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Ethanol

Jack M

Jack M

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While at the dealership today I saw a one quart bottle full of a yellowish liquid on top and a clear liquid on the bottom .

I asked what it was ?

Street ( ethanol ) gas from a boat that they had in storage , that would not start this season .

The owner had filled up on land for the winter .

The bottom was water and the top was ( allegedly ) treated gas .

When the bottle was shaken to mix the two they separated again almost instantly.

I was told the motor fed from the bottom of the tank ,and that is where all the water had settled to .

I know that street gas will rot rubber ,I had it happen to a generator that I had not run for a while .

My question is .

Is it really safe to run ethanol ?
 
Yes and no. Boats sitting on water attract "moisture" quicker and boats use fuel less often than cars so the fuel sits longer before being used and therefore goes ad quicker. Use of stabilizer is a must. The new fuel lines and such are supposed to be "ethanol safe" but why chance it. I saw a time lapse video of ethanol fuel in a mason jar sitting with a fan and you could see the moisture collecting.

Here it is

 
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I would be suspicious. Sounds like a dealer's prop to sell you some kind of expensive treatment.
 
goldnrod24 said:
I would be suspicious. Sounds like a dealer's prop to sell you some kind of expensive treatment.
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I disagree , watch the video I posted ......
 
As long as you don't pour water in your tank and use a good stabilizer, I say yes. I know many disagree, but I have never had any issues. I have ethanol fuel in my lawnmower and snowblower and whipper snipper, never once had an issue. Lawnmower consistently starts on the first pull after every winter. In my SHO I added the fuel stabilizer and conditioner with every fill up, as per Yamaha's instructions. No problem.
 
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For the 200SHO, 87 octane is recommended, if you choose to burn 91, it says you should add "ring free plus" with every tank to help with carbon build up. Since here ALL 87 octane fuel contains ethanol, it recommends adding the fuel stabilizer and conditioner. I figured if I have to spend money on an additive regardless of which octane I use, I might as well use the one that was 10 cents/liter cheaper.
 
I use the Yami additive on my 20hp as we idle around alot. I use Marine Stabil in every jug of gas I put in the tank.

The couple bucks I spent, well ok 30 or so, will last me all year, and is much cheaper than a service issue.

I figure its just another one of those expenses of boating. I try not to add it all up at once as then I see where my paychecks are getting wiped out .... Lol !!!!
 
If I am not mistaken ,and I very well could be . All of ours 87,89 and 91 all contain ethanol .
 
Oh, I use Lucas ethanol stabilizer. I'm just saying the dealer likely wants to scare you into some $25/ bottle magic "stuff."

Scare tactics go a long way with the uninformed.
 
jsfb6pts said:
If I am not mistaken ,and I very well could be . All of ours 87,89 and 91 all contain ethanol .
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Yeah ours too here in Pa.
 
Interesting, see here in Manitoba, ethanol is mandated by the government, it has to be in a certain percentage of your overall fuel sales. So since most people buy regular octane, they put it in that to meet the requirements. Now because of the way fuel pumps work, there is a blending unit in the pump, so when you want 89 octane, all it does is blend half and half of regular and premium, so instead of 10% ethanol, it will be more like 5%. But the premium is ethanol free.

Before it was mandated by the government, Husky/Mohawk were the only stations to have ethanol, we used to run a Husky station, we'll since Husky doesn't have its own refineries for gas, we would have to buy 87 octane from one of the refineries (Petro Canada, Shell, and Co-op[co-op doesn't sell to outside companies]) , then add ethanol to it which actually produced a 90 octane "regular" fuel for us. So our customers got 90 for the same price as the others 87. It was great! Our numbers were 90,92,94! Once the mandate came in, the refineries simply started using 85 octane fuel and adding ethanol to make 87, so there went our big advantage.
 
goldnrod24 said:
Oh, I use Lucas ethanol stabilizer. I'm just saying the dealer likely wants to scare you into some $25/ bottle magic "stuff."

Scare tactics go a long way with the uninformed.
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Yamaha Ringfree Plus is more like $42 a quart bottle--online. I'd still like to see the inside of a motor with Ringfree versus the same engine with just plain 100% gasoline. Is it a come on? Or, is it the real deal?
 
The Mercury brand is about $12 ,12 0z , treats, 120 gallons .

I can live with an extra two bucks a fill up
 
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Mercury has 3 products to consider

- quick care (Ethanol and short term moisture)

- quick clean (cleaning deposits from trolling a lot)

- quick store (storage)

I alternate the first 2 on my Verado though I'm lucky enough to have access to 92 octane ethanol free obtained locally from Countrymark at our marina.
 
Ringfree is expensive for a quart but at 1 ounce per 10 gallons, it goes a long ways. They do recommend stronger concentrations as one time treatments if it has not been used in the past. Steve
 
Our marina has ethanol free fuel..............but as a precaution I still use Stabil. It also fights corrosion and cleans the fuel injectors. I do the same w/my lawn equipment. I add Stabil to every gas can I fill up.............Haven't had any problems w/the effects of ethanol..........
 
TomS said:
Mercury has 3 products to consider

- quick care (Ethanol and short term moisture)

- quick clean (cleaning deposits from trolling a lot)

- quick store (storage)

I alternate the first 2 on my Verado though I'm lucky enough to have access to 92 octane ethanol free obtained locally from Countrymark at our marina.
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I had bought the Quickare and the Quickleen ,QuickStor is on my list ,

I have a few more weeks before I need to store it
 
Bought an Atwood gas hose and after one summer,with non-ethanol gas and Yamaha stabilizer, the bulb cracked in 3 or 4 places but the hose was fine. The mechanic who works our docks said to always use Yamaha or Mercury hoses because the after-market ones never last. Steve
 
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