GASOLINE:

[Steve Kraus]

seeking a good estimate for gasoline storage life in Tolly aluminum tanks . Consider both ethanol and NON-ethanol,  please.  

Then please suggest proven additives that you are convinced may have extended your fuel life. Thank you... Steve

[Brian Edmondson]

I would recommend staying away from gasoline with ethanol.  Ethanol attracts water.  Gasoline used to last a lot longer; and now, I would not leave my fuel in my tanks for more than three months.   Even then, you hear people recommend that you leave your tanks half-full and then top them off the next time you go for a cruise.  The idea being that you are fortifying your aging gasoline with fresh gas.  For 20 years I have stored five 5-gallon cans of gasoline in my shed for my generator in the event of a power failure.  I use a fuel stabilizer, and when winter is over, I use the gasoline in my vehicles.  The home stabilizer I use is good for at least a year, but I never push it that far so I always know I have good fuel.  The "Star Tron Enzyme" marine fuel stabilizer from Starbrite will stabilize your gasoline for up to two years, which is excellent.

I started working on gasoline powered home power equipment in the late 1950s.  With the gas back then, if you were really negligent, the gas would turn into a thick, varnish-like sticky substance before it dries completely and gets pretty hard.  Before it hardens, it's a sticky mess that totally gums up carburetors.  And as I mention above fuels lasted WAY longer then.  Having seen what gasoline does as it breaks down was a great lesson.  In those days, I used a product called Gunk Hydro Seal, a very nasty chemical mixture that you would submerge your metal carburetor parts for 24 hours, which would clean the parts thoroughly inside and out; but I don't even want to be anywhere near that stuff ever again.  I personally will not mess around letting my gas get old, but it's really easy to let this happen when time is flying by.

[Steve Kraus]

BRIAN,    as usual; a comprehensive response. Thank you...Steve