Just got a new portable generator and the manual says to use 10% ethanol or less.

Only gas in my area is 15%. Would that be an issue? Is there an additive that reduces ethanol?

https://www.pure-gas.org/

Says there are  490  non    ethanol   stations in VA.  So what is the problem?

Probably look for the 10% or less then if that is what the manual says.


Around here the highest I've seen is 10% but we have two stations in town that sell non ethonal.
One just doesn't carry it the other has two seperate blue handled pumps labeled non ethonal.

You will have to look but pumps are labeled as to the content of the percentage added.

You want zero % ethanol in all small engines.

Search around and you’ll find a gas station that sells either 0% 91 or 87 octane gas.

https://www.pure-gas.org/

ZERO ethanol.  I have to drive 30 minutes to get it, and get it I do.  None of my small engines will get that crap except an emergency.

I use non ethanol in my saws, trimmer, gas post hole digger, 2 stroke boat motor, and every fourth fill up on my atv.

As an additive, if you don't have access to non ethanol, the mechanic that works on my equipment recommends Star-Tron.

I prefer to use ethanol gas in every piece of power equipment I own. Ethanol is a great solvent and will help keep the fuel system clean. Been using it for many years. I store all my gas in NATO cans so it’s well sealed.

I don’t believe you have only E15 available to you. The EPA has approved E15 in 2001 and newer vehicles. Without a doubt, there are older than 2001 vehicles running around your area.

https://vacleancities.org/ethanol-benefits-and-recent-labeling-changes/

In my area, E10 gas is just normal pump gas. Some places sell E0 gas and it’s labeled as ethanol free gas. In my area it’s usually 91 octane. E15 is labeled and has a blue pump handle. E85 is yellow.

Are you confusing E10 with E15?

There are many millions who will disagree with you, including me.  Ethanol gas keeps small engine techs in business replacing carburetors and fuel lines. That storm is heading my way and I just returned from getting gas for my generator and filling the cars  tanks. The cars get the 10% ethanol, the other 18 gallons are non ethanol. I spent $103 on gas.

Your a fool putting ethanol in any small engine. However if you have cash to just throw away on repairs and getting new equipment go for it. Sure you may get away with it for a while. It will catch up to you eventually.

Just don't lead others looking for info astray.

NEVER put ethanol in a small engine. Especially a 2 stroke.

Ethanol keep that shit away from anything you care about if it a small engine.

Water will separate the ethanol, OP, but you don't want to do that.

Drive to an ethanol free station and fill up your cans.

And those people are wrong.

Ethanol is the boogeyman small engine mechanics need to justify expensive repairs to gullible people. Gotta blame something when people complain about the costs of small engine repairs. No one really minds a $150 repair on a $20,000 car but everyone bitches about a $150 repair on a $200 small engine equipped piece of equipment. But both mechanics need a wage they can support their families on. One works on expensive equipment and one works on cheap equipment.

I was a small engine mechanic many years ago in a very busy shop. I saw the lies told to customers when they started complaining about the costs of repairs. Ethanol was a convenient boogeyman because we could all bitch about it but there was no one person to really blame.

I store 70+ gallons of gasoline at all times. All E10. Been doing it for more than 20 years. Rotate every 2 years or so. Zero problems. I run E10 in all my small engines (I got a bunch of them) including 2 cycle engines….zero problems caused by ethanol in them either. I do all my own repairs. I’ve pulled some carbs apart just out of curiosity and have none of the horrors of ethanol the internet tells me I have to have.

Ethanol is a great solvent. Carb cleaners are solvents. Solvents are great cleaners. Do the math yourself.

Lots of people love Seafoam and it’s not a bad cleaner. Guess what the primary ingredient is that works as a cleaner? Alcohol…specifically isopropyl. The same people who will regale you with stories of the evils of ethanol are the same ones who will tell you they use Seafoam  as a fuel stabilizer/preservative. There is nothing in Seafoam that will make fuel last longer but you are adding MORE alcohol to your gasoline. Funny thing is….Seafoam actually can work on minor crud issues in your fuel system….but it works (when it works) by being a solvent. You can fill up with ethanol gas and get a similar effect….but be careful….if you have been running a long diet of non ethanol gas you may have more problems when the excellent solvent properties of ethanol dissolve all the built up gunk and try to feed it through your very small carb jets. That’s why I like to properly disassemble, clean, replace parts, and use the OE carb as often as possible instead of relying on “mechanic in a can” combined with hopes and dreams.

