Petrol = gasoline = fuel storage questions.

for those in the USA, go to the website www.purg-gas.org and find a filling station that sells ethenol free gasoline, and than add the Sta-Bil or similar fuel adative, should be good for the winter.

that what I do for the fuels I run in the lawn mowers, chain saws, etc. that only get used in the summer. than I do not have to worry about draining out the carb.

 

Well folks this has been very interesting.
Fuel stabilizer is unknown and not readily available is South Africa.
Amazon wont send to South Africa because of theft (only books??) .
The only SMALL 4.2 fl oz (125ml) bottle I could get was from Briggs and Stratton head office which was brought in as samples that they are trying to use to educate the dealers and branches.
I have spent the weekend watching videos and reading all I can find on fuel stabilizer.

Sta-Bil seems to be the leader in this product and I have written to them to try and import a small drum of the fuel stabilizer.
I am pretty confident that I can sell it to the guys at the Yacht Club and make enough profit to cover my costs.

In total I have written to a half - dozen companies BUT if you guys have used a product and were happy PLEASE post the names.

Sta-Bil lawnmower racing is a WHOLE LOT OF FUN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_K9dy5Cwc0I
http://www.goldeagle.com/event_marketing/sta-bil_lawn_mower_racing.aspx

for all the "petrol heads" out there

the good part about all of this is that I have cleaned my boat motor's fuel system out so many times that I can do it in the dark

 

see if you can find the formula for it, and mix up your own batch from locally available chemicals. Likely it is something made from common chemicals. might start your own brand for South Africa distribution.

Odd no one sells a fuel stablizer there, seems a problem with all stored gasoline even without ehtenol in it.

Let us know what is in the stuff if you find out.

 

Exactly --dump a bit my way too please.

Oh dear all you little gullable consumers.

Fuel does not go off my fuel is ---you know what I don;t know guess 6-7 years now. It runs ok if stored well.

Cadesporium resinea the bug lives in the membrane between water and fuel . It can not live in either. Methelated spirits is added to dilute the water to mix with fuel and burn it.

If you look on the back of your fuel stabalizer octane boost injector cleaner what ever it is Jet fuel---read the label its is a petroleum derivative.
Jet A1 or Jet A2 is fine just a difference in freezing temps.

I put 10 % deisel in all my petrol engines The royal Enfield 350 loves it and makes it run sooo smooth, The Suzi 1400 gets a slurp too and the little 110cc gets a bigger slurp with E20 and 20% deisel.

Ahem Try putting E20 in with your deisel if its a bit flat. Its common with bio users to put a liter of petrol in the tank now and then, especially you cold climate people.

Below is the technical stuff with actual recipes and contents of all the crap---sorry addatives. Most of it is alcahol the very stuff you guys think is the reason for it going off.


http://www.fuel-testers.com/review_gas_treatment_products.html

 

Where do you "dump the waste"?

Since its only water and alcohol , most anywhere is fine.

 

I have spent the past week reading and talking to many people from all over
One thing is for sure that this is a complex problem, the problem of fuel degradation is very real BUT differs significantly from country to country.
Every country has its own hidden agenda and (secrets) formulas.

South Africa has relatively pure diesel all made from crude, coal and gas. The problem is that South Africa has the highest percentage of sulpher, which is heavy on injectors etc. We do not have vegetable or plant oils in our diesel which means the bacteria growth is very little and our diesel has a very good shelf life. The problem is our coal to fuel (SASOL) industry is part and parcel of the corrupt government and a big money spinner, and that is where a lot of the sulpher originates. The really good coal gets exported to China and India and we use the lesser grades here.

Our petrol (gasoline) is another story. Apparently we are aiming for E10 specs but nobody is really sure what is going on. Our farming industry has been begging for financial assistance to produce crops for fuel manufacture - which to date they did not get, even if it will create employment - and big volumes of our ethanol / alcohol for fuel is imported - once again controlled by the government officials and the well connected.

Our petrol DEFINATELY starts to degrade after 30 days, but because it is not a wide spread problem nobody has looked into the problem.
Fuel degradation is seen as a white man's problem, because they dont own equipment that stands like old cars / motorbikes / boats / jetski's / lawnmowers / weedeaters and the list goes on.
Here by us everybody knows petrol goes bad and it is common practise to drain the old fuel, throw it on some sandy soil and let it evaporate, or have fun and set it on fire.

So fuel stabilizer does work. Sta-Bil has done enough experiments over the years to prove that, BUT you better check your fuel in your area. Results will differ.
The whole Bio-Fuel controversy will go on for a long time, many sceptics believe that the amount of fuel AND pesticides that goes into producing it makes it far less attractive that what is commonly believed.

For the guys in our marinas it is very difficult to drain and clean built-in tanks, and mostly dangerous. This is not a car that is parked in the backyard.

After I had my fun cleaning my boat engine of old rotten fuel, I can assure you that I am very keen to experiment with fuel stabilizer.
Many homegrown recipes do work (diesel in fuel) but will differ from country to country.

 

good explanation here

 

and here

 

So, you just sprinkled it on your vegetable garden?

 

quote
Some people believe that fuel does not go bad, and that fuel stabilizers are a waste of money. While old fuels will often continue to burn, they don't do it as efficiently as fresh fuels or fuels which have been stored with added stabilizer. On average, stabilizer improves the useful life of a fuel about five times, extending the life of gasoline from about three months to around fifteen. Using old fuel which was not treated with a stabilizer can result in clogs or expensive engine damage in the long run.

Ide say that too if I owned a stabalizer factory. Err this engine damage from burning un stabalized fuel --you dont have a link for that do you? No of course not silly me.

An engine burns oxygen many times more --a petrol engine is 15 times more air than fuel . Fuel is just the start of the fire like a detonator. An engine can use many types of fuel to start the fire, even old diesel that smells funny,
You worry too much.

 

Here is an interesting item on gas going bad.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2668/why-does-gasoline-go-stale-so-quickly

 

That is just an opinion of a --- Cecil Adams who ever he is.

However he is right in so much as lighter fuels and gasses evaporate leaving a heavier fuel.

This is kind of replaced by the stabalizers with alcahol the stuff that is accused of making it go bad in the first place.

 

Evidently you can make the fuel last longer by restricting its contact with oxygen.

Perhaps check out the new style portable gas tank caps. Old style had a screw vent, new style has no vent , only some kinda pressure, vacuum release device.

Might be worth purchasing a new cap .

http://www.moellermarine.com/sites/moellermarine/files/moeller_portable_epa_tanks.pdf

 

Micheal --you can fit any cap you want . What about the breather.

 

Read the technical description. On new tanks there is no breather. Its the law