10% Ethanol Fuel Problems Kills 2 cycle engines ETC

[cpurvis]

Yeah, but it takes a long time. I had (still have) an old roto tiller with a 3 hp Briggs that sat indoors for over ten years with no-ethanol gas in it. It started and ran.

 

[PTmowerMech]

Yeah, but it takes a long time. I had (still have) an old roto tiller with a 3 hp Briggs that sat indoors for over ten years with no-ethanol gas in it. It started and ran.

Gas will always be somewhat explosive. Even with ethanol is explosive.
Ethanol is a flammable colorless liquid; a polar solvent that is completely miscible in water. It is heavier than air, and has a wider flammable range than gasoline, with a Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) to an Upper Explosive Limit (UEL) range of 3.3% to 19%.

 

[cpurvis]

Gasoline is not an explosive. It is a flammable liquid, just like ethyl alcohol. Explosives are a whole different animal.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Gas itself goes bad. Whether is got ethanol in it or not. Always has.

Yes but the speed at which it goes bad is dependent on a lot of things that will be different from house to hose let alone state to state.
For instance, it will keep better in a steel can than a plastic one, but a steel can is more prone to condensation than a plastic one.
It will keep better if the can is full
It will keep better is it was fresh deliverd to the fue station when you bought it
It will keep even better if bought in a can sealed at the refinery.

Then there is what you call going off.
Fuel that has lost all of the aromatices has gone off & will not start a cold engine, but it will run quite fine if you start & warm the engine using some starting fluid or carb cleaner
Then even staler fuel will not burn at all or regularly cause the engine to stall out
Then there is phase separation. That fuel is also "bad" but if you syphon off the fuel on the top it will burn quite fine but again might not have enough aromatics to start a cold engine.

So if you are in a situation where the generators are essential keep a can of some sort of spray to start a dead cold engine and carb cleaner is better for the engine than starting fluid with is too volatile for a petrol engine.
Keep a small quantity of the very expensive sealed in the can from the refinery fuel .
Once the engine has been running fr 10 minutes or more you can use the older stale fuel.
And buy your bulk supply during winter so you are getting the winter blend.
People run into grief trying to use a summer blend made to be stable at 120 deg in winter when it is - 40