Super Duper

[airbus330]

Why would the fuel damage the same plastic tank over the same period of time during the summer ? My plastic tanked mower has a virtually full tank of fuel from March until September.

In the case of the Ducati fuel tanks, the tanks were constructed from a blend of plastics which chemically reacted adversely to the ethanol. Specifically there was a nylon in the the formula which when exposed to ethanol, quite quickly began to deform and in some cases split. This led to a legal claim in the US which resulted in a recall. As is often the case, Europe didn't have the legal case and plenty of late 90's/early 2000 bikes still have the issue.The issue is not specific to bikes, many reported failures occurred on boats where the fuel tanks are often made of glass fibre, which led to highly dangerous fuel leaks. This all in addition to the degrading of fuel hoses and O ring seals. I suspect that your mower is probably fitted with a polyethylene tank since that is a common plastic used where aesthetics are not a big concern. Polyethylene is impervious to ethanol. Your tank is full from March to September and the fuel is used and replaced, so the gunge issues won't occur. Its only if you leave fuel in the tank in damp/cold conditions where the fuel can combine with moisture condensing from the air that the gunge problems might occur. The fuel stabiliser is a good fix for mowers over winter.

[airbus330]

Why would the fuel damage the same plastic tank over the same period of time during the summer ? My plastic tanked mower has a virtually full tank of fuel from March until September.

And anyway so far as the “gunge” goes E10 is “only” twice as bad as E5 and despite all the warnings I’ve never drained my mower or my scarifier (which sits idle much longer) in my life and they’ve always started and run fine when required. No one that I know bothers to either.

Thats great and for years I've done the same first using 4* leaded then E5 until my mower wouldn't start one day. But the build up of gunge is gradual so it might be interesting to take the float bowl off your scarifier to see if it is showing signs of a gunge build up. Its very obvious when you take a carb apart. The issue isn't particularly new and is well documented since the introduction of e5. If you ask a Canadian (or a Frenchman) where E85 is widely used, fuel stabiliser in little used vehicles is very common.

[didds]

Good help your petrol lawnmower if you leave it over winter with a full tank of E10 in it. I nice load of goo in the fuel lines ready for Spring. BTW Esso Synergy Supreme+ is zero ethanol even though the pumps say E5.
I've been doing Regular vs. Premium on various vehicles over the last 5 years. Demonstrably better MPG and, at least for my Ducati, better performance.

so lawnmaowerrs can use E10?

Yes they can, assuming the engine is suitable for e10. I'd imagine the manual will say.

No manual for ours - its 2nd or even 3rd hand machine, well weathered, paint scratched/peeled off etc.

didds

[DrFfybes]

But yes, it depends on the car (or bike). My old '95 Citroen Xantia used to get 5 mpg more out of 98 octane petrol, which was nice in France because it cost so little extra over the standard cooking 95.

BJ

Citroen make petrol engines?



Paul

[bungeejumper]

Citroen make petrol engines?

LOL, they certainly used to. Pug/Cit made the Peugeot 205 GTI, for a start. A hooligan of a car in its 1.9 guise, and the same lump ended up in the BX GTI. 160 bhp was considered quite a lot in the 1980s.

BJ

[DrFfybes]

Citroen make petrol engines?

LOL, they certainly used to. Pug/Cit made the Peugeot 205 GTI, for a start. A hooligan of a car in its 1.9 guise, and the same lump ended up in the BX GTI. 160 bhp was considered quite a lot in the 1980s.

BJ

Yeah, I thought about hatches afterwards. I honestly don't recall seeing a Citroen family/executive car that wasn't a diesel, pretty much nobody got a petrol one apart from the odd[1] person who went for a V6.

Paul
[1] In either sense of the word

[bungeejumper]

I honestly don't recall seeing a Citroen family/executive car that wasn't a diesel, pretty much nobody got a petrol one apart from the odd[1] person who went for a V6.

Well, I had a 1.8 petrol Xantia, which was certainly a bit different from the turbo diesels that everybody else seemed to favour in the 1990s. It didn't have the long motorway legs of the diesels, and it was only good for 35 mpg (on 95 unleaded). But it cost £2000 less than the diesels, which was a lot in those days, and it didn't fill the air with particulates, and it was unquestionably the most relaxing car I've ever driven. Long distances across France were a delight.

Unexpectedly, for a frogmobile, it was also the most reliable car I've ever had. 11 years and 120,000 miles, and a leaky water pump during the warranty period was the only thing that ever went properly wrong with it. Although you did have to replace the hydraulic suspension cylinders every five years as a matter of routine maintenance.

BJ

[AF62]

Strongly recommend this product for use in fuel systems like mowers and motorcycles that are laid up all winter. Dose up the fuel and completely fill the fuel tank to reduce the surface area of the fuel indirect contact with the air to reduce moisture accumulation in the fuel.

https://www.toolstation.com/b3c-ethanol ... ser/p19760

Other brands are available etc....

RVF

Surely if you could avoid all the problems with E10 petrol by simply adding to each litre, 0.75 ml of additives then it would be a foolish oil company that didn't.

But then as the oil companies do add additives to the hydrocarbon / ethanol fuel mixture they sell, how do we know that the oil companies are not already adding 0.72 ml of 2-Butoxyethanol, 0.01875 ml of Glycerides, mixed decanoyl and octanoyl, 0.0075 ml of 2,6-Di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol, 0.00225 ml of 3,5-di-tertbutyl-4-hydroxyhydrocinnamate, and 0.00075 ml of Tolyltriazole to each litre of fuel you buy at the pump?

It also seems slightly odd that a company that operates out of a shed (the headquarters of B3C Fuel Solutions LLC - https://goo.gl/maps/ZhaQwQrh3G4UtsxQ8) has discovered a solution that the multi-billion dollar oil companies like BP, Shell, etc. have not.

[88V8]

We have been using 95 unleaded in the 205 shopping trolley, but will now switch to Super.
I've always used Super in the V8s, plus an additive such as Castrol Valvemaster.

Some people think ethanol is green. If cutting down forest to make ethanol is 'green' then I'm a martian.

As to our 1984 mower, I shall switch that to Super as well.

The real problem is that E5 is only mandated for the next five years. After that, it may disappear.
Then we shall be stuck with the 'green crap'.

As said, it's a penalty on the poor, the 'disadvantaged' that the Beeb usually foment about. Media types however mostly have no clue about cars.
Yes, there probably should be an outcry, but it won't happen.

A tip... if you run an older car and start to smell petrol but can't find a leak, it's probably the fuel hose. Older hoses degrade with ethanol. Our fuel hoses have all been replaced with Gates Barricade which for me is the gold standard.

V8

[DrFfybes]

We have been using 95 unleaded in the 205 shopping trolley, but will now switch to Super.
I've always used Super in the V8s, plus an additive such as Castrol Valvemaster.

Some people think ethanol is green. If cutting down forest to make ethanol is 'green' then I'm a martian.

V8

At least then you'd be green on the inside, or was that Vulcans?