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Deterioration of Gasoline?

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HK

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Mar 23, 2008, 3:17:18 PM3/23/08
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I wonder.

My two stroke chainsaw fired up on the second pull today. I haven't used
it for about a year, and there was still gasoline/oil mix in its tank.

Don White

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Mar 23, 2008, 4:22:55 PM3/23/08
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"HK" <payer...@mypacks.net> wrote in message
news:64nomaF...@mid.individual.net...

>I wonder.
>
> My two stroke chainsaw fired up on the second pull today. I haven't used
> it for about a year, and there was still gasoline/oil mix in its tank.

I always have a couple gallons of gas on hand from the previous year.
Usually I take it to a nearby service station and ask if they will discard
it for me so I can refill the can with new.


Don White

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Mar 23, 2008, 4:25:07 PM3/23/08
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"HK" <payer...@mypacks.net> wrote in message
news:64nomaF...@mid.individual.net...
>I wonder.
>
> My two stroke chainsaw fired up on the second pull today. I haven't used
> it for about a year, and there was still gasoline/oil mix in its tank.


Looks like I'll be taking my old gas here in the future...
http://www.halifax.ca/wrms/hhw.html


HK

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Mar 23, 2008, 4:32:33 PM3/23/08
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Yeah, I have a five gallon can for my gasoline mower/tractor and
lawnmower, and a one gallon can with "mix" for the chainsaw and string
trimmer. Fortunately, the latter two devices like the same "mix."

Had a 45' dead pine that fell over on the corner of the property last
year. Now it is about 25 two foot chunks... Managed to not remove any
significant body parts. :>)

JR North

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Mar 23, 2008, 4:40:03 PM3/23/08
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Just fired up Cruis'n Rulz! after sitting all winter with a full tank
of primo. Ran well, no problems.
JR

HOME PAGE:
http:/www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
--------------------------------------------------

HK

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Mar 23, 2008, 4:44:41 PM3/23/08
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I sure like that old truck you've kept up and restored.

JimH

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Mar 23, 2008, 4:52:00 PM3/23/08
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"Don White" <whi...@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:47e6bc1d$0$4037$9a56...@news.aliant.net...

Why not just add a stabilizer to the gas when you initially fill up the gas
can? That way you can toss the unused gas into your truck/car tank instead
of throwing it away.


Don White

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Mar 23, 2008, 6:32:09 PM3/23/08
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"JimH" <as...@nope.com> wrote in message
news:47e6c2f5$0$4950$4c36...@roadrunner.com...

I do put stabilizer in, but I also mix the oil right away.... so I'm leery
of putting the mixed 50:1 gas in a vehicle with catalitic converter.
With my British Seagull 10:1 mixture..there's no question.


Message has been deleted

Ernest Scribbler

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Mar 23, 2008, 7:37:35 PM3/23/08
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"Don White" wrote
> I'm leery

Out of curiosity, have you personally experienced problems with year-old gas
or are you just trying to err on the side of caution?


Don White

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Mar 23, 2008, 7:44:54 PM3/23/08
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"Ernest Scribbler" <rep...@newsgroup.only.please> wrote in message
news:sfednSf5UPhddHva...@comcast.com...

Just 'playing it safe'. and various articles such as..
http://www.perr.com/tip1.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_you_mix_old_gasoline_with_new_gasoline


JimH

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Mar 23, 2008, 7:52:22 PM3/23/08
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"Ernest Scribbler" <rep...@newsgroup.only.please> wrote in message
news:sfednSf5UPhddHva...@comcast.com...

I would think that putting 1 or 2 gallons of one year old gasoline in a car
or truck gas tank with 10+ gallons already in the tank would be fine. Why
toss it?


JimH

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Mar 23, 2008, 7:54:18 PM3/23/08
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"Don White" <whi...@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:47e6ec2a$0$4064$9a56...@news.aliant.net...

Send it to me.........I will dispose of it for you. ;-)


Ernest Scribbler

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Mar 23, 2008, 8:21:40 PM3/23/08
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"Don White" wrote

> Just 'playing it safe'.

Nothing wrong with that.

I've probably read a lot of the same stuff as you on the subject, but
empirical evidence seems to fly in the face of it all. The only person I've
ever actually met who ever personally experienced trouble with stale gas was
a guy who used to race motorcycles in the 70s. And even that was only a
little temporary performance decrease, nothing catastrophic. I have about a
gallon of last year's mix that I plan to put back in my outboard, and I
don't expect to be able to tell any difference between that and the new
stuff. If my experiment fails, I'll post about it.


