So much anecdotal information regarding ethanol in this thread.
Maybe
@Phil Younger could chime in?
Since the formulation to E10 I’ve given absolutely no shits as to what I use it in with the exception of adding Sea Foam for long term stored engines.
You want stabile fuel for your chainsaw? Get some 100LL avgas. The rest of what you’re buying is the shittiest product they can supply and still not harm your vehicle.
What was the topic?
Oh Lord - you had to drag me in on this? Its like the old Shell vs BP vs Unbranded. I am not sure if i have the time for this. 20+ years of fossil fuel distribution and experience with the 70's gasohol plus various ethanol blends in this century - I have seen and heard it all.
Me: I use whatever and whenever for the most part but normally:
Jeep: E10 to E15 is the main fuel i use in my Jeep. I only use E0 if it is priced the same as E10
Wifey's Flex Fuel car- sometimes E85 to simply keep the tank cleaned out but almost always E15. Why?- only because the E85 sold around here is sold by oil companies who profit greatly from ethanol and really do not want to sell a competing product.
Lawn Tractor- E10 This unit is used year around.
Chainsaws - 3 Old guys from the 80s-90's. Sold one (Old Mac10-10) which ran like a top but was literally losing the exhaust manifold.
The others (Stihl Farm Boss and Homelite for limbing) still run today on E10. The very nature of chainsaw is seasonal so you may
wish to run E0. I store fuels different than most here. I do not get moisture into my fuel cans in storage. I do risk gaining moisture in E10 due to it's hydroscopic nature in these carb'ed engines particularly in the carb bowl. BUT- I will run the saw dry if it is going to sit over summer and ALWAYS (unless run dry) top off the fuel tank to eliminate gaining condensation in tank from temp changes.
I have never had to open a carb on any of my saws except the Stihl and when i did there was absolutely no corrosion. I had a diaphragm issue.
I had several customers that raced dirt track and drag raced on E85 to E98. They were very appreciative that they did not have to dump fuel after a race like they did with Methanol. They also appreciated that a drum opened did not not have a limited life like methanol. Basically they generally found that if they started the engine once a month they could eliminate the whitish scum that pure ethanol would form in the carb bowl from formic acid or another similar acid which I now have forgotten. They also found- like me- that spending money for anodized carbs was not necessary unless they went back to methanol. BTW- good time to tell folks here to NEVER use the product called HEET in the yellow bottle- It is methanol. You don't need it if running E10 and if you are running E0 in small engine and feel you need to absorb water use the Red bottle HEET.
Ethanol is somewhat hydroscopic so follow good fuel storage rules as you would for any gas. You can get into serious problems storing E0 also. Living in the 60's on a farm using E0 led me to understand this. Our old David Bradley chainsaw would literally never start after a month and opening it up would show the bowl with an coating of gum/varnish. Alcohol and changing EPA rules regarding gum/varnish took care of this.
I ran 1980's/1990's non-flex engines in trials or personal in alcohols up to 50% as experiments. One of them a Chev 350 for 220,000 miles until the body let go.
I will say if I lived within range of ocean breezes or in extreme humidity I would consider E0 for small engines or go electric if possible.
Keep in mind that while ethanol is slightly hydroscopic it also is a fuel dryer. If the base gasoline at the pipeline terminal contains a bit of entrained water (it will) then that water will remain and get added to by condensation in open atmospheric tanks (yup- your lawnmower has a pinhole in the cap to let air in/out---Jeep- not so much as a closed system). So over time air expansion/contraction each day/night brings in new air and leaves water in the gas. If you let this happen over a long time you may find water separated and on the bottom of the tank because gasoline cannot entrain much. Your tank will corrode and if the fuel pickup is down into the water it will not run. If the tank holds 1 gallon, there is a max of 4 teaspoons of water left in the tank, then pouring in 1 gallon of E10 will absorb and pass the water mostly unnoticed thru the system. But spoiler alert- if the is 4.1 teaspoons of water in the tank or your gas is stored poorly there will be what is called phase separation. When E10 first came out I will guarantee this happened and poorly operated fuel stations also gave you their tank gum/varnishes along with water bottoms.
I do not use fuel additives with one exception- Once in a blue moon I may toss in a bottle of Chevron Techtron in my vehicles but no additives in my small engines. Most additives are purely marketing and some harmful.
Just so you know- someone said something before about food vs fuel- My numbers are a bit out of date because I am out of date in the industry but 1 bushel of corn weighs 56 lbs and is only 8-9% protein, yields 2.8 gal of ethanol, approx 3-4 lbs of CO2 for your coke or cooling meat, and 18 lbs of high bypass protein (dry basis) of 28% protein. This distillers dried (or wet) grain is far superior as a protein in dairy cattle diets because it is digested in the small intestine instead of in the rumen where too much is already going on in a high producing cow. The only thing lost in making ethanol is starch and you and I do not need more starch in our diets. The growth of the ethanol industry meant for my feedmills I no longer had to have distillers dried grain hauled up via 350 mile round trip from Illinois and instead could buy it 35 miles away.
Pass the potatoes please.
Not here to start any fights- i don't have time for it. If someone wants to PM me to learn more i will take the time. I have no stake in this game anymore.