Doesn’t matter to me what gas you run in your small engines. Just don’t fool yourself that a steady diet of non ethanol gas will prevent engine fuel system problems….it won’t. Small engines are prone to fuel system problems because of the design of the systems and how they work. All carbs are precision, complex devices….that don’t work very well. The simple gravity flow (or vacuum pulse fuel pumps) systems on small engine ensure that fuel can’t be filtered well. Then, for a carb to work, atmospheric air must be able to come in the carb float bowl. There are vents on your carb specifically to allow it to work. The enemy of ALL gasoline is air. Keep air away from gasoline and it will last for many many years.

Want your fuel system on your small engine to last? Feed it properly stored fuel. Fuel age isn’t important. Ethanol vs non ethanol isn’t important. Properly stored IS important. Extremely important. Cheap fuel cans are your gasolines enemy. Get rid of them and get good cans. Cans that keep the good volatile compounds in the gas. Draining the carb float bowls if they will be sitting while is a good idea. Carbs, due to the float bowl and crappy filtration, will get small amounts of grit and sediment especially if you store gas carelessly. Clean the gas cap and around it before removing it if dirt has collected around it. Keep that dirt out of your gas tank. Drain your carb a couple times per year….more if you use it heavily. That’s why ATV and motorcycle carbs have easy to use drain ports at the bottom of the carb. Regularly drain off any collected grit and you drastically reduce your carb issues. No matter what you do, eventually you will have a carb issue. When you do, take it off and clean it properly. Replace gaskets and parts like float needle valves. Reassemble carefully and reinstall correctly. Adjust it properly. Don’t buy Chinese carbs if the OE carb can be rebuilt. Cheap Chinese carbs are hit or miss….some work great and some work poorly and some never work. Learn how a carb works and it becomes easy to disassemble, clean, and reassemble.  And, if you are buying a piece of equipment and have the choice between fuel injection and carbureted, always choose the fuel injection.

Stop living in fear of the ethanol boogeyman. Educate yourself and your small engine troubles will become minor hiccups in life.

I keep hearing that, but I’ve got 6 small engines that I’ve run for years on E10 and I’ve never had a problem.

There was a thread somewhere on this forum awhile back where the poster was having carb issues. He made it a point that he only uses non ethanol fuel. Made me laugh. Of course, a bunch of the responses were “you now have to replace the carb….buy a cheap Chinese carb..they are great!”. Poor guy just needed a proper clean and rebuild of his carb and he’d be back in business.

For those wondering about my issues with Chinese carbs…the Chinese can make quality stuff. They suck at quality control….meaning the first off the line might be as good as OE…the last off the line might be unusable. You can find stories online of cheap Chinese carbs without properly drilled passages, missing parts etc. Always try to clean and rebuild the OE carb first. If that fails, assuming you didn’t screw things up (and I have repaired equipment for friends who couldn’t reassemble a carb properly) then price OE vs Chinese. If the prices are fairly close, choose OE. If the OE carb is $600 and the Chinese is $100, then for the price difference, give the Chinese carb a try. Just make sure the seller has a good return policy. Be mentally prepared to try a Chinese carb and if it doesn’t work, return for a replacement. Even better, try another Chinese carb from a different seller and hope the new seller didn’t get the carb off the same assembly line at the same time.

They are not entirely wrong and neither are you. Properly stored is the key, and when most people have all these problems is because they left that crap in their weed wacker all winter and the gas went bad and over time the alcohol dried out the cheap chineese fuel lines  that were not designed to handle it, as well as evaporated in the carbs and varnished over the needle or jets. Real gas is more tolerant to poor storage conditions. All of my shit that sits around a lot get recreational 0% ethanol with 2  exception, and that would be my lawn tractor and  power washer. The lawn tractor just gets the cheap shit all summer cause I go through a lot of gas mowing the yard. When it gets late in the year I will start running rec gas in it so it is not stored for the winter with ethanol in it. The powerwasher always seem to run out of gas at just the wrong time and need to go grab the cheap shit real quick to finish the job. Every spring when I get it back out it wont run. I have to rip the carb apart and clean everything out again.

This is what works for me. I spent a lot of money in my early years replacing weed wackers, chain saws, and lawn mowers befor I figured this out.

