there is any) is entirely dependent on the condition of the fuel when the stabilizer is added... stabilizer won't make a silk purse from a sow's ear... it won't extend the shelf life of fuel that's already started to "sour".

My gut feeling is that fuel stabilizers are mostly snake oil... although it don't hurt anything to use them. As I said, I use a stabilizer in the generator (it can't hurt), which is intended to be stored full of fuel for long-term. Because I have had failures in it, I don't trust it, I check the fuel and test run it every month... and replace the fuel every 12 months or so. But the seasonal equipment like the grass cutters, pressure washer, snow thrower, tiller and such... I just fill 'em up full and park 'em (shrug). I dump out the the tanks of the seasonal small two-cycles like the weed whip, leaf blower and whatnot.
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[sb47]

Well the other day I pulled out both my Honda 3000i generators to give them there monthly run time to keep them in top shape. As I do every month.
My oldest 10+ years old started right up and I did some leaf blowing while I gave the generator a little light work out.
My newest one only has 19 hours on it and last month it started and ran fine.
You should know I use marine grade fuel stabilizer and keep the fuel tank topped off to keep condensation from building up.
She didn't want to start so I pulled the air filter off and sprayed the carb with carb cleabclener.
Took the bole off and drained it and sprayed carb cleaner up in the float bowl area and blew it out with compressed air.
I drained the fuel tank and took the first sample in a clean glass gar to see if it had water in it. Nope, no water.
I put new fuel in it and had to use the carb cleaner to get it to fire up.
Now it only runs on full choke and more then a 200 watt load will bog it down.
I have it running with new fuel and I hope it clears up with a little run time.
Tomorrow I will go get some seafoam and some fuel injector fuel additive and run that through it in hopes it cleans it and makes a difference.
My splitter fuel was empty so I put the old fuel from the genny in it and split for an hour and she ran fine on the old fuel.
Hopping for the best.

 

[Deleted member 83629]

Well the other day I pulled out both my Honda 3000i generators to give them there monthly run time to keep them in top shape. As I do every month.
My oldest 10+ years old started right up and I did some leaf blowing while I gave the generator a little light work out.
My newest one only has 19 hours on it and last month it started and ran fine.
You should know I use marine grade fuel stabilizer and keep the fuel tank topped off to keep condensation from building up.
She didn't want to start so I pulled the air filter off and sprayed the carb with carb cleabclener.
Took the bole off and drained it and sprayed carb cleaner up in the float bowl area and blew it out with compressed air.
I drained the fuel tank and took the first sample in a clean glass gar to see if it had water in it. Nope, no water.
I put new fuel in it and had to use the carb cleaner to get it to fire up.
Now it only runs on full choke and more then a 200 watt load will bog it down.
I have it running with new fuel and I hope it clears up with a little run time.
Tomorrow I will go get some seafoam and some fuel injector fuel additive and run that through it in hopes it cleans it and makes a difference.
My splitter fuel was empty so I put the old fuel from the genny in it and split for an hour and she ran fine on the old fuel.
Hopping for the best.

use berryman b12 in the genny it will give the gas some boost and clean up the fuel system more effectively than the fuel injector cleaner.

 

[Whitespider]

Now it only runs on full choke and more then a 200 watt load will bog it down.
I have it running with new fuel and I hope it clears up with a little run time.

I see that same symptom quite often with the newer lean running EPA engines... especially when stored or sitting with ethanol blended fuel in the float bowl. I always shut the fuel off (if it has a shut-off valve) and run the carb dry on anything that's gonna' sit for more than a week or so... and I don't even use ethanol.

If it's what I think it is, and assuming you're using an ethanol blend, the chances of it clearing itself up are next to nothing. If it will only run on full choke something in the carb is blocked, likely totally blocked... if it's blocked it won't pull any fuel or additive through it, so it can't clean it. The blockage you're gonna' find is likely to be very hard, almost like plaster or concrete... it's corrosion (oxidation) caused by ethanol phase separation in the carb. If it ran OK last month the damage shouldn't be too bad yet, but the area of the blockage will be more susceptible to corrosion and blockage in the future. If it's a replaceable part, such as a jet, pick-up, check valve, etc., best to get it ordered now, you're gonna' need it eventually.

If it's allowed to fester long enough (which ain't all that long), I've seen carbs that were nothing but a mass of hard white and grey corrosion. The only option is to toss it in the bucket with the rest of 'em, and slap on a new carb... even if ya' can get it cleaned up, the pitting has rendered it worthless.
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[Coldfront]

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.

