TruFuel 50-1or Stihl 50-1 or Red Armor 50-1??

[bmg88201]

Non ethanol 91 octane is everywhere up around me due to being near two rivers and a huge lake. Since most outboards need non ethanol fuel. Won’t use anything else in a two cycle engine. I also use Red Armor oil in my Echo trimmer and Husky chainsaw. The local small engine guy swears by Red Armor oil. I can’t imagine having to settle for ethanol fuel. That would frustrate me to no end.

 

[organ grinder]

There’s an old saying which suggests that experience is a good teacher, but she gives the test and then the lesson. Several years ago, I bought a new Stihl trimmer and used ethanol mixed with Stabil. In six months, the plastic fuel line had to be replaced (under the warranty). The fuel simply dissolved the line. The trimmer was also hard to start. Ditto with my Mantis tiller.



That’s when I switched to TruFuel. The starting issues went away, and the fuel line stayed intact. That’s all I use now. It is a bit more costly, but avoiding the hassle of a unit not starting easily is priceless.



I use three cans a season for my Echo trimmer and blower and have never had a problem with either. And the really nice thing is how easily they start in the spring after sitting all winter with Tru-Fuel in the tanks.

 

[mx842]

Adding more oil actually leans out the air-fuel mixture if you don't make carb adjustments.

You know I have heard this but always wondered about it. In theory maybe but running 40:1 in a saw that says they recomend 50:1 I don't think it makes all that much difference. Actually over 90% of the oil never makes it to the combustion chamber to begin with it gets slung off and used to lubricate the internal engine parts. Heck back in the day we used to run double oil in our bass boat engines and it never caused an issue made them smoke a little more and you would see the oil residue dripping out from the exhause after they sat for awhile. In fact Mercury told you to run double oil for the first few tank fulls or during break in period. I don't know what they suggest now with these newer fancy things, I've been out of the business for 15 years or more. Omc came out with one engine that they said should run on 100:1 but every rep I ever talked to said to run 50:1 in them. That's the one and only one reasion I believe in running the oil that what ever the engine manf put's out because it is designed for those engines with what ever additive package their engineers come up with.
I'm not saying what you stated is wrong I guess I'm just too old school and am going by what I have seen over the past 75 years........well maybe 67 years because I didn't start messing around with engines until I was about 8 or so.

 

[4Liberty]

I use the Stihl oil, and run 100 Sunoco leaded race fuel. Since I only burn less than 10 gallons in the 2 stroke stuff it’s good life insurance for the saws. What got me started on it is an MS440 that I ported and runs about 200 psi compression. Turned out to be a great wood cutter and I started using the 110 in the rest of the 2 strokes and they are really happy with it. I mean if you are going to go out of your way + spend extra $$ why not?

 

[Flogger]

20 years ago I switched to Opti 2 oil. I have not worked on a single 2 stroke engine since. I even ran 87 E10 with no problems. After experiencing issues with the 87 E10 in some of my older 4 stroke engines I switched to 91 octane but still have no luck finding it in E0. I have had good results with it and my 4 stroke engines run fine. The Opti 2 oil has a stabilizer in it that works as good as anything I've found elsewhere.

 

[kenmbz]

I run E10 93 octane with stabil and usually still or echo oil.
For my newest saw, it only gets truefuel or better pre-mix.

No non-E10 in this area except airports.

So far, all my equipment is fine, had to retire my older brushcutter as it was suffering metal fatigue along the shaft, but the carb was original, and it has to be 20 years old. Only replaced the fuel line once as it split where it goes into the carb and figured to just replace vs. recut.

 

[John_Mc]

There are some youtube videos showing how to remove ethanol from gas. Would this make better sense for someone who lives in an area where the only gas for sale has ethanol in it ?

Just be aware that the ethanol in E10 gas adds a few points of octane rating to the fuel. So if you start with 91 octane, you are down to about 88 or 89 octane once the ethanol is removed. Since fuel also can lose octane over time as it sits (and some of the more volatile compounds evaporate off), you could be getting to a point where it's a concern for some chainsaw engines.

The biggest concern with E10 gas in a relatively modern engine is phase separation as it ages. If it absorbs enough water, the water ethanol mix settles out. That mix is corrosive and can damage the carb and other engine parts. If you have to use ethanol gas, buy it from a station that sells a lot of fuel, so they are turning over their inventory regularly, use it promptly, and don't leave it sitting in your engine for extended periods. You will hear form people who leave it in their engines for months without a problem. That's certainly possible, but it's a risk. How much of a risk depends on the conditions in which the fuel is stored.

In older engines, there was another risk: some of the plastic or rubber compounds used were not compatible with ethanol. It would either start to dissolve those parts (old fuel lines were infamous for this) or could make them stiff or brittle (the diaphragm). Modern saws have different rubber/plastics which are more resistant to ethanol's effects (though I'm not sure they are 100% immune).

 

[bmg88201]

Also those products that say they can eliminate the ethanol from the gas is crap. If you get 10 gallons of 10% ethanol gas, that means that one gallon is ethanol. If those products did get rid of the ethanol, then you would end up with 9 gallons of gas. Which you don’t, so where did the ethanol go. It went nowhere.

 

[EricG1793]

My local power equipment dealer sells the VP premixed and ethanol-free regular fuel both by the container and in bulk. Going back a few years in pricing, I think it was $22/gal for their can and $14/gal in bulk (bring your own can). I didn't pay attention the last couple times I went. Maybe find a VP dealer in your area that would would carry this, or talk to your local power equipment dealer to see if they might start carrying it.

Either way, it's worth it to me since I don't do any sawing and just use a gallon or so of 50:1 a year for my leaf blower and weed whacker. They always start right up no matter how long it's been, no stabilizer, just the premixed VP fuel. For 4-stroke, I get premium fuel (E10) and Star Tron or Sea Foam stabilizer.

Dealer locator: VP Racing Fuels: Find a VP Dealer Near You | VP Racing Fuels, Inc

 

[John_Mc]

Also those products that say they can eliminate the ethanol from the gas is crap. If you get 10 gallons of 10% ethanol gas, that means that one gallon is ethanol. If those products did get rid of the ethanol, then you would end up with 9 gallons of gas. Which you don’t, so where did the ethanol go. It went nowhere.

You don't need any "product" to remove ethanol (unless you consider ordinary tap water a product). Add water, shake well, the ethanol combines with the water and settles to the bottom of the container. Drain off the water. If it was in fact 10% ethanol, and you start with 10 gallons, you will end up with 9 gallons.

It's a very simple process. I've done it on a small scale on numerous occasions: my Cessna 172 aircraft can run on either 100LL Avgas or NON-ethanol premium auto fuel. On rare occasions when Avgas was not available, I used auto fuel. However, I never trust that what is being sold is actually ethanol free. I put an inch or so of water in the bottom of an empty coke bottle, draw a line at the water level, then fill to about 3/4 full. Shake it, and let it settle. The water and any ethanol in the fuel will settle to the bottom (it almost looks like a big bubble that sinks, instead of floating). If the line between the gas on top and the "water" on the bottom is at the mark I drew, there was no ethanol. If the level in the bottle is higher than the mark, that's due to the ethanol which was pulled out by the water.

I've not really seen anyone advertising a product to remove ethanol. I have seen plenty of products which say they minimize the adverse effects of ethanol. (I don't think any of them actually claim to eliminate all of the problems.)