Water in your fuel freezingl!
Forums Archive Index > Outdoor Power Equipment > Water in your fuel freezingl!
Author: jubol
Date: 21 Dec 2005 6:46 am
Just a thought on how to prevent Fuel Line / Carb freeze ups!!
Mr Funnel makes a water seperator / fuel filter that really works!
West Marine also sells them under their name.
I use one summer and winter!!!
http://www.mrfunnel.com/
Fred
Author: faithfulFrank
Date: 21 Dec 2005 9:16 am
Two of the best things I do for my OPE.....
My Mr. Funnel and my PRI-G.........
Frank D.
Author: Highwind
Date: 21 Dec 2005 1:09 pm
I put a small splash of isopropyl gas line anti-freeze (maybe a teaspoon) when I fill the machine's tank. When you have a part tank of gas the up and down temperatures can result in condensation. Of course keeping the tank full will help.
I fill it using a Mr funnel in case there is any water in the gas can.
Author: Solara
Date: 21 Dec 2005 4:41 pm
prig vs stabil
anybody care to elaborate on the diferrences between the 2?
And/or why one is better than the other?
Author: Termy
Date: 21 Dec 2005 6:03 pm
If memory serves, Stabil which is what I use, lasts only a year. But if you use Pri_G, I believe that is supposed to keep fuel fresh for 5 years. But have I not heard somewhere that you got to be careful how much Pri_G you use or you can do damage to your engine?
Author: faithfulFrank
Date: 21 Dec 2005 6:47 pm
Do a google search on pri-g, and see why they say they are better.
32 oz of PRI-G does 512 GALLONS of Gasoline.......so it is also WAY less expensive as well as being better.
It only takes 2ml or 2cc's...(same thing) to treat a gallon of gas.
Author: jubol
Date: 21 Dec 2005 7:09 pm
West Marine has Pri G has it for $19.95 a pint!!
Fred
Author: Highwind
Date: 21 Dec 2005 7:12 pm
Stabil has an advertised shelf life (for Stabil itself) of two years after you open it.
I've never found a shelf-life for Pri-G.
All I know is Pri-G is like Buckley's: smells terrible, but it works.
Author: Mountain Man
Date: 21 Dec 2005 7:22 pm
Highwind wrote:
I put a small splash of isopropyl gas line anti-freeze (maybe a teaspoon) when I fill the machine's tank. .
I used to use the Antifreeze. But noqw there is so much alcohol, etenol and such in the gas, really dont need it. Plus with all the alcohol in the fuel, it can attract more water !
Author: Highwind
Date: 21 Dec 2005 7:38 pm
MM,
Our fuels don't have ethanol in them unless you go to the few stations here that carry it.
Author: AZinOH
Date: 21 Dec 2005 7:59 pm
Sta-bil does the job for me, even if it isn't as good as pri-g...and it's available just about everywhere. I've never seen pri-g on the shelf.
AZ
Author: Termy
Date: 21 Dec 2005 8:47 pm
Toro owners use Stabil. I do, Old Toro Owner does, and so does AZ in OH. And none of us have any problems with it, we don't need know stinken Pri-G :lol:
Author: snowshoveler
Date: 21 Dec 2005 9:06 pm
highwind...
you sure your fuel dosent have ethenol in it.
ours has 10 % alcohol in and its not very well known here either.
they do bragg about its ability to NOT freeze.
what most people do not know is alcohol is hydroscopic...meaning it attracts moisture meaning you get water in your fuel and the more alcohol the more water.this is why the old steel fuel tanks rust.everything new has a plastic fuel tank even cars and trucks.
only one that dosent is a honda engine.
they still use steel on there OPE.
the alcohol is also very agressive towards any rubber or steel parts .
we sell a lot of fuel line and carb kits.
chris
Author: mrmom
Subject: Re: Water in your fuel freezingl!
Date: 22 Dec 2005 6:30 am
jubol wrote:
Just a thought on how to prevent Fuel Line / Carb freeze ups!!
Mr Funnel makes a water seperator / fuel filter that really works!
West Marine also sells them under their name.
I use one summer and winter!!!
http://www.mrfunnel.com/
Fred
This is what I use with my MrFunnel:
It helps me see how much gas is in the tank as I fill up. Also frees up one hand to help hold the gas container.