I have never understood how these name brand oil mixes can contain gas stabilizer in them? When the gas to oil ratio is at 50:1 and the bottle of oil is for one gallon of gas and is only 2.6 oz. of oil. It takes 2.56 oz of oil to get 50:1 and any good gas stabilizer requires .4 oz of stabilizer to one gallon of gas. So the oil bottle if it did have stabilizer in it should be at least 2.96 oz.

 

[CrufflerJJ]

I have never understood how these name brand oil mixes can contain gas stabilizer in them? When the gas to oil ratio is at 50:1 and the bottle of oil is for one gallon of gas and is only 2.6 oz. of oil. It takes 2.56 oz of oil to get 50:1 and any good gas stabilizer requires .4 oz of stabilizer to one gallon of gas. So the oil bottle if it did have stabilizer in it should be at least 2.96 oz.

That would be done pretty easily. Most fuel stabilizers you buy are mostly "carrier" or a solvent of some sort. Looking at the MSDS for Sta-Bil shows that it's 5% "additive mixture" (I'm guessing this is the active stabilizer part of the formula) and 95% petroleum distillate. As long as the active stabilizer agent is soluble in the oil, there's no need to add carriers to the mix.

Stabilizers don't need to be fancy-schmancy. There's a anti-oxidant used in lots of food products called BHT. That can be dissolved in fuel as a stabilizer. It can also be dissolved in vegetable oil for long term storage (so the oils don't go rancid). It takes only a dinky amount - something on the order of 1# BHT in 1000 gallons of fuel.

 

[Whitespider]

...any good gas stabilizer requires .4 oz of stabilizer to one gallon of gas. So the oil bottle if it did have stabilizer in it should be at least 2.96 oz.

No... that's not true.
Nearly all of that "stabilizer" is nothing more than the "carrier"... mostly tho make it easy for the consumer/user to measure.
This is an old thread... but here's a post from page two (from me ) that addresses your post...
Be sure and read the next couple of posts after it (one of them is mine )... it explains how miniscule the actual amount of "stabilizer" active ingredients really is.

http://www.arboristsite.com/communi...izer-for-chain-saw.220536/page-2#post-4072643
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[GVS]

Gasoline can and will go sour... no rhyme or reason to it.

I tried to start my splitter last week that had been sitting for about 5 or 6 weeks with a full tank of non-ethanol pump gas. It wouldn't even pop, and after a half dozen pulls on the rope I could smell the bad fuel coming from the exhaust. I took the cap off the tank and it smelled fine... so I drained the float bowl (that fuel smelled real bad) until the fuel in it was replaced. It started on the second pull... just the fuel in the float bowl was bad, the fuel in the tank was fine.

A couple years ago I had a full tank (6 gallon) of 91 octane non-ethanol go bad in my generator... that fuel was less than 2 months old and had been treated with fuel stabilizer. It was so bad I couldn't even get the generator to start... not even a sputter. But, the 91 octane non-ethanol I have in the generator now is nearly a year old, and the generator pops right off every monthly test run.

The generator is the only thing I use a fuel stabilizer in... and I use no additives of any other sort in any of the other dozen or so small engines.
Any quality two-cycle oil already contains fuel stabilizers, so does the gas you buy at the pump (all additive packages contain stabilizer)... and ethanol blended gasoline contains more stabilizers than the non-ethanol. If you use a quality two-cycle oil there ain't any need to add anything else... it won't hurt anything... but there ain't any need.
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Whitespider is correct regarding good 2 cycle oil having a stabilizer ingredient in it.I go beyond using it in 2 strokers only though- I pour it in the gas tanks of the 4 strokers as well if they are going to be layed up for an extended period.

 

[row.man]

I don't bother with stabilizers, I run all my small engines on 100ll (air plane gas) it is ethanol free, as any ethanol would ruin air plane engines.
I get it free at work, as they sump the fuel trucks and storage tank daily. Then leave the sumps for me.
100LL and 2cycle oil smells so good I wish it came in after shave!
If you are running a leaded fuel in a 4 cycle, you must not run pure synthetic oil. It cannot keep the lead suspended.
A motorcycle racer I worked with thought the lead gave a bit more lube to the cylinder.

 

[redoakneck]

Tested some pump gas here in Ohio, had 25% ethanol, should have been max 10%

 

[Deleted member 83629]

yikes

 

[Nickolas]

Whomever decided ethanol should be put in gasoline is a complete idiot. This crap has caused more engines to grenade than anything else over the last decade. Ask any marine place that works on them and they will tell you how much more they have worked on or replaced motors because of ethanol. Business is booming because of that stuff. I have had many a headache from it myself in my outboards and saws. Let it sit for 60-90 days and good old phase separation kicks in and then you really have a serious problem when you start your boat motor or saw.

