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Listen to an Important
message about Ethanol
I will give you some data and details, but these messages helps
with believing that others give warning!
Outdoor Power Equipment
Industry Similar Caution about Ethanol
Gas for
Small Engines - Look before you pump!
Lets talk, let's learn. Lets get some real data on the subject of
blended fuels. What is stated as 10% ethanol ( maximum ) has been
reported by several as over 15% and poorly regulated. Damage has been
proven in Outdoor Power Equipment at even 10%, and 99.9% of even new
outdoor power equipment will have less maintenance and last longer on
non-ethanol fuel. Treatment of the correct kind helps, but it is only a
measure of help. Lets use some automobile data to dive into a better
understanding. If you own a Flex Fuel Vehicle, it is upgraded in
several ways, different from company to company as to how, in ways to
accommodate the fuels we burn. The Clean Air Act of 1990 has had vast
changes to power plants first, then the balance of emission sources.
Why do we have ethanol? 1) The government no longer needs to pay a
farmer NOT TO Grow corn. 2) Ethanol from various sources is cheaper
than gasoline, making any blend cheaper. 3) It can be pushed because in
general it does burn cleaner than gasoline, except, the systems prior
to blending on cars such as catalytic converters, etc, nearly equates
the tail pipe emissions of any blend. So reason 1, the Government wins
big, you and farmers loose. Reason 2, the oil companies win, and since
tax is per gallon, and you burn more, the Government wins again. Reason
3 is just bogus because in the end ( the tail pipe ), there is no
significant benefit.
Now for the cars themselves, the changes, the type fuel and it's
impact. First, new sensors, and more sensors, and more codes, and more
software, and more processing power, and longer lag to closed loop
proper operating conditions occur due to ethanol. These longer times
are a big factor. Inspection failures or complexities due to ethanol
make life complex and hard to foretell success. When you fill your
tank, depending on how old your vehicle, it goes through it's vintage
routine to settle into a new fuel to be burned properly. Older vehicles
get fooled and don't have the proper "stuff" to foretell a new set of
operating conditions. Newer vehicles, hopefully guess based on
additional data, then still must learn over time how to best operate.
The basis of this complexity has most of it's roots in air to fuel
ratios of the fuel being burned. Good gasoline ( not stale as is
often found in Outdoor Power Equipment ) without Ethanol in it is 14.7
to 1. E10 fuel, Gasoline with 10% Ethanol, is 14.0 to 1 and E85 is 9.85
to 1. So as an example, burning E85 in a flex fuel vehicle made to burn
it will consume 37% more fuel per mile. AT best, after thousands of on
board calculations, with multiple sensors, and much more involved, some
success is realized. We may not notice the struggle getting there that
the vehicle goes through, non the less, it is complicated, not exact,
not immediate, and has little benefit to you. Do you think a lawn mower knows how to do this?
In truth, there are some newer expensive small engines today that can
adjust between straight gas and blends to E10 ( closed loop operation
). They actually could be designed to go higher, but the engine
internals must also be more expensive to survive. No single small
engine company to date has accepted above E10 and all recommend to run
regular gasoline. Now lets back up to 1990, the beginning of the clean
air act. First small engine makers were told to make fuel systems
non-adjustable so there would be less emission by reducing any excess
unburned fuel. This was a big mistake, but it continues to this day.
First, if running rich, it won't run long before service must be done
for it to run at all. Second, a study 20 years ago calculated that if
every small engine ever built ran for 100 years it would not equal the
balance of world pollution emitted in one month. Third, since these
engines don't have closed loop operation to self adjust the fuel ratio,
fuels change per season, per source per age, per blend, proper
operation requires adjustment. Forth, when running lean, as is the case
on ethanol, when set up for regular gas, which early machines and even
new machines are designed for with no adjustment, then they run lean,
hot, and engine failure is advanced. Lastly, because 2 cycle engines
burn oil with the gas, and emission had to comply, the oil ratio's were
trimmed to bar minimum, reducing life further. So today, nearly every
small engine in service is doomed to less life than pre 1990. This also
impacts our planet, along with cost of repairs forcing us into a more
disposable market. I have talked to several design technicians trying
to cope with fixes and understand failures. IN 1985, they began to
upgrade all components to withstand ethanol. By 1987 most had done what
they felt would help. By 1995 they still had been making improvements
but were finding failures due to ethanol. At that time the battle began
not to force any ethanol into the small engine market, to state the
findings, and yet today, the research continues as the battle is not
won, is in their face, causing failures, causing cost increases,
causing customer dissatisfaction, and serving little good as seen by
our research. The Government again forced another change with a hidden
agenda. We were told we need to have non-permeable tanks and cans and
evaporative emission systems because escaping fumes were damaging our
air. While the damage may be somewhat real, the extent compared to all
other factors is negligible. So why was this done? Ethanol is like a
vacuum cleaner for water. It sucks water vapor right out of the air.
Any standing vented source of ethanol laden gasoline will have water in
it - period. Small engines with small fixed orifices so small gas goes
through but not water, will not run when water "plugs" the orifice.
Once water combines with Ethanol fuel Phase Separation occurs, fuel
becomes damaged.
In the end, a few years ago, I simply recommended the best grade of
gas, hoping it would have less Ethanol, and avoid the very high cost of
canned non-ethanol fuel. Today, sources of non ethanol fuel are to be
found in most areas, and the cost at the pump is very acceptable, and
strongly advised. That said, since many of our repair customers will be
burning E10, that is what we add when we need to make it run and it
needs gas. I could write a book more on this subject, and how service
has had to change in accordance with ethanol, but I have to keep some
secrets!
We Stock the best Product - Briggs and Stratton Advanced formula- Click and Learn!
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