Gasahol Update

("nrp" wrote)
[snip]
The long term storage issue - the weed whip (manual) I just bought says
to throw away all ethanol laced gasoline after 60 days.

I agree booze keeps a lot better but that is primarily an alcohol/water
& flavor mix which does not seem to be subject to deterioration (maybe
shrinkage?) of alcohol hydroicarbon mixes.

Old sour gas is a problem here in MN. It seems to be aggravated by
higher fuel storage temperatures. My small-engine repairman neighbor
confirms this (as well as the rampant carb problems).


Gas going bad:
I wonder if ethanol blended gasoline in the 1950's would last just as long
as regular 1950's gasoline? Years?

Non-ethanol choices in the (50 miles x 50 miles) Twin Cities Metro area are
limited, to say the least. You really have to hunt for those few stations
that sell non-oxy gas ...and then it's usually premium!! NoDak - pumps have
options. Iowa - pumps have options. Twin Cities - no options.

http://www.msra.com/NonOxygenatedFue...st08.16.04.pdf)
"These are the stations that provide non-oxygenated (ethanol-free) gasoline
in the state of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Please stop by and thank them for
their participation during cruising season, continue to patronize them with
your daily drivers and remind them that our collector cars count on them for
the non-oxygenated fuel."

Twin Cities is maybe 40 of those stations. Duluth has more stations listed
than Mpls and St Paul ...combined.

20% ethanol is heading down the pipe.


Montblack
2 lawnmower carbs rebuilt.
1988 55hp Suzuki (3 cyl) outboard motor on the family fishing boat has 3
carbs on it - yikes.

"Casey Wilson" N2310D @ gmail.com wrote

Additionally,
I found more than one company (B.F. Goodrich, for one example) that
manufactures elastomeric products specifically for use with alcohol(s).

Right, but airplanes, with their "slow to change" mentality, do not use
exclusively alcohol resistant seals and hoses.
--
Jim in NC

Yes - I would think a richer mixture would be necessary to
theoretically get to the 96.1% power level with gasahol. That the
mixture has already been optimized for gasoline would make me expect an
even greater power reduction for gasahol. Actually, there are many
things that affect the mixture distribution more in an engine that the
improvement of a mixture shift would be pretty insignificant.

The accuracy of the mixture control and distribution in smaller and
older aircraft is pretty mediocre by any modern EFI standard.

In article 6E0oe.883$qE2.219@trndny09,
George Patterson wrote:

Corky Scott wrote:

Well I do, I was an auto mechanic with gas started being laced with
alcohol, and saw the results several times.

Oh, I saw the results. What I meant was that I do not remember what it was in
those hoses and such that was affected by exposure to alcohol.

One of my friends was a line mechanic for an Oldmobile dealer. His stories
were
similar to yours. I happened to own a Ford during that period, and my only
problems involved hoses in the fuel system. Our other car was an Opel, but it
would only run on Amoco high test, so we never had an alcohol-related problem
with it.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.


I have a book, "Aviation Fuels and their Effecton Engine Performance,"
dated 1953, by the Ethyl Corp. and supplied to the USAF (P.O.
AF-33(600)5312) and USN (Contract no. 52-202). In it they state that
hoses subjected to petroleum-based fuels will deteriorate when exposed
to paraffins or napthalene-based fuels; likewise, hoses that have been
subjected to paraffin or napthalene-based fuels will deteriorate when
exposed to petroleum-based fuels.

IOW, the hoses work well with either kind of fuel, but you will get into
trouble when you switch fuels. This phenomenon is exactly what happened
to autos when MTBE became widespread.

--
Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.

"RST Engineering" writes:




4) The long term storage properties are horrible.

Certainly you must be kidding. I've got a bottle of Everclear that must be
30 years old and still has the same effect as the day I opened the bottle.
Alcohol has a MUCH better storage characteristic than gasoline.


That's a capped, glass, bottle... perhaps? As opposed to steel tankage,
with vents...?

--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

No, if you richen up the mixture the gasahol will actually give more
horsepower and better climb, performance etc. But with more fuel
consumption. Alcohol has oxygen in the fuel. Although it has less BTU
per pound or gallon, if you richen it up to the highest RPM it will be
much richer than gasoline, and more BTU per hour.

Ron Wanttaja writes:

On Thu, 2 Jun 2005 02:51:51 +0000 (UTC), David Lesher wrote:

Does anyone else recall reading Ice Station Zebra, and how to get
the sugar out of gasoline...? [No, watching Ernest Borgnine in the
movie version won't cut it...]

No, that's "Night without End," not "Ice Station Zebra."


It's been too long; you could easily be correct. I do recall the
scene...

--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433