Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Being that im too lazy to do a search, figured I would just ask? Which stabilizer do you like best? Im sick and tired of ripping apart the carb next winter, so I figure I will be proactive and add somthing now. Any thoughts?

I'm a big fan of  PRI-G

njal wrote:

Where can I find it? Ever use Star-Tron? (clear-blue stuff)

stresst

You can google  PRI-G and see if someone in your location has it.

I did the mail order thing because know one had it by me.

I had a bad experience with star-tron It fouled a crab bad on my boat.

But the fuel tank is 25 years old so that may have had something to do with it.

I think it loosened up all the crud in my tank..However if you snow blower is new

you should be fine with startron. Pri -g works a differently then star tron

.

njal wrote:
What do you mean by works differently?

I just use Stabil during the season but always drain all gas out at the end of the season. I run it dry, turn the fuel valve off and then remove and empty the carb bowl as well.

pri just keeps your fuel fresh.
startron keeps it fresh and also emulsifies the algae in your tank.

In my case 145 gall. of fuel ,25 years old tank  to much algae and other crud
for the startron to work properly..My results pluged up carb.

I'v always used Stabil in all my engines. I never had any hint of problems. Your problems come from not using any type of stabilizer. Stabil is cheap and it works for me. One other thing Keep your tanks fill of gas wile storing and do not drain your carb boll.  You will avoid carb problems.
  Think about it if you run your engine until it is out of gas you still have a splash left in your tank and your carb. You then but it in your shed . Your shed may get up to 140 degrees in the summer cooking any splash of gas left in the tank. Your tank can then collect moisture, creating mold  during the rainy season. Your tank is then contaminated. When you refill it,  your shut off valve may be stuck closed. Then you have crap going in your carb from your tank.Your float in your carb may become stuck
   Get the picture.  Keep your tank full with some Stabil added or other good fuel stabilizer of your chioce. Shut your machine off normaly and close you fuel valve if you have one. I'v done this for all my machines. weed wacker too. My ariens with a Techumseh engine never gave me any trouble for over 15 years.

Also read the posts        ( My snow blower wont start) 
 

I never have any problems either but where else would there be gas in my system if tank is run dry, carb bowl is emptied out and it won't fire anymore on ignition attempts?




bus708 wrote:

Just use small amounts....and use the fuel as your needs require.  But them in 1/2 - 3/4 gallon at a time. IF you think you may be keeping it longer than it should....ethanol fuel sucks these days,I prefer seafoam as a fuel stabilizer over stabil.

bus708 wrote:

that debate has been going on for years full or empty.

I keep my pri in my tank,but for me at the end of the season
I fog motor ,empty tank BONE DRY.Carb as well bone dry.
This works the best for me on small motors.
Now on say 150 gallon fuel tank I cant empty it so it's stays full.
 with plenty of fuel stabilizer ,I use PRI but to each his own.
there are a lot of good ones out there.I also fog the hell out of my motors..

stresst wrote:

stresst
I saw your other post,your machine is brand new correct??

If it were me. End of season tank bone dry carb bone dry. fog motor with foging oil.

you will be race ready for next season.

I am a Vespa dealer and we winterize about 100 scooters a year. We use the marine version of Stabil. It has the highest concentration of anti corrosive additives and it seems to work the best. To be safe I'd suggest that you always have some Stabil Marine on hand so that even if the machine sits a month the stabilizer is in the gasoline protecting the carb and tank. Remember that the issue is not just the classic breakdown of the fuel but the corrosion that is caused by the water held in suspension by the Ethanol. The Stabil covers you for both! I think that it is a very prudent measure to drain the tank and carb before you put the machine away at the end of the season. New fuel when you want to use it in the Fall/Winter and away you go. Remember that the fuel you store in a fuel can goes bad too. I never let it sit unused. When I am done with the snow blowing I empty the can into my car and leave the can empty so that the next storm I will not have contaminated fuel to put into a nice clean fuel system. Rifboy

I didn't know they had a marine version.  I might have to try that out. I'm usually left with quite a bit of fuel at the end of the snow season in my sleds.  That fuel usually goes into the cars as well.


Rifboy wrote:

snow machine

If you just run your engine until it stops , it just stops because you do not have the required amount of fuel in it to keep it running. There is always something there. Some fuels have water mix with the PFEE. If that is left in your boll it will corode and pit you boll.

To prove it Take some gas and put it in a gar. Now pour the gas out.  take a match and throw it in the jar and see what happens. The same with your gas tank and your carb boll . It is not mutch gas left but enough.

sorry about all the underlining. My computer is acting crazy

bus708 wrote:

Let's take a  few seconds to think about that suggestion before trying it out.  There's a few steps missing from this procedure.

At least call the fire department and the ambulance and let them have a few minutes of head start just in case it "happens" 

I did mention above that I empty the bowls out at the end of the season.  I was asking where else there would be fuel in carb if tank and bowl were emptied?  Is there significant amounts of fuel left in some jets internally?

