Ok, thanks. I was told by a guy at ace hardware that the ethanol in reg gas destroys these small engines. But they did always seem to run ok on it
Ethanol will not destroy the engine, but it will affect the carb. The diaphragms and gaskets will become brittle over time, and if ethanol fuel is left in a carb over the off-season, there's a good chance the carb will need a cleaning or rebuild. It's good practice to use ethanol-free fuel. I use ethanol-free fuel in all my equipment. My push mower is 13 yrs old. It's been used every season, and the carb has never been off of it. There are probably people here with equipment much older than that, that still runs like new.
I also only use Ethanol-FREE gas, & my 22" B&S Flathead push mower is 18 years old & still runs good. And is well cared for. My vintage Honda FG-100 mini-tiller was made in 1998 & still doing it's job albeit 1x per year. (26 years).
I suggest you find out for a fact. Take two coffee cups, place the diaphragms and the rest of the carb in the cups. Fill one with forty dollar a gallon "true fuel" and the other with pump gas and allow both to fully evaporate. let set for a week, repeat the process for a year and then see if there is any difference between the components in each cup. We inquiring minds want to know. Alternately, you can watch YouTube videos and you decide. Hint: Gasoline turns to varnish and leaves behind said on components, ethanol does not. But being that it is only 10% ethanol, which leaves zero varnish, there will be zero difference. Using Sta-Bil WILL make a dramatic difference, period. As you see in the picture, I have a "couple" of restored or original machines around. Ethenol hasn't sent them to the heap yard yet.
My equipment fires up every Spring. I'm happy with my current practices. I can't say the same when I was using E10.
Ditto.,.
Based on several YouTube videos I have watched from known good sources, and personal experience seeing canned fuel in customer equipment, my opinion is to steer clear of canned fuel. 10% ethanol fresh fuel mixed 50:1 with good oil , such as Stihl, is the only way to go. 30-60 days old in handheld 2-stroke equipment. All I run is that evil 10% ethanol fuel in all my stuff and never have problems. Keep it fresh and keep it moving. Mix up one gallon at a time.
