97/98 RON better the E10?

[lurch_917]

from what i have read on some of the petrol forums and been told by small engine mechanics avoid the ethanol fuel as it causes damage in small engines even seen some car engines burnt up from it ( older engines ) remember the shell formula running like 3 star and burning up valve seats .

[Muddy42]

I don't think the octane level makes any difference. As low ethanol as possible and freshness is what matters.

 

I do similar to you.  Alkalyte for odd jobs and rarely used machines but pump fuel if I have masses of work to do. You can even use Aspen for the last tank and 'flush' everything out. 

[Witterings]

29 minutes ago, Muddy42 said:

I don't think the octane level makes any difference. As low ethanol as possible and freshness is what matters.

 

I do similar to you.  Alkalyte for odd jobs and rarely used machines but pump fuel if I have masses of work to do. You can even use Aspen for the last tank and 'flush' everything out. 

 

That's what I was thinking, run it till it's dry, put a small amout of Aspen in and run it a bit more when I know there's then going to be a gap in between uses.

 

Does anybody know what teh difference is then between Aspen and Ethanol free and does the latter last / safe to leave in a machine any longer than normal fuel?

[Muddy42]

11 minutes ago, Witterings said:

 

That's what I was thinking, run it till it's dry, put a small amout of Aspen in and run it a bit more when I know there's then going to be a gap in between uses.

 

Does anybody know what teh difference is then between Aspen and Ethanol free and does the latter last / safe to leave in a machine any longer than normal fuel?

 

yes sounds fair enough. That's what I do.

 

No Alkalyte is different from ethanol-free.  Its purer, meant to be better for your health and the additives are designed to give it a longer shelf life and to work better in small engine carbs. Aspen claim a 5 year shelf life if the can is unopened and 2 years if opened. This is compared to pump fuel which should be used within as little as 30 days.  I am no chemist but what I do know is that the exhaust smells better, you don't get headaches, a saw produces more power and starts with fewer pulls.

 

The mechanical effects of carbs gumming up with resin, fuel lines cracking etc are probably manageable if you are prepared to rebuild carbs, practice good maintenance and know how to tune and watch out for problems.

[pleasant]

If you have been running a machine on pump fuel (with ethanol or not) then running the same machine on aspen can ruin the carb diaphragms so be careful doing what you suggest.

[Vedhoggar]

Have a 18 year old Still MS 240 which was run on pump fuel before E10 came out when switched to using Aspen in that machine as not used much these days, later the fuel line did split but the saw would have been about 13 years old at the time so might have been just age maybe/maybe not but never experienced any problem with the carb on that saw and it runs really well, other saws which ran on pump fuel and now Aspen or Huqvarna Power fuel no problem so far. Someone I know left pump fuel in saw which wasn't used for about six months and had a problem with carb and it was expensive to sort out. We left pump fuel in a generator for about 12 months without using it and there was problem with carb, got it sorted out and only use Aspen in this machine as not used much and no problem since. 

[john87]

I do not think it is just the Ethanol though. There is a lot of other nasty stuff in it too..

 

john..

[Witterings]

21 hours ago, pleasant said:

If you have been running a machine on pump fuel (with ethanol or not) then running the same machine on aspen can ruin the carb diaphragms so be careful doing what you suggest.

 

I was sceptical as to why this would happen and just spoke to a dealership who do extensive servicing as well and they confirmed it.

 

Guess it comes down to a trade off of how much work there is to do and if it's worth the saving in fuel as chances are it'll need a service / replacement parts if I then revert to Aspen which'd cost about £60.

There's also the hassle / time element of taking it there / picking up it up which equates to lost income as not working.

 

The alternative of running it just on normal fuel and then leaving it for long periods unused is likely to cause more extensive problems with a much bigger repair bill.

 

Think I'm going to take the view I got a sh1t load of Oak for next to nothing and paying a bit more for Aspen vs what the wood will save me in gas bills is absolutely huge.

 

Cheers to everyone for their help though and will use the Esso fuel for lawn mower and any other garden tools in the future.  

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by Witterings

[Stubby]

37 minutes ago, Witterings said:

 

I was sceptical as to why this would happen and just spoke to a dealership who do extensive servicing as well and they confirmed it.

 

Guess it comes down to a trade off of how much work there is to do and if it's worth the saving in fuel as chances are it'll need a service / replacement parts if I then revert to Aspen which'd cost about £60.

There's also the hassle / time element of taking it there / picking up it up which equates to lost income as not working.

 

The alternative of running it just on normal fuel and then leaving it for long periods unused is likely to cause more extensive problems with a much bigger repair bill.

 

Think I'm going to take the view I got a sh1t load of Oak for next to nothing and paying a bit more for Aspen vs what the wood will save me in gas bills is absolutely huge.

 

Cheers to everyone for their help though and will use the Esso fuel for lawn mower and any other garden tools in the future.  

 

What you need to understand is , its not the Alkylate fuel that causes the problems it is the Alkylaye fuel showing up what the pump fuel has been slowly doing . The rubber components have a coating that keeps them supple . Pump fuel slowly attacks the rubber but in doing so also keeps them supple . Alkylate fuel does not attack the rubber , at all . But if you switch from long time pump fuel to an Alkylate fuel you can ( but not always ) have a problem with the rubber components becoming brittle and failing because the coating has come off and the pump fuel that you were using is now not attacking the rubber . If you use an Alkylate fuel on a new machiene from the get go then non of these problems occur . Alkylate fuel , by the way , is drawn off from much higher up in the refinery than regular pump petrol . 

[lurch_917]

also if you are mix and matching between pump and alkylate with these modern saws with auto tune or m tronic you might find you need to let the saw reset between fuel's .