1.  I turn fuel valve off
2.  Run it until it quits
3.  Pull off fuel line from tank and power remaining fuel into approved container
4.  Remove carb bowl and empty contents and clean out any debris if there is any.
5.  Reinstall bowl and turn over to see if it will fire.  It never does.
6.  Reattach everything and put away


bus708 wrote:

snowmachine wrote:

HERES THE LINK http://www.goldeagle.com/products/product3CC6.aspx

bus708 wrote:
The above example is of little to no consequence regarding varnish build up or residual corrosive chemicals left in the carb.   Take that same jar and don't throw the match in.  Allow it to dry.  Try to find anything in the jar once it's dry.  It takes quite a bit of fuel to create enough varnish/corrosion to cause carb problems. 

I don't believe in additives anymore and subscribe to running carbs dry at the end of the season.  I own 30+ small engines.  Many of them two strokes.  Everything gets run dry.  No problems.  EVER!

borat wrote:
I'm giving that a try this winter.  No fuel additive or preservative.  I'm just going to buy enough fresh fuel as I use them.  If any fuel is older than 3 weeks, I'd just pour into the tank of the car and use it up.

aa335 wrote:
If your fuel is kept in sealed containers, there should be no issues with degradation.  At least that's what I've experienced.  I leave fuel in five gallon containers at my camp over winter for 5 to 7 months, sometimes longer.  I've never had a problem with it.  At home, my fuel always cycles from one season to the next.  Winter fuel goes into summer equipment and vice versa.  

I've been saying it for years, dirty/water contaminated fuel from the pump is where most problems come from.   When I pour fuel from my plastic containers, I always leave a portion of fuel in it then take a look to see if there's anything undesirable in the fuel.  In the winter, if the fuel is kept in sub freezing temperatures, excess water will freeze solid on the bottom of the container.  That's a good thing.  Dirt will not.  Keep your fuel clean and many problems will be solved before they start.  

OK, evidently some of you are offering some quack idelogies on why you should not add a fuel stabilizer and the answer is in the stresst comment / question. Well best of luck to you all and I can't say I didn't warn you. The truth of the matter is that fuel additives were was once a standard component that was automatically added to petrol fuels however it did not take the industry giants very long to figure out that in todays world the fuel does not stay in the ground very long and that they could raise their already enormous profit margin without consequense. Fuel without additives will break down extremely quickly. For starters a chemical breakdown process called phase separation starts within 2 weeks and more importantly E-10 and MTBE fuels have an entire set of unique characteristics that were not prevalent just a couple of  years ago.

To really answer your question stresst you may want to reference the following URL

http://www.fuel-testers.com/is_gas_additive_safe_with_e10_list.html

Starwarrior

starwarrior wrote:
I just briefly remember that my father who has a riding lawn mower, a string trimmer, and a snowblower that is at least 10 years old.  At the end of the season, he runs the gas out bone dry and stored it it a shed, in both hot and cold climates.  That's what the dealer suggested.  He did not even fog his engine or put the piston at TDC for storage.  Never had starting or running issues.

I am not qualified to suggest to anyone whether or not to add fuel preservatives.  Not to get anyone wound up for my own amusement or practice FUD, but just offering a data point for quackery.  I'm giving this practice a try myself for another data point.   What's the risk?  I might have to mess with the carb to get it right.  Sounds like fairly manageable risk.

starwarrior wrote:
"offering some quack idelogies" 

And your qualifications to make such a remark are?????? 

That's sound like a line from a true "snake oil" salesman.


"Fuel without additives will break down extremely quickly."

I'd like to use stronger terms, but due to forum rules, I'll just say that your above statement is absolute B.S.   It's just more "snake oil" fear mongering.  Even the link you provided states that shelf life for E10 gasoline is three months.  Not that I believe anything in a  link that has an agenda to sell fuel testing kits. 

I've got decades of OPE use, operation and maintenance.  As do many other seasoned/experience participant of this forum.   From my  personal experience and knowledge garnered from others who actually work on equipment, I have to say that your fear of E10 fuel degradation is wildly exaggerated!

starwarrior wrote:
It also does not take industry giants (and a semi-clever accountant) very long to figure out that convincing consumers to spend merely 2 additional pennies per gallon of gas (whether practicing due diligence or FUD) also raises their profit margin even more. 

Fuel stabilizers can protect the gasoline for"Up To a Year", I have seen No Suggestion they do not, brand seems immaterial.  I choose to use BP-Amoco Premium (white gas) in all my machines, I always add either Stab-IL or Amsoil's stabilizer, which ever I have on hand at the time. I try to use up all the gas for the small engines (leaf blower, snow blower, JD lawn Tractor, Chainsaw, etc.) within 6 moths to be safe.  I will often dump it in the car after it reaches 6 months just to be safe, and then refill the cans for the small engines.   I also always either drain completely or run out the gas.  In machines that are between seasons the gas is drained. Temperature matters, heat speeds up the changes you don't want in the gas, so store it where it stays cold-cool, never in sunlight.

Years ago when was really into atv's and snow mobiles pretty much all that was out is stabil, figured with todays technology one "brand" would stick out. I see Briggs makes several, including a fuel cap with cartridges, amsoil, startron, etc, etc.  Again I assumed one was better then the others.

As far as running them dry vs. additives, its like the whats better ford or chevy? In the past I used both additives and also ran them dry on occasion. And over the years Ive had occasional issues with both ways. But imo its best to use an additive all the time and run them dry. I was never a fan of dropping the bowl as time was always seemed to be an issue.