How will the new 15% ethanol gasoline affect our Craftsman mowers and lawn tractors?

Looks like you have a rubberized version. Yes, rubber and alcohol are not compatible. Have you ever looked for an acetate or Teflon diaphragm? There are kits available and depends on how old the engine is and which diaphragm you're talking about.

Official B&S: Shop.briggsandstratton.com for OEM diaphragms/kits, some of which may be Teflon.

Aftermarket: Amazon, eBay, Jack's Small Engines, BMI Karts, or Oregon kits. Search by your exact model/engine number. There are plenty of aftermarket kits that are ethanol resistant.

Forums like SmokStak, ArboristSite, or MyTractorForum often discuss adaptations for specific engines.

I've even made my own out of specialty Teflon sheet for smaller carbs or just flat out replaced an old carb for something using more modern. Ethanol resistant materials.
I usually buy them on eBay for about a dollar. Locally, generic are about 3.00. So I keep on changing one or two a year. E-15 will increase the frequency of changing I am sure.
 
What kind of diaphragm would a big box Honda engine have (asking about the GCV series)? I recently acquired a Cranftsman with a GCV160 and it runs great even though the serial number shows that it was made in 2012. My other Craftsman with Briggs engine is even older, the Ariens riding more is from about 2010.
Your engine doesn't have a diaphragm for fuel. It has a real carburetor instead.

Diaphragm carburetors are simply that sheet shown in #37, above. That & a Primer bulb comprise the entire fuel delivery system for those engines. Nice and simple.

Paul
 
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A Question For Which There May Be No Answer:
When people can not get E-0 for lawn equipment, is there a way to eliminate the ethanol from the 15% we are forced to purchase?

Certainly boiling off the alcohol would not work since it boils at a lower temperature than ethanol. And that would be kind of scary any way.

Are we all going to have to get Reverse Osmosis devices to purify our fuel?
 
A Question For Which There May Be No Answer:
When people can not get E-0 for lawn equipment, is there a way to eliminate the ethanol from the 15% we are forced to purchase?

Certainly boiling off the alcohol would not work since it boils at a lower temperature than ethanol. And that would be kind of scary any way.

Are we all going to have to get Reverse Osmosis devices to purify our fuel?
🤫🙄
 
Removing ethanol from gasoline is a very simple process. One drawback is it lower the octane level of the fuel.

Basically you just up size how you test for ethanol.
 
The problem in some areas there is no choice, we have had ethanol at 15% now for over a year and E85 for decades now.
The biggest issue is storage or letting things sit, on a machine that runs all the time its not a major issue other than you use more fuel, about 15% more. The nearest pure gas dealer is over 100 miles away across state lines. The cost to go get it in a truck that gets 10 mpg, makes it a non option.

What I find is that older motors that rely on rubber diaphragms like the Briggs pulse jet carbs fail super fast, to the tune of one a year or more. What I do is simply keep a can of canned gas for starting using a squirt bottle. Since it takes more E85 to fire a cold engine, just the choke don't always cut it, so I pull the air cleaner lid, and give the carb a shot of gas, after that it good for the day.

I never let a machine sit more than a week with fuel in it, either drain it or run it out of gas.
I used to use Seafoam but started making my own using diesel fuel, naptha, and a shot of methanol. I do about 5oz of diesel to 5 gallons, (up to 10oz if you want, and half as much of the naptha and methanol.
Methanol is dry gas, its more volatile than ethanol and increases the water holding capacity of the fuel, rather than having it separate. The methanol can be skipped if the tank or can is fully sealed all the time.

The oil sort of creates a skim coating on the surface of the fuel blocking it from absorbing moisture from the air in the container or tank. At least that's how it was explained to me by a refinery lab I happened to visit at work.
If the gas has already aged, about 2oz of acetone per gallon will help correct it and allow it to burn as well as cleaning the carburetor a bit.
Someone gave me a bottle of an additive called Pri-G, they work for a refinery and swear by it. But its expensive. Its suppose to allow even the worse gas to still be used provided that the carb is not gelled up or clogged with rust. I've run it, it works but I'm not spending what they want for it. My home mix has done me well now for the last 10 or more years.
 
Your engine doesn't have a diaphragm for fuel. It has a real carburetor instead.

Diaphragm carburetors are simply that sheet shown in #37, above. That & a Primer bulb comprise the entire fuel delivery system for those engines. Nice and simple.

Paul
Mine doesn't have a primer bulb, so maybe just gravity and vacuum? It has the 'Easy Start' setup, which accomplishes the same as what I have always done before- pull the cord slowly a few times before trying to start it, but the Easy Start closes the choke a bit.
 
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