It's still ten percent here in NJ.
STIHL MS261C chainsaw and TruFuel
- Thread starter Philbert
- Start date
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I have to watch where i buy fuel at my car is sensitive to ethanol. Valero or Amoco fuel is the worst i measure up to 20% at times.
I've read that E15 is very hard on both 2 stroke and 4 stroke small engines, if in fact true or false, I have no idea. I do know the AMA (American Motorcycle Association has lobbied against Ethanol fuel for a while now, with no success. and many small 4 stroke engines (like the one on my lawnmower) state right on the fuel cap, 'No E15 gas to be used'. Why I don't know because I'm not technically savvy about that.
I do know that without government subsidies, no corn liquor distiller can make any money and that the energy that it takes to distill one gallon of corn alcohol requires 3 times the energy to make it. IOW it's a net energy looser and that is scientific fac and well documented, but that is all I know on the subject.
O also know that modern vehicles can run on E-gas because the fuel systems and seals are made from alcohol resistant materials.
The current administration is n ow allowing 15% (by volume) corn alcohol, to be added to non E gas across the entire country but at the various state's discretion. Do you really know how much is added to the gasoline as it's added at the fuel rack when a tanker is loaded? Not really I'd say.
Corn alcohol cannot be 'transmitted' via pipeline because it's corrosive so it has to be delivered in dedicated tanker cars (rail) or via over the road truck tankers and 'blended into the gasoline at the point of bulk delivery, IOW the refinery loading rack.
Consequently, it's at the refinery's discretion how much corn alcohol is in a load of gasoline, entirely dependent on who is controlling the mix actually.
Damn one more thing I have to do now is check it!
Anyone use a ‘Tiny Tester’ regularly, to test for alcohol?
Thanks.
Philbert
SteveSr
Addicted to ArboristSite
It shouldn't be... Check out your state's motor fuels laboratory and they should be able to tell you the percentage of ethanol and how the pumps must be labeled. Motor fuel should be pretty tightly controlled, at least it is here in NC.
SteveSr
Addicted to ArboristSite
Everyone needs to take a deep breath and remember the original justification for putting ethanol in gasoline. It was to reduce air pollution since it is an oxygenate like the MTBE that it replaced. Now MTBE is pretty nasty stuff. Plus it likes to leak out of tanks and contaminate groundwater. This may be less of a problem nowdays as a lot of tanks have been replaced.
However, making the ethanol out of a food crop (corn) is just nuts! It is also an environmental negative in regards to crop inputs to ETOH outputs. If you are going to ferment to make ETOH for motor fuel it should come from crop waste.
However, making the ethanol out of a food crop (corn) is just nuts! It is also an environmental negative in regards to crop inputs to ETOH outputs. If you are going to ferment to make ETOH for motor fuel it should come from crop waste.
Ethanol isn't even reducing pollution now, and I suspect that was never the real motivation, even if that was the idea promoted at the time.
In any EFI vehicle made in nearly the last 40 years, the car will simply adjust the air fuel ratio to be optimum, and the couple percentage points leaning caused by E10 or E15 won't be lean anymore.
In any EFI vehicle made in nearly the last 40 years, the car will simply adjust the air fuel ratio to be optimum, and the couple percentage points leaning caused by E10 or E15 won't be lean anymore.
One more thing. . .
I asked the TruFuel guy about the 110 ounce ’gallon’ cans: were they trying to short change us?
He said that they needed room for thermal expansion of the fuel vapors inside the can, and could not find ‘oversized’ cans reasonably.
Somehow, STIHL did.
But the ‘one quart’ TruFuel cans are also larger than 32 ounces, although, they are only selling you 32 oz of fuel.
Aside from the point of interest, just keep this in mind if re-using these cans, and relying on them for accurate volume measurements.
Philbert
I asked the TruFuel guy about the 110 ounce ’gallon’ cans: were they trying to short change us?
He said that they needed room for thermal expansion of the fuel vapors inside the can, and could not find ‘oversized’ cans reasonably.
Somehow, STIHL did.
But the ‘one quart’ TruFuel cans are also larger than 32 ounces, although, they are only selling you 32 oz of fuel.
Aside from the point of interest, just keep this in mind if re-using these cans, and relying on them for accurate volume measurements.
Philbert
Noticed that right off actually and in store advertising for Tru-Fuel and Red Armor, never state 'One Gallon', just 110 fluid ounces. Must be that Echo has a can issue as well.
I believe people assume it's a gallon, which it's not.
I believe people assume it's a gallon, which it's not.
SteveSr
Addicted to ArboristSite
I call B.S!
Just call it a 14% price increase! Been a lot of that going on since the pandemic. Less product for the same price! Check the quantities on your grocery store items. What used to be 16 oz. is now 14.4oz, etc.
TruFuel has been sold in 110oz cans since before the scamdemic.
Nobody running $27/gal fuel cares about a 14% cost difference either way - this is coming from someone who runs TruFuel.
I only buy it in quarts, but from my experience, the cans are far too flimsy for reuse anyway.
Nobody running $27/gal fuel cares about a 14% cost difference either way - this is coming from someone who runs TruFuel.
I only buy it in quarts, but from my experience, the cans are far too flimsy for reuse anyway.
My one uncle has seen this too, he switched to vp premix and hasn't had issues with it.
They dont have the capacity to adjust on the fly like efi systems do. Even if the jets could be adjusted, 99% of users wouldn't know which end of a screwdriver to use,.let alone know how to tune an engine. Add in the copious amounts of pot metal and aluminum in the fuel systems equals a snotty mess with higher ethonal contents
I'm not sure how Ohio does it, but the fuel at the pump is pretty heavily regulated here. While back there was a few stations that tested 20% ethonal content and the state was very quick to step in, test the fuel, fine them and make them pump the tanks out.
Except, it’s always been this way.
I always check the price per ounce, and find that the ‘quart’ containers are often the same or less.
As noted, I like the smaller containers better too, for convenience.
Philbert
TruFuel life is supposed to be five years unopened and two years after opened. I use quarts so I'm only opening a small container at a time, not starting the shorter clock ticking on a bigger container, although I've had zero issues using older fuel.
I do the same with brake fluid, buy it by the small bottle, and only buy big bottles if I have a specific project that I know is going to burn through a lot of fluid.
Edit: Same with PVC/ABS primer and glue. At this point I just throw away the rest of the bottle when the project is done, don't even keep it.
echomeister
ArboristSite Operative
Bought TruFuel 4 cycle. The cheapest I could find is the 2.1 gal can at home depot for $48. I mix my own Red Armour 40:1
Also went looking for how I can determine which stations are selling E15. As I don't want none of it. I don't think they have to label the pump here in Ky.
Found this.
http://e85prices.com/e85map
Also went looking for how I can determine which stations are selling E15. As I don't want none of it. I don't think they have to label the pump here in Ky.
Found this.
http://e85prices.com/e85map
I went on line and found an ‘ethanol-free’ pump, a little over a mile from my house. Where I buy my small engine fuel.
Philbert
Not sure either. I'm on Michigan, a genuine rust belt state. With an idiot governor too.
Been told by people that know (I presume) that E15 is death on any air cooled engine, 2 or 4 stroke. My car, being a flex fuel vehicle cares less. The ECM adjusts the fueling to air ratio.
