Wet Bowl or Dry Bowl?

[TomG2]

When shutting down my generator from its monthly exercise, it occurred to me that I might have it wrong. I have been shutting off the fuel valve and letting it run dry. This means that a small amount of gasoline remains in the carburetor which will certainly dry out and leave a deposit before the next month is up. By leaving fuel in the bowl, that won't happen. Any small engine experts know the answer? Applying a coat of varnish to the interior of the carburetor every thirty days may not always be the best?

[TomG2]

Wish we had left the politics and taxes out of it, I was actually learning something about equipment management with the various comments and experiences.

[Almot]

So, Mex - we are back to the drawing board - bowl wet or dry. How exactly do you use pure naphta:

1) Add some (an ounce? half ounce? 2 ounces?) to a small on gallon or quarter gallon tank, let it run a few minutes and take it to storage.
2) Add some to near empty tank, let it run a few minutes and take it to storage.
3) Either #1 or #2, but run the carb dry before taking it to storage.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong - no matter how you do it, without stabilizers the gas in tank will start deteriorating after a month. It might not gum the passages in presence of Naphta, but it will deteriorate. After 6-12 months you'll notice this. Naphta is not a stabilizer, it's a solvent, a cleaner. This leads to another question - how Naphta will react with a stabilizer, if you use both.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

What does it take to get this across? In the United States of America

8% SALES TAX on $4.00 fuel = .32

8% SALES TAX on $2.00 fuel = .16

White gas can not (which means unable-to) gum or varnish. In a thousand years it may disappear leaving zero residue. Try that with gasoline with Sta-Bil or Acme or Lucas additives or anything else. Adding alcohol to the mix only makes things worse. I store a chainsaw for six months (A thousand dollar Stihl) in 80% humidity @ 85F and it starts on the first pull. It has never started on the 2nd pull. But I had to bring white gas down from the states. I do have to use additive in the diesel of the Lombardini.

Folks that live on the Gulf Coast know what high temps and humidity does to fuel. Especially in Southern Florida. A year's storage at 85F and 80% humidity is a heck of a lot worse than what it is in Kansas, or Michigan. Gasoline gums faster, diesel fouls faster. When Jesús hauls his 60 hp Yamaha out for the summer, it gets white gas in the carb and a baggie wrapped around it. Hauled to his house 1,500 ft from the Enramada. It's his living tool not a vacation toy. Sta-Bil worked "somewhat" but nowhere as good as white gas. White gas is available down here for nine to eleven DOLLARS worth of pesos per gallon. But frequently is out of stock for weeks or even months.

[TomG2]

Charlie D. wrote:

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Remember! The higher the pump price is the more taxes for government.

Maybe in Mexico but not in the U.S. Fuel is taxed by the gallon

Totally off topic, but some states do collect a sales tax which goes up as the price increases. From a tax source. "Illinois is among a small number of states that charge a motor-fuel sales tax. Others include California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan and New York. source."

[Charlie_D_]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Remember! The higher the pump price is the more taxes for government.

Maybe in Mexico but not in the U.S. Fuel is taxed by the gallon

[mlts22]

I do a combination of the above. I use a decent gas (Chevron premium), add Star-Tron into it. Then, when shutting my generator down, I turn the fuel valve, so it runs the bowl dry. This way, what few picoliters of fuel that are in the tiny channels will tend to evaporate or drain, rather than turn into varnish.

[NinerBikes]

I've been draining the carb bowl on my Honda EU, lot less carburetor problems on crappy South Coast Air Quality Management District E-10 loaded gasoline.

Last time I was in Idaho, I brought home 5 gallons of premium ethanol free gas. The generator runs noticeably better on pure gasoline. No wonder, that's what it was designed to run on from day 1, not cut gas with water and alcohol added.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

REAL water!
Three bucks a gallon. I can see it now. From orange juice to coffee, avocados, antifreeze I have seen markets cornered by speculators. Funny huh? Twenty bucks a gallon for antifreeze when the normal price was three. Oranges a buck a pound from 12-cents a pound. Wanna rebuilt alternator? Want an in-between sitting on his lard ass doubling the price?

