For Ethanol Lovers

[Kerry]

Says it all really!

Source: Posted by Kerno THT - Saturday was boating day with Sunday being the usual family/yard work day. The mower came out of the shed and I was unable to get it running properly. I took the float bowl off the carburetor and found that the cast aluminum portion of the carb that extended down in the float bowl was a mass of white corrosion. So, I took it down to the local mower shop and asked how long it took for service. I was told that they were not taking in any service because they had no room for any more equipment. I asked why and they said that the ethanol in the fuel was killing lawn equipment faster than they can get parts to repair it. They blame it both on the amount of water in the float bowls and the ethanol stripping both the moisture and the lubricants out of fuel pump diaphragms. I'm not sure why our governor signed off on Ethanol, but a letter writing campaign needs to start. Why this crap was shoved down our throats without adequate testing or any regard for the consequences of its usage is beyond me. I know a lot of politicians are very much in bed with the agricultural lobby, but enough is enough. First the boat and then the mower.

[henryk]

I don't have these sorts of problems as I only ever drink the stuff.

It's simple really...

Petrol goes in Petrol Tank

Ethanol goes in mouth

Mix that up and both have problems.

[Roo]

Ok now i'm worried........boat only ever gets plain old unleaded. no ethanol or premium stuff either. but my poor old(new) subaru gets the odd drop of ethanol from time to time.......thank god it's a co. car

Never ever ever ever put ethanol blended fuels in your boat.(or plane)

roo.

[FNQCairns]

Ethanol + water = ethanacidh2o reaction (I just made that up but whatever that acidic/oxidation product is I am entirely sure it will cost me a couple or few thousand extra over next few years to come - how much am I really paying for my fuel!
Governmental cretins!!

cheers fnq

[Dirtysanchez]

Sounds bad. so it's a no go for boats, planes and small power equipment like mowers etc, but how about cars where a tank of fuel only lasts a week or so ?

[krazyfisher]

I use it in my car every tank and hate it, less power , less distance per tank and it doesnt seem to be any cheaper.

[mirage]

I have a friend who manages a major brand servo down the road. I asked him the other day when he was getting the ethanol fuel in. He asked me what I meant. I said many servos now have the 10% ethonal mix and advertise it as such with some sort of fancy name but your business hasn't done that yet. He replied that there has been ethanol in fuel for years but it just wasn't advertised. All the unleaded in his servo had ethanol but no 10% signs!!

Makes you wonder!!

[bootyinblue]

Says it all really!

'WITHOUT PREJUDICE"

Sounds like something that some preventative maintenance could have prevented!!

Appears to be just a story posted by someone that has then been regenerated by someone else.

Think about it logically. How much petrol is sold in Australia every year? How much of this is 10% ethanol blended fuel? How much would it have cost the oil companies in testing, marketing, retailing etc....

Do you think they would honestly take the ball up if it was so bad for engines?

I put 10% blend in all but my diesel ute and with regular servicing, have never had a problem to date.

[snelly1971]

This is what i posted in the ethanol thread recently...

My mate owns and runs 2 Stihl outlets here in Tassie...They have been told by Stihl Aust to warn all customers not to run ethanol based fuel in any of Stihl`s products 2 or 4 stroke as it is causing major concerns and warranty claims due to its ethanol base....I know there is a big difference between there products and an outboard...but it is the same principal i guess...

Would this mean that BP..or who ever is selling the fuel is open to litigation....or is it that the big fuel companys just dont care...

Seems as though he was right...

Cheers Mick

[Spaniard_King]

What brands of servos actually advertise the %10 blend, cause I aint seen any??

Garry

[snelly1971]

Garry ...I thought it was made law that sometime last feb ...all servos who sold ethanol based fuel..E10...I think... had to advertise it on the pumps

Mick

[BM]

Your right Snelly, it may have even come in earlier than that here in Vic.

Can't say I have seen it though..... Seen plenty of servos proudly stating NO ethanol in their fuel..

