Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Pub Talk). This thread is read-only.
How many of you guys have had your outdoor power equipment ruined by ethanol? Well, I have found a way to check for ethanol in premium (91,93 octane in my area.). Ethanol can ruin carberautors on older vehicles and mowers, weed-eaters ect. Today’s gas is mostly e10 or %10 ethanol. But some premium may not have any ethanol in it. This test will make it easy to see which has had ethanol in it. All you will need is a water bottle with about an inch and a half of water and something to mark the water level before you add the gas. Once you have the bottle clearly marked you can add the gas until the bottle is almost full but you will need to stir up the gas before you add it to make sure it is evenly mixed. Once the gas is added you will need to shake the bottle and let it sit on a flat surface for a few minutes. If the water level is now higher than the original water level there is ethanol in it as the ethanol absorbs water. Here are some pictures of my results of some local gas stations. The bottle on the far left is the one that doesn’t have ethanol as the level stayed the same. All others increased by a large amount. The next picture is some chainsaw gas which has a good amount of ethanol in it. The last picture is the gas without ethanol as the water level stayed the same.
Wow, that is pretty crazy how much water is absorbed. Great little article Nicholas
Very cool NICHOLAS!!
The thing is Protoolnut, all of my samples were premium. All but one contained ethanol.
Ethanol kills small engines sure enough 🙂
Crap fuel at the pumps today.
I run everything on Aspen Alkylate fuel. No problems never ever. Even if the tool sits a year in the shed. Always starts on the first or second pull as it should be. Expensive fuel but i really cannot be bothered to drive far for non ethanol premium fuel / mixing it / emptying the tools after the season.
Great post Nicholas, thanks for sharing dude!
I’ve been running super unleaded in my too.s and the canned stuff at HD for my weed whacker. I’ve been adding sea foam product to my fuel too.