‘‘Tis almost the Season. Fuel stabilizer acticle

[captpierre]

Don’t know how to insert the article , probably been posted before  

google 

Boatingmag.com fuel stabilizers 

 

Edited September 15, 2019 by captpierre

[Terry]

https://www.boatingmag.com/gear/boatinglab-tests-fuel-stabilizers/

Fuel Stabilizers: Tested by BoatingLAB

Do fuel stabilizers actually work? We put them to the test!

 

By Randy Vance

Updated: August 28, 2017

 

Pass the Gas
With ethanol in the gas, fuel stabilizers are as essential to boaters who store fuel for months as they are to those who boat every week. It was bad enough that non-ethanol gas could turn to crud, gumming up the works. In the old pre-E10 days, a fuel filter would take out water that might invade your tank and you'd be good to go — as long as you stabilized the fuel for long storage periods. Now, however, ethanol is the oxygenator of choice in fuel and it loves to mix with water. Get more than 500 parts per million water in the fuel, and it bonds with all the ethanol and then plops to the bottom of the tank in a powerless blob. That's phase separation, and it takes the octane with it. If this crud even burns through the engine, it abrades injectors, nullifies the work of lubricants and causes catastrophic damage. It happens suddenly. A gallon of our test fuel turned into about three ounces of water/ethanol and 61 ounces of unusable 77-octane gasoline. That would have been nearly a half-gallon of the ethanol crud at the pickup of a 100-gallon tank. No wonder engines go bang.

How We Tested
For precision, and to work with quantities of fuel more suitable to a lab than a gas dock, we used metric, rather than U.S. liquid, volume measurement. We dosed 500 milliliters of untreated E10 fuel with excessive water to see how long it could hold off phase separation. Then we similarly overdosed eight 500-milliliter fuel samples, each of which was mixed with a different fuel treatment. To that treated fuel, we added water in 0.5-milliliter increments of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 and 5.0 milliliters and noted the results. Phase separation began for all treated samples at 2.5 milliliters--0.5 percent or 12,500 ppm, proving the efficacy of using stabilizers. So at the end of our test, an average 25 milliliters of crud — 5 percent of the fuel supply — sank to the bottom of the graduated cylinders we used for testing.

Goals and Findings
Our goal was to discover which fuel treatment, applied to 87 octane E10 fuel, could stave off phase separation most effectively. Some don't specify an increase in the percentage of absorption. Some say it will double the absorbing quality of the fuel. We found very little difference between brands in preventing phase separation but did show definitively that fuel treatments can idiot the process. We also compared costs and rated ease of use based upon the bottle's method of providing a measuring device. Our test parameters did not include substantiating long-term oxidation prevention claims.

The Fix
New fuel stabilizers are formulated not just to stop varnishing, but also to mitigate the effects of phase separation. Lubrication is part of the mix too, and you can feel the viscosity of the fluids between your fingers. This is what helps lubricate parts and prevent corrosion, along with the ability of the products to idiot phase separation and keep small amounts of water in suspension. If phase separation does occur in a tank, the process is immediate, complete and irreversible.

 

[Hack_Fisherman]

Good article! I didn’t know there were stabilizers specifically for marine.

Also very good to know they have a shelf life. 1-2 years

 I try to use my fuels up seasonally as much as possible. I don't have oil injection so I can’t use it in my vehicle at end of season. Anything left in the spring gets mixed with Fred fuel/mix.

I read that premium doesn’t contain ethanol but it also doesn’t burn as quickly. I’ve been using stabilizer with a glug of seafoam and a shot of Lucas on every tank and so far so good....

but I will switch to a marine specific with a 2 year shelf life

Edited September 15, 2019 by Hack_Fisherman

[Sinker]

20 hours ago, Hack_Fisherman said:

Good article! I didn’t know there were stabilizers specifically for marine.

Also very good to know they have a shelf life. 1-2 years

 I try to use my fuels up seasonally as much as possible. I don't have oil injection so I can’t use it in my vehicle at end of season. Anything left in the spring gets mixed with Fred fuel/mix.

I read that premium doesn’t contain ethanol but it also doesn’t burn as quickly. I’ve been using stabilizer with a glug of seafoam and a shot of Lucas on every tank and so far so good....

but I will switch to a marine specific with a 2 year shelf life

Seafoam is a stabilizer, so save your money and stop using stabilizer and seafoam. The lucas isn't doing a whole lot either IMO.  Premixed fuel will burn just fine in your car too. 

 

So many fuel myths. 

 

S. 