A blob of goop gets sucked up and into your engine and if your out on the water full throttle by by motor it will come apart. Luckily around here I have ethanol free pump gas everywhere and seems more and more places are selling it as time goes by. I won't use anything else in any equipment but good gas. In my car not so much an issue but I can tell when good gas is in it. Anything else and hard starting or no starting or the carb coming off to get cleaned out. Just bad stuff period. You let regular gas with 10% ethanol sit around 60-90 days and you will see a blob in the tank where has separation has happened. I wouldn't think twice about anything over 10% content. 25% is totally unacceptable for two strokes it will ruin them real quick . Anyway as long as I have ethanol free gas around me I'm good.

 

[row.man]

You do know algore sold us all that ethanol bs. Making it from corn was his evil plot to win Iowa and the white house.
Just think if he had been prez on 9/11 we could have surrendered to the rag heads a decade earlier, and let them fight it out with the global warming nuts to control the US.
But yeah, thank algore every time you have to pay more for real gasoline.

 

[CR888]

lf its bad gas you buy and add stabilizer.........you end up with bad gas with stabiliser in it. Find a good source of fuel and stick with it, l do feel for many members in the US that find it difficult to buy fresh ethanol free fuel. Legislation regarding ethanol is definately showing big floors in its environmental benefits, let alone all the small engine problems and enviromental costs. These days l feel 'lucky' to have a good source of regular unleaded pump gas and while we have ethanol products here for sale too, its only its lower price that really dictates its use not law.

 

[Goostoff]

No stabilizer here either. I run Stihl synthetic oil and all of my toys get Kwik Trip ( local chain to IA and WI) premium ethanol free gas. Boat, 4 wheelers, snowmobiles wood splitter, chainsaws, lawnmowers all get it. If it doesnt get used every day it gets this gas. Little more at ther pump but never had it go bad from sitting

 

[DrewUth]

My best advice is to get some race fuel, like CAM2, and run a full tank of that before you stored it away. High octane, leaded and no ethanol. Old guy I used to work for had a CAM2 pump at his shop and everything he had ran that stuff- he had a generator that sat for 4 years with the same fuel in it, started in 5 pulls. Never goes bad. Its expensive, but keep a gallon or two around (unmixed) and just add it or fill up the tanks and let them run to circulate it. Smells great when it burns, and I think it deos a great job of keeping combustion chambers clean, especially on two strokes. You may be able to find VP as well (blue cans) at local motorcycle shops.

An alternative would be to find a small local airport and buy a gallon or two of AV Gas. I think that stuff is usually around 120 octane? Not positive. CAM2 comes in 114, 118 and I think 120 Octane varieties. 114 is the most common IME.

 

[GVS]

Whomever decided ethanol should be put in gasoline is a complete idiot. This crap has caused more engines to grenade than anything else over the last decade. Ask any marine place that works on them and they will tell you how much more they have worked on or replaced motors because of ethanol. Business is booming because of that stuff. I have had many a headache from it myself in my outboards and saws. Let it sit for 60-90 days and good old phase separation kicks in and then you really have a serious problem when you start your boat motor or saw.

A blob of goop gets sucked up and into your engine and if your out on the water full throttle by by motor it will come apart. Luckily around here I have ethanol free pump gas everywhere and seems more and more places are selling it as time goes by. I won't use anything else in any equipment but good gas. In my car not so much an issue but I can tell when good gas is in it. Anything else and hard starting or no starting or the carb coming off to get cleaned out. Just bad stuff period. You let regular gas with 10% ethanol sit around 60-90 days and you will see a blob in the tank where has separation has happened. I wouldn't think twice about anything over 10% content. 25% is totally unacceptable for two strokes it will ruin them real quick . Anyway as long as I have ethanol free gas around me I'm good.

Strange.I've been using 10% gas since it's been required in NNY and have had ZERO problems with it.It goes in every thing I own that burns gasoline.That includes everything from a weedwhaker to a F250.Four 2 strokes and eight 4 strokes.
Yes,Gore is a waste!

 

[Whitespider]

Strange.I've been using 10% gas since it's been required in NNY and have had ZERO problems with it.

Like I always say... it ain't that you've been lucky so far, it's just that you ain't been unlucky... yet.
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