Recommended fuel additive?

2oldman wrote:
Doesn't it seem odd to put isopropyl alcohol into fuel already containing methanol?

Correct you are.

Adding extra alcohol even if it is a different type does NOTHING except part you from your money...

I ADD NOTHING to my fuels, my gen has fuel in it from FOUR YEARS ago and a few weeks ago (we had a major power outage of 12hrs from an idiot load of kids taking out a pole upstream from my house) all I did was drain the fuel bowl (gets rid of any water which may have been attracted to the alcohol), and give the gen a spin.

Ran my gen nearly 5 hrs on a half tank of very old fuel, ran flawless..

Ever since getting a diesel tractor I have very low gasoline usage during the summer. I went from using 3 gallons of gas per week to 1 Pint for my push mower (my diesel tractor sips on diesel at a rate of 1 gallon per 1.5 hrs and takes me 45 minutes to mow all my land).

So really my gasoline is "stored" more form my gen, log splitter and if I need chain saw mix I can make that also.

What folks don't seem to understand about the alcohol laden fuels is if you shake the can, all the water RECOMBINES into the alcohol.

If you do not believe me then try it for yourself..

Take some new fuel, pour a small amount into a clear container.

Then with a dropper add several drops of water into the gas.

The water should drop to the bottom since gas and alcohol is lighter than the water).

Then give the container a good shake.

The water will be absorbed into the gas and the gas will get a bit cloudy.

It is the principle of those old fashion fuel line "anti freezes", the alcohol absorbs and suspends water up to a point...

Thats it, just shake and go (unless it is cold enough for the water to turn to ice)..

As for those folks who simply point out that you should buy alcohol free gas.. You are all wet.. Pretty much every state is mandated to sell on the road gas WITH alcohol in it, so even those stations that "claim" to have alcohol free fuel just might be lying to get business.

It is their word against yours and there is no way for you to prove or disprove if the fuel they are selling is indeed alcohol free. Perhaps you should come up with a alcohol testing kit?

The gas MUST contain an enhanced Oxygenate which at one time was LEAD, then MTBE (which was found to be extremely HAZARDOUS and permanently contaminated the ground).

Adding alcohol to the mix replaces LEAD and MTBE so basically it is mandated by EPA which at the last time I checked the EPA rules over ALL states...