[Hack_Fisherman]

12 minutes ago, Sinker said:

Seafoam is a stabilizer, so save your money and stop using stabilizer and seafoam. The lucas isn't doing a whole lot either IMO.  Premixed fuel will burn just fine in your car too. 

 

So many fuel myths. 

 

S. 

Good to know. I thought seafoam was a more or less a cleaner/conditioner. I got the Lucas for free, so I thought what can it hurt. 

[super dave]

i use K100.   i put some old gas in a glass jar that clearly had water in it.  this stuff burned it all away.   

[Sinker]

59 minutes ago, Hack_Fisherman said:

Good to know. I thought seafoam was a more or less a cleaner/conditioner. I got the Lucas for free, so I thought what can it hurt. 

Read the can. I know its hard to see, but it says it right there. 

 

S. 

[Hack_Fisherman]

I trust you. I can’t read that small!

[DRIFTER_016]

I run stabilizer in every tank of fuel all year long.

Never have an issue if you do.

It's not like it costs a fortune to do it.

[captpierre]

3 hours ago, Sinker said:

Seafoam is a stabilizer, so save your money and stop using stabilizer and seafoam. The lucas isn't doing a whole lot either IMO.  Premixed fuel will burn just fine in your car too. 

 

So many fuel myths. 

 

S. 

The concern is the myths and misleading claims by the manufacturer. 

Independent testing  under controlled conditions by a lab not paid by any manufacturer is what is best. 

Otherwise you’re at the mercy of myths and slick advertising. 

 

[AKRISONER]

ive avoided ethanol like the plague the last few years buying only high octane ethanol free gas. I dont necessarily have to, but i do and I hope it protects my investment. I also run seafoam through the engine periodically and especially stabilize all of my fuel the month leading up to winterization. My motor is 22 years old and runs like a top. I intend to keep it running that way.

[Sinker]

3 hours ago, captpierre said:

The concern is the myths and misleading claims by the manufacturer. 

Independent testing  under controlled conditions by a lab not paid by any manufacturer is what is best. 

Otherwise you’re at the mercy of myths and slick advertising. 

 

I hear you. I can also say that in 40 years of owning a boat, I have never, ever had a fuel issue. I had one bad gas line once, but it was probably 25 years old. I have an assorment of other small engines, snowmobiles, etc...no issues ever related to fuel. 

S. 

[DRIFTER_016]

51 minutes ago, Sinker said:

I hear you. I can also say that in 40 years of owning a boat, I have never, ever had a fuel issue. I had one bad gas line once, but it was probably 25 years old. I have an assortment of other small engines, snowmobiles, etc...no issues ever related to fuel. 

S. 

I hadn't had an issue until last summer.

Wasn't my fault though, my boat sank at the dock due to algae buildup on my bilge pump float switch got stuck in the on position and killed the battery. Then a big storm came along and with no bilge pump she went down. 

I had a full fuel tank but it was replaced with water during the unfortunate incident.   ?

 

[Old Man]

On 9/16/2019 at 11:20 AM, DRIFTER_016 said:

I run stabilizer in every tank of fuel all year long.

Never have an issue if you do.

It's not like it costs a fortune to do it.

Me as well. Very little extra cost for piece of mind. Remember just dumping it in the tank at seasons end and not running the motor means only stabilizer in the tank, not through the whole fuel system. Since one can never be sure of when then last use will be, having stabilized fuel all year removes that worry.

Edited September 18, 2019 by Old Man

[Garnet]

I run Shell gas only in boats ,lawn mowers ect.

Anything that might sit for a bit. And seafoam every other tank.

[pidge]

Interesting read that article was. I run only Shell high test as well through lawnmowers, gennys, etc etc. The boat because of where it’s stored is not as easy for me to do so.i do run high test, just not Shell.  The lady whom I’ve seen and talked with forever at Shell affirms me Shell high test dose not have ethonal in the gas. Dose any one know if this is true for most or all others such as Esso, PetroCan etc?

Edited September 18, 2019 by pidge

[AKRISONER]

2 hours ago, pidge said:

Interesting read that article was. I run only Shell high test as well through lawnmowers, gennys, etc etc. The boat because of where it’s stored is not as easy for me to do so.i do run high test, just not Shell.  The lady whom I’ve seen and talked with forever at Shell affirms me Shell high test dose not have ethonal in the gas. Dose any one know if this is true for most or all others such as Esso, PetroCan etc?

https://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=ON

 

there is your answer

[Tjames09]

I use the blue marine stabilizer in every tank.

I also run an orange stabilizer in my lawn mower, I think its called ethanol stabilizer or something.