Tim

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Mar 23, 2008, 8:22:23 PM3/23/08
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On Mar 23, 5:32 pm, "Don White" <whi...@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote:
> "JimH" <as...@nope.com> wrote in message
>
> news:47e6c2f5$0$4950$4c36...@roadrunner.com...
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > "Don White" <whi...@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
> >news:47e6bc1d$0$4037$9a56...@news.aliant.net...
>
> >> "HK" <payer33...@mypacks.net> wrote in message

> >>news:64nomaF...@mid.individual.net...
> >>>I wonder.
>
> >>> My two stroke chainsaw fired up on the second pull today. I haven't used
> >>> it for about a year, and there was still gasoline/oil mix in its tank.
>
> >> I always have a couple gallons of gas on hand from the previous year.
> >> Usually I take it to a nearby service station and ask if they will
> >> discard it for me so I can refill the can with new.
>
> > Why not just add a stabilizer to the gas when you initially fill up the
> > gas can?  That way you can toss the unused gas into your truck/car tank
> > instead of throwing it away.
>
> I do put stabilizer in, but I also mix the oil right away.... so I'm leery
> of putting the mixed 50:1 gas in a vehicle with catalitic converter.
> With my British Seagull 10:1 mixture..there's no question.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Do, you shouldn't have any problem burning pre-mix 2 stroke gas in
your truck. The cat converters probably won't know a bit of difference.

JG2U

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Mar 23, 2008, 11:04:23 PM3/23/08
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Many oil additives for chainsaw / weed eater / leaf blowers already
have gas stabilizers in them. Check your labels.

William Andersen

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Mar 24, 2008, 2:18:15 AM3/24/08
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I run both my lawn mower and weed whacker out of fuel in the fall, then
clean them and put them away for the winter. If I have any fuel left in the
gas cans, I add it to my car or motor home while it's still fresh. I don't
like the idea of keeping gas in containers in the shed all winter.

"HK" <payer...@mypacks.net> wrote in message

news:64ntq6F...@mid.individual.net...

Eisboch

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Mar 24, 2008, 2:47:31 AM3/24/08
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"William Andersen" <wga...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:LIHFj.8020$6J3....@newsfe13.phx...


Maybe it's just a ritual offered to gas engine gods, but in the fall I treat
all the remaining gas in my various toy's tanks with Stabil and forget about
them for the winter. Last fall I shut my Scag riding mower off in one of
the horse paddocks that I was mowing and there it sat all winter through
rain, snow, freezing weather, etc.. It has two tanks. One side was almost
empty, the other was half full. I had already put a small amount of Stabil
in the tanks the last time I filled them, anticipating that it would soon be
retired for the winter.

Today I went down, tried to start it and of course the battery was dead.
Jumped it, using the battery in the JD Gator, and it turned over about 4
times and fired right up. Let it run on fast idle for a minute or two, then
pulled the throttle back to dead slow. The engine just purred along with no
hic-ups or stalling. Drove it away and it ran fine.

I believe in Stabil. But, you have to add it when the gas is still fresh.
You can't re-vitalize or stabilize gas that has already gone stale.

Eisboch


Loogy...@gmail.com

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Mar 24, 2008, 8:18:38 AM3/24/08
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If you'd quit watching Drew Carey reruns and read your can of two
stroke oil, you just might find out that there are stabilizers already
in the oil.

jamesgangnc

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Mar 24, 2008, 8:25:00 AM3/24/08
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"Eisboch" <r...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:aM-dnTjaYLEU03ra...@giganews.com...
My experiences with old gas have been that if it's no more than a couple
years old it will probably still work even if it was not treated with
stabilizer. I do add stabil to my gas as well though. I have an old tiller
that sometimes I do not use for several years and it still runs when I try
to start it. Generally needs a shot of ether to get going. It has one of
those carbs where the tank is directly under the carb and the carb does not
have a fuel bowl. Most of the problems I've had with equipment that has sat
idle for a long time is related to the gas drying out in the fuel bowl
rather than the gas deteriorating. I have a 4k watt generator that seldom
gets run and I turn off the gas when I'm finished with it and let it run the
carb dry. The idle and slow speed circuits on those small carbs have some
really small openings so they are affected by deposits.


John

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Mar 24, 2008, 12:53:32 PM3/24/08
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"HK" <payer...@mypacks.net> wrote in message
news:64nomaF...@mid.individual.net...

>I wonder.
>
> My two stroke chainsaw fired up on the second pull today. I haven't used
> it for about a year, and there was still gasoline/oil mix in its tank.

my experience - I bought a house that had an inground tank and hose to fill
the boat, the gas had not been used or filled for at least 8 years. I
burned it in my truck until the tank was empty, it ran fine, but I would
just mix in half tank of fresh gas. If your gas is a two stroke mix, there
is more of a tendancy for the oil to separate and depending on the oil, it
may try to plug your fuel filter. I used to fly ultralights, and would
never trust my life to stale two stroke mix - but an outboard, chain saw
etc - go for it!


dt

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Mar 25, 2008, 10:13:58 AM3/25/08
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HK wrote:

What brand chainsaw? An Echo or a Stihl, I'm not surprised at all.
Some of the others, though...

DT

HK

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Mar 25, 2008, 10:19:54 AM3/25/08
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Plain little Husqvarna in decorator orange.

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