Ethanol Removal from Petrol

[Paul Taliesin]

With the increase in Ethanol percentage in a lot of Petrol available at the pumps today
Have many members resorted to removing the ethanol from the petrol to avoid the issues of poor running and blocked carbs when bikes are layed up?

[tck]

It's a messy job I read you add some water with some vegetable die in a petrol container then shake it about then pour off the low octaine petrol
On the other hand you can pay a lot of money for some aspen lawn mower petrol
For the past few years I have just drained my tanks emptied my carbs sprayed some wd40 in the tank and left it tucked up for the winter
Trouble is what can I do with a jerrry can a year of stale petrol?
Of course in any other civilised country the occasional pump says ethanol free

[graeme]

Bung the jerry can's worth of fuel into your car, with a full tank to mix with it there will be no issues

[Andy Smith]

Saw a ethanol removal kit at a club meet it appeared to be a 5 litre drum and a 25 litre drum with a fancy tap and a posh funnel yours for £50 Is there any evidence by a reputable research establishment that lays blame at the door of ethanol (excepting its reaction with fiberglass and some tank sealants)

[Pensioner73]

Does this help?   http://www.nortonownersclub.org/noc-chat/general/551269389

[dalgrae]

For the past 5 years or so I have been using Shell nitro premium and have never had a problem leaving the petrol i in the tank for months ,and then starting the bike,it is used in a Douglas a Triumph T20 cub and a Bantam sport,

Regards. Colin

[tck]

So Colin you have been lucky and what you say about the supply of Shell from where you get it may be correct for some time
But in a world where every package is covered with ingredients and chemical lists it is stupid that we have to rely on rumour and hearsay and cannot as they do in say USA or France  have the occasional pump with a no ethanol notice on the side. There is nothing in the regulations to prevent sale on non ethanol petrol as the ethanol content percentage is levelled at the total output of a refinery and the same people prattle on about health and safety...

[eddie]

When we were first forced to use the dreaded unleaded, a lot of us took heed of the 'prophets of doom' who were forecasting rapid valve seat recession, and laced our fuel with lead replacement additives. I did likewise, and found that my fuel would go stale within about 4 weeks. As an experiment, I tried running on plain unleaded - the valve seat recession never happened - and hey presto! - the fuel didn't go stale - so I have continued to use plain unleaded (I don't use super unleaded as I understand it has a higher viscosity, so tends to run weak in engines with carburettors). The only precaution I take is to turn off the fuel at the end of each run and let the engine use the fuel that is in the carbs (to prevent the formation of the gunge that tends to block the jets).

  Eddie.

[graeme]

Absolutely right Eddie - I can't believe valve master and the like is still being sold! It's completely redundant. As far as ethanol goes, as pointed out apart from its' effects on fibreglass tanks and some tank sealants it doesn't seem to do anything apart from improving performance, at the expense of fuel consumption. That has been my experience here in Australia, but who knows how the brews we get compare to other parts of the world. In countries like the USA, where ethanol in fuel is mandated, there must be ways of avoiding issues with ethanol in older vehicles - ethanol proof tank sealers for example. In Brazil fuels have 85% ethanol, so they would know how to avoid problems for sure!

[tck]

It is the affinity to water and the electrical conductivity that makes ethanol in petrol so destructive to older vehicles or those that are used infrequently and  its use in Aircraft engines is not allowed  I was never suckered by the unleaded debate and its mention is a red herring as for  USA Marked supplies of non ethanol are available which is what should happen here My son who has racing bikes on pump fuel has a can of Aspen that he uses on any machines that are laid up for more than a couple of weeks he drains the tank adds the Aspen runs up the engine and shuts it off. when time comes to use again he saves the aspen back in the can and fills up with pump

[dalgrae]

Am I remembering correctly didnt the Federation of historic vehicles do some tests and come to the conclusion that a Millers additive was recommended

Regards Colin

[Rex]

There's a ready market for "stay up" floats for Indians, and the firm which make and sell these replacements (for the original cork-style things) regularly tests petrol/gas to see if the constantly-varying make up has changed in any way.
The spokesman always states that it's not the "water" in the fuel that causes problems but the unknown chemical "wastes" which are added at the refinery stages which cause problems, and having had an expensive fuel filter seriously distorted, I can well believe it.
There's no way that water ever did that damage over three months.