I figured it out a long time ago and haven’t wasted money on non ethanol gas in the years since.

When I had my boat, I ran ethanol gas in it. The internet tells us that will cause all kinds problems, my boat will sink and my sister knocked up…horrible stuff. Funny thing…when I sold the boat the carbs were clean and ran like a champ. One of the boat engine makers (Mercury I think but can’t remember and dont feel like putting any effort into finding it) said E10 was a great boat fuel because if a small amount of water gets into the fuel, the E10 will absorb it and run it through the engine without issues. Next boat I get will run on lots of E10.

Ever seen bottles of gas line anti freeze? It was just alcohol (methanol or isopropyl). Before ethanol when water got into fuel (usually happens at the gas station) it would separate immediately and then eventually get into the gas lines and carbs. Then in winter, the water would freeze and you couldn’t start the engine. You put gas line “antifreeze” in to absorb the water. The water(now absorbed into the alcohol) then passed through the system and burned. You never hear of people in cold climates complaining of gas line freeze up because gas now has ethanol. It absorbs water and passes it through the system. Now get too much water and eventually the alcohol has become saturated and you get separation. So, keep water out of your gas…..it’s not good for engines ethanol or not.  But if you do get some water in your gas, just run a tank of E10 through it. Problem solved.

Interesting tidbit….you'll make more engine power on E85 than E0 or E10. The fuel is less energy dense which is why you get lower fuel mileage….takes more of the fuel to make the power. Diesel has more BTUs per gallon than gasoline which is the primary reason diesel  gets better MPG (assuming everything else is equal). E0 has more BTUs per gallon than E85 so you get more MPG on “pure gas” than E85. You will get better MPG with E0 vs E85 but the difference between E0 and E10 is insignificant. Anyone who says they dropped 20% MPG with E10 vs E0 is full of shit. And, given the price difference between E0 and E10, you are spending more money with only slightly better MPGs with E0. But it is your money so spend it how you like.

Ethanol plays hell on rubber. There's no getting around it. It also absorbs moisture. It's just a plain fact. Most modern 4 stroke small engines aren't bothered by it at all. These aren't your pappy's 4 stroke engines where the ethanol would eat the float in the carb. Now, let it sit for 6 months and you will probably feel different about it. You'll have water in your tank and carb unless you run the carb dry.

2 strokes are a different animal. A lot of small 2 strokes rely on a rubber diaphragm to move your fuel. I've wrecked a few before learning that lesson... no ethanol in my 2 strokes.

Besides, it doesn't actually do anything for you. It lowers the energy contained in the fuel and makes it more expensive to produce. Ethanol free usually costs more because, you know, the thing, but ethanol fuel is more expensive to produce.

Some people do it though. You can wash the ethanol out of your gas.

You can.  You're significantly lowering the octane.  Ethanol is a great octane booster.

Two things that will ensure your small engines not fail if ethanol gas is used:

1: Mix in 2cycle oil in the gas. Like 80:1. 50:1 works too

2: when done using, Turn fuel off while running and let it run out of gas. Empty fuel tank when stowing.


I’ve followed this process and yet to crack open a carb due to fuel gelling. Sure, you might have a little exhaust smoke, but who cares.

Zero ethanol. It will last a long time if left in. I cut the gas off and let it run until it dies. Cranks right up next time.

Non ethanol only in everything. Always add Stabil to it.
Almost every Hardware store carries Non Ethanol. It’s a bit $$$ but for a generator it’s a great idea. A couple of the metal sealed cans would be ideal for shelf life beside a generator.

Get conversion kit for propane.  I wouldn't put 15% in it.

I just bought dual fuel generators & only run propane in em.

Anything fairly new is good to go with E10 now. That's what all our lawn mowers get, even the 1951 - 1954 Farmall Super C since I rebuilt the carb and replaced all the rubber lines/seals with ethanol compatible ones. Just put a little Stabil in the tank in the fall and run the carb empty and it pops right off in the spring.

@FALARAK  

If you're still in DFW, most of the Murphy stations now advertise ethanol free gas.

mm

Same here, but I have 2 within 5 miles.

I didn't know that.  I checked out pure-gas.org and it looks like there is a Murphy in Plano that sells it.  Good to know!

I have a little portable Honda generator.  The carburetor got all gummed up using ethanol gas.  I can't remember if I ran it dry, or let the gas sit in there for some time, but I only use stabilized non-ethanol now.