Although one vehicle is on LPG and th eother on diesel so I'm probably not a good candidate here.... although I do look for those sort of things out of interest and compliance..

Cheers

[Eagle]

It is now law that all servo operators state the percentage of alcohol in their fuel. This product must never be used in an outboard engine. The chemical will destroy the seals, DISSOLVE the alloy and cause massive corosion.
I had an aero engine soaking in the stuff and forgot about it. When I finally remembered to remove the engine, it had all but dissolved. It was in the stuff for a long time.
My book of words that came with my outboard, clearly states, DO NOT USE ALCOHOL FUELS in this engine. The fuel pump at our local servo has a sign on it that states, "Do not use in marine engines, aero engines and small engines eg chain saws"
With all the publicity about the stuff, only a dummy would concider it as an alternative fuel for their marine engine, regardless of make or type. The potential is there for a total failure and that could cost someone their life when at sea.
I have absolutely no intention of ever using this muck again in any engine. It lacks power and therefore more fuel MUST be burnt to try and obtain the previous power output of the CORRECT grade of fuel that your engine uses. More fuel used to try and compensate for this power loss means more $'s are being thrown away.
Alcohol blends must NEVER be used with engines having carburetters. The alcohol will utterly destroy the carbie and the engine.

Eagle

[Lovey80]

Thanks for the heads up Kerry


Chris

[Morlers]

An interesting article from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_fuel

Methanol and Ethanol both have advantages and disadvantages over fossil fuels, such as petrol and diesel. For instance, both alcohols can run at a much higher compression ratio without octane-boosting additives (ethanol's octane rating is 129 (RON), equal to 102 (MON) or 116 (AKI), with methanol at 123 (RON) as opposed to approximately 91 (RON), 81 (MON), 86 (AKI) for ordinary European petrol; note that American 'regular-grade gasoline' is about 1 point higher on all 3 scales, but still offers very similar performance.) Alcohols burn more completely because their molecules contain oxygen; carbon monoxide emissions are 100% lower than fossil-fuelled engines because the only products of an alcohol combustion reaction are carbon dioxide, water, and heat. Despite this reduction in carbon monoxide, alcohol releases as much or more carbon dioxide than its gasoline counterpart (though this carbon dioxide has previously been drawn from the air in biologically-produced ethanol, so there is no net modern release, as there is for fossil fuels). There are also lower NOx emissions, as ethanol needs more energy to vaporise than petrol - so it draws more heat out of the air in a cylinder than petrol, having a greater cooling effect, which reduces the opportunity for nitrogen and oxygen in the cylinder (as air) to fuse into poisonous nitrogen oxides.
However, ethanol is degrading to some plastic or rubber parts of fuel delivery systems designed to use petrol, and has 37% less energy per litre than petrol. Methanol is even more corrosive and its energy per liter is 55% lower than that of petrol. High compression ratios and corrosion-resistant materials can overcome these issues, but require extensive engine modification. The sort of compression- and corrosion-resistant materials needed to run an engine on ethanol or methanol tend to be expensive compounds, such as stainless steel.
Methanol has also been proposed as a fuel of the future. There has been extensive use of methanol fuel in Funny Cars for years, and it has been used as a fuel for open wheel car racing in North America since 1965. Unfortunately, although its octane rating is comparable to ethanol and it has similar emissions, it is also toxic (producing some toxic emissions, formaldehyde and formic acid), and has a lower (-38%) energy content than ethanol (-55% compared to petrol.)
Ethanol is already being used extensively as a fuel additive, and the use of ethanol fuel alone or as part of a mix with gasoline is increasing. From 2007, the Indy Racing League will use ethanol as its exclusive fuel, after 40 years of using methanol [5].
Methanol combustion is: 2CH3OH + 3O2 → 2CO2 + 4H2O + heat
Ethanol combustion is: C2H5OH + 3O2 → 2CO2 + 3H2O + heat


Morlers