One reason I use Aspen

[Mull]

 

 

Environmentally friendly?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

[Stumpy Grinder]

OK, I don't use Aspen, but I do use Shell Motomix which must be the equivalent? It cost about £19/gallon which seems expensive, but is it? I have numerous 2-stroke tools from brush cutters to disc cutter to 5 chainsaws, most of which I use infrequently. I spend more time having to get rid of old fuel than is economically viable. Filling them with Motomix and knowing it will last, as well as the other environmental issues is a small price to pay. Decent fuel is cheaper than a new engine or a new pair of lungs.

What price to you place on your engines and your health?

MS

[GardenKit]

Environmentally friendly?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

 

Yes, very environmentally friendly Mull.

 

The alkylation process takes place at oil refineries. Gases produced by the crude oil distillation process and the cracking plant are often just burnt off in many refineries, but some refineries now have the facility to combine these otherwise waste products to form an alkylate liquid. This liquid is the cleanest petroleum product that can be produced, although the process is not cheap.

 

The alkylate is then mixed with other components to form a finished product that is ready for use in most small engines.

 

Better for your health, the engine and our environment

 

When you use Aspen alkylate petrol you avoid virtually all of the hazardous substances – such as benzene and aromatic hydrocarbons – that can cause serious health problems. The engine also feels better; spark plugs and cylinders stay cleaner, for longer. And Aspen does not go off during storage, so your engine will start even when it’s not been used for a long time. There are plenty of environmental benefits too. Alkylate petrol, for example, produces 40% less ground-level ozone (smog) than traditional fuels.

 

So the double bonus to the environment is that the gases are not being burnt off into the atmosphere, but are being turned into a very pure product which produces much less pollution when used in small engines.

[Highland hill]

Jumping between aspen and normal fuel in the same machine. Can or is this detrimental in any way?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

[GardenKit]

Jumping between aspen and normal fuel in the same machine. Can or is this detrimental in any way?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

As long as the machine runs well there can be no detriment, except when running on pump petrol which is detrimental anyway in a small way.

 

There are very slight differences in the density of Aspen and petrol. These occasionally give rise to tuning issues in some highly sensitive machines. So if it runs fine on Aspen it may be just a touch off tune on petrol, and vice versa. A compromise tuning point may be required.

[Aspen@AAOIL]

Hi Dan,

 

The biggest problem with 2-stroke machines is that they emit a lot of un-burnt fuel. depending on the machine, this can vary from around 15-30%. This is one of the downsides of 2-stroke engine design and is the reason why Husqvarna designed the X-Torq system which helps lower this figure.

 

Knowing exactly what it is you are breathing in at any given point is virtually impossible to measure but by using a cleaner fuel such as Aspen you can reduce your exposure to aromatics and benzene in particular quite dramatically.

 

perhaps this will give you a better visual understanding of the difference that simply switching fuels can make on your machineries benzene emissions (carcinogenic)

 

 

 

Thanks, I've seen that before, I'm interested in what's actually coming out of the exhaust and being inhaled. New saws have emission guidelines? So would be good to know what I'm actually breating in once the fuel and been burnt and at the distance from the exhaust my head is at. Ideally expanded to what you'd be breating in walking down the road as cars would obviously be throwing out loads more than a saw would of nasty stuff? If that argument can be made I'd switch. Really can't get on board with the machinery breakdown argument, the maths just isn't there

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Arbtalk mobile app

[Aspen@AAOIL]

Hi Rob,

 

if you have not had any difficulty starting this saw before then it sounds like this is related to the unusually hot weather we are experiencing in the UK just now. I am not sure if there are any known starting issues with this model saw in hot climates.

 

There is a good chance you are getting vapour lock in your fuel system. Are you using fuel purchased during winter? Aspen is seasonally adjusted (as is pump fuel) to aid easier starting during hot or cold conditions depending on the season. I'm not saying this is the problem you are experiencing but it is worth knowing.

 

If you let me know the batch number printed on the can i can let you know either way.

 

well today in this heat my echo 2511tes running on aspen since it was new at christmas the saw would have only had about 5 litres of fuel through it was being a pig today very had to get it to start about 30 pull not joke then had idling problems would only ticky over for 30 seconds befor it run off. i only run two of my saws on aspen a 661c and the echo 2511tes, the husky 365xp and 550xp and the ms150 all started with no fuss and ran perfect on standard bp unleaded and standard oregon red two stroke

[GardenKit]

Hi Rob,

 

if you have not had any difficulty starting this saw before then it sounds like this is related to the unusually hot weather we are experiencing in the UK just now. I am not sure if there are any known starting issues with this model saw in hot climates.

 

There is a good chance you are getting vapour lock in your fuel system. Are you using fuel purchased during winter? Aspen is seasonally adjusted (as is pump fuel) to aid easier starting during hot or cold conditions depending on the season. I'm not saying this is the problem you are experiencing but it is worth knowing.

 

If you let me know the batch number printed on the can i can let you know either way.

 

It will be very interesting to find the outcome of this little problem. The saw seems to have run perfectly on Aspen until now, so it is reasonable to assume vapour lock in the present heatwave. But Aspen is more resistant to vapour lock than normal pump fuel, so the same saws running on petrol should be suffering more.

Its easy enough to test though, the saw should run perfectly in the cool of the early morning with the problem manifesting itself as the day heats up if vapour lock is to blame. It should also settle down in a day or two as the heatwave passes.

 

But its easy to get carried away wondering how Aspen is effecting it and losing sight of the fact that other things can go wrong with a saw, even a newish one.

The carb could be working loose, the spark plug could be breaking down, or the carb could be contaminated with sawdust or similar from the filling process.

 

So firstly see if it improves in cooler temps, but if not then look for the other issues.

 

Good luck.

[Richard 1234]

Hi Rob,

 

 

 

if you have not had any difficulty starting this saw before then it sounds like this is related to the unusually hot weather we are experiencing in the UK just now. I am not sure if there are any known starting issues with this model saw in hot climates.

 

 

 

There is a good chance you are getting vapour lock in your fuel system. Are you using fuel purchased during winter? Aspen is seasonally adjusted (as is pump fuel) to aid easier starting during hot or cold conditions depending on the season. I'm not saying this is the problem you are experiencing but it is worth knowing.

 

 

 

If you let me know the batch number printed on the can i can let you know either way.

 

 

I thought it had a five year shelf life?

If so you could easily end up using winter grade in the summer and vice versa?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

[Aspen@AAOIL]

Correct, although as Garden kit much rightly pointed out. The chances of this being a contributing factor to the guys starting problems are very slim.

 

The same thing could happen with Pump fuel too, however the change is ever so slight with Aspen that you are unlikely to see a problem. running winter grade pump fuel during summer however you are way more likely to have starting issues with vapour lock then you ever would using Aspen.

 

RVP (Reid Vapour Pressure) only varies between 55-65 kPa in Aspen compared to 45-95 kpa in pump fuel.

 

 

 

I thought it had a five year shelf life?

If so you could easily end up using winter grade in the summer and vice versa?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk