Fuel system damage from Ethanol
A sobering reminder of the damaging effects of Ethanol on fuel system components not rated for it.
latest blog post:
https://gouldaero.com/2018/02/12/fue...-from-ethanol/
& YouTube video
https://youtu.be/Smnr4KNN-8E
Spencer Gould
TC powerplant / Composites
Yep, I've got a small pile of small engine carbs I had to replace. No ethanol goes in them anymore.
Huh. I've used E10 in my mower, snow blower, weed whacker, edger and leaf blower for many years. Not to mention the cars, motorcycle and Vespa. I believe everything I own, or have owned in the past 10-15 years, was designed for up to 10% ethanol. I've encountered a grand total of one problem, when I let a batch sit in the gas can for about a year or so. It wasn't pretty. The fuel lines in the 1980s vintage edger did harden and crack, but I'm pretty sure they were only going to be good for 30 years or so no matter what.
Measure twice, cut once...
scratch head, shrug, shim to fit.
Flying an RV-12. I am building a Fisher Celebrity, slowly.
You've been lucky. I've been through four carbs on weedwackers and leafblowers (the snow blower is a more mongo engine with a more substantial carb) before I got wise and started buying e-free gas for them. I'd already been doing so for the boat. Water and ethanol together are a bad scene.
I guess. Maybe my good luck will hold for another 20-30 years.
Actually, I'm mostly feeding them ethanol-free gas now, simply because it's more convenient to do so. I fill 5 gallon cans with ethanol-free premium for the airplane, so it's easy to just fill an extra can once in a while. Plus, now that I'm burning substantial amounts I can get the fuel tax (about 2.6/gallon or so now) back from the state at the end of the year for all of it. Still -- E10 even sitting during the off season hasn't hurt any of my stuff since at least the late 80s.
Measure twice, cut once...
scratch head, shrug, shim to fit.
Flying an RV-12. I am building a Fisher Celebrity, slowly.
Ethanol free gas isn't available anywhere near me. I tested gas from several stations a couple years ago & most regular gas had about 15% ethanol. The lowest I found was one station where premium was 7% ethanol, I use that in my older cars & I add Stabil since they don't get driven much. After going thru cheap weedwhackers & chain saws at a rate of approx 1 per year I now buy Stihl, they don't seem to have problems with ethanol.
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