I call it a funnel helper.
Author: jubol
Date: 22 Dec 2005 6:37 am
:D Mrmom,
I made the same thing for my funnel, when you posted about it a while ago!!
Forgot to mention it, when I brought up Mr Funnel!!
Thanks again for the tip!!
Fred 8)
Author: mrmom
Date: 22 Dec 2005 3:40 pm
Yeah, that was on the 'other' forum.
For those who want to make a funnel helper, I used a half liter (500 ml) soda/pop bottle. A sharp pair of scissors will help you make a straight cut.
Author: Termy
Date: 22 Dec 2005 5:54 pm
That funnel is i AWESOME!!! I love it! What a great invention! No more having to hold the dam funnel so that the fuel does not knock the thing over. Excellent!!! Truly Excellent!!! 8)
Author: Mountain Man
Date: 22 Dec 2005 8:56 pm
snowshoveler wrote:
highwind...
you sure your fuel dosent have ethenol in it.
ours has 10 % alcohol in and its not very well known here either.
they do bragg about its ability to NOT freeze.
what most people do not know is alcohol is hydroscopic...meaning it attracts moisture meaning you get water in your fuel and the more alcohol the more water.this is why the old steel fuel tanks rust.everything chris
Thanks for backing me up. besides water issues, too much alcohol decreases power, and can also affect older fuel sytems.
Author: Highwind
Date: 23 Dec 2005 10:36 am
snowshoveler wrote:
highwind...
you sure your fuel dosent have ethenol in it.
ours has 10 % alcohol in and its not very well known here either.
they do bragg about its ability to NOT freeze.
what most people do not know is alcohol is hydroscopic...meaning it attracts moisture meaning you get water in your fuel and the more alcohol the more water.this is why the old steel fuel tanks rust.everything new has a plastic fuel tank even cars and trucks.
only one that dosent is a honda engine.
they still use steel on there OPE.
the alcohol is also very agressive towards any rubber or steel parts .
we sell a lot of fuel line and carb kits.
chris
You are right Chris, our gas does contain some ethanol, but its only about 2% maximum.
I don't know if the Ontario gov't has mandated it, but they were supposed to require that gasoline sold here would contain 5% by 2007, and I think 10% by 2010. At this time we have fairly low alcohol in our fuels, except as I said before, stations that advertise and clearly mark their pumps as a 90/10 ethanol mix.
The reason why I put isopropyl in small amounts is that it blends with the gasoline and water and holds the water (if it finds any as liquid water) in molecular form evenly distributed in the gasoline. It can be burned without any problem. Because the fuel I have is from last winter when I stored it with a full tank, I put 5 to 10 ml as a precaution to rid it of any free water. In 3.5 litres of fuel that is only 1 part isopropyl to 350 parts gasoline, so I'm sure I'm not overdoing the dosage. If I had the 90/10 ethanol mix, I probably wouldn't bother since it can absorb more water without adding alcohol.
That being said, most of the water problems are probably from water in the gas stations storage tanks getting into your fuel, not from it drawing moisture from the air.
Gasoline has only a certain amount of water absorption before it saturates and you get phase separation or water in liquid form. And the amount it can hold drops with temperature.
For instance at 60F a gallon of 100% gasoline can hold 0.15 teaspoons of water before it saturates, while a 90/10 ethanol mix can hold 3.8 teaspoons. And those saturation points drop with temperature.
Again the reason I was adding it was because I have low ethanol gas here.
When we had pure gasoline, I had problems with water in two cars, one carburated and the other had a throttle body. Used to put methyl hydrate in them (recommended back then), but with fuel injection you have to use isopropyl as methyl doesn't take the water into suspension, and its more reactive with fuel system components.
I buy the gas line variety not just rubbing alcohol as that isn't a pure form of isoproyl.
When we got to a higher blend of ethanol, I'll probably not bother with the gas line antifreeze.
Author: dave___in___ct
Date: 24 Dec 2005 9:04 am
Hi...
Diesel fuel...
I add Power Service "whatever it's called" to lower the gelling point of the fuel... truck and tractor...
Dave...