Corn ain't environmentally friendly. Lots of fertilizer and lots of insecticide. For the 50th time I yell TRY the AND FIND A SINGLE GOVERMENT DOCUMENT THAT LISTS ALL THE DANGEROUS EMISSIONS that combusting alcohol creates. Some will argue this point. They need to go to an alcohol fuel sprint car race and breathe deeeeeep. Downtown Sao Paulo burned my eyes and throat.

How much fuel economy does E15 cost? When I put 13.2 gallons of Chevron in my toad in San Diego the car proceeded to deliver the WORST fuel economy by far I have gotten in 80, 000 miles. Flat road, little traffic and no wind. Economy dumped from an average 25.2 MPG to 19.3 the first tank of Real gas I purchased in Mexico restored mileage to the mid-twenties. Power was restored. I donated a few bucks to some fat cat ethanol speculator for the privilege of wearing a Dunce Hat.

Gasoline + ethanol makes an evil mix. The presence of ethanol actually absorbes humidity out of the air and puts it into solution. Gasoline. This is elementary chemistry and before piping up with "Muh car's fuel system is sealed" muse the fact that refinery storage tanks, tanker transport vehicles and gas station tanks aren't sealed. I PROVED THIS with my digital lab scale in Las Penas. I added two cans of HEET to 2-gallons of Pemex Premium in a gas jug with no cap. After three weeks the fuel weight gained almost an ounce (26 grams). Maybe it used too much cream and butter. Neat huh?

[Dave_H_M]

Dry bowl here and a dry gas tank. I never exercise my stick house back up genny or the 2000 Champ. I will also bet anyone my next social security check that either one will crank up and purr like a kitten.

I also run E 10 in everything with no problems since I am stuck with it.

[RAS43]

We have stations around here that sell the ethanol free gas. It is about $1.00 more per gallon. Pretty rich for me. I have used regular w/ethanol as long as it has been required around here, 30+ years, and never had a problem. My generator, lawn mower, and boat motor sit all winter with tank and carb. full, ready to fire off as needed. The snow blower sits all summer the same way. Just gas and a stabilizer, either Stabil or Sea Form. Your results may vary. 😄

[vermilye]

You can find stations that sell non ethanol gas at Pure-Gas.org. In NY, most Fastrac stations have it, although, like most throughout the US, it will be 91 Octane. Combine that with Stabil & it can sit in the generator for months.

[SoundGuy]

BillyW wrote:
Stabil or seafoam and no draining necessary.

Agree ... and here in Canada there's no need to out searching for Av fuel as one can buy 100% ethanol free premium grade gas just about anywhere at Esso and Shell gas stations. Ethanol free treated with SeaFoam, exercising the genset once a month, and I've had no gumming up issues at all even though I don't drain the carb or ever run the fuel system dry. :B

[pnichols]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Commodities Speculators are grinning ear-to-ear and for a fact USA refined top-tier premium gasoline (15 PPM sulfur) lasts over a year without gumming. Alcohol in gasoline is the biggest consumer ripoff since the Tea Pot Dome scandal.

X2 and double-yep on that.

On our recent long RV trip I found a FEW stations in the Eastern U.S with pure gas. What's up with that anyway .... do stations HAVE to use alcohol gas or not? Is it a "law" or not?

Whenever I ran across alcohol-free gas on our trip I bought a tank full to give our engine and built-in generator a breath of fresh air. On real gas the engine seemed to purr much better and get a tad better mileage. 😉

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Love it. Crude oil is flooding the market, a good steak costs 10 dollars a pound because feed corn is forced down motorist's throats. Commodities Speculators are grinning ear-to-ear and for a fact USA refined top-tier premium gasoline (15 PPM sulfur) lasts over a year without gumming. Alcohol in gasoline is the biggest consumer ripoff since the Tea Pot Dome scandal. Remember! The higher the pump price is the more taxes for government. Show up on the beach down here with a can of Gas Dryer and a Mexican fisherman will start laughing. They are more than aware of the shortcomings. Pur naptha otherwise known as white gas can be used (with appropriate precaution) to flush out a carburetor for storage. The tiny amount cannot damage an engine and naptha can not varnish. Ever ever. Wet, dry, it scours varnish rather than makes it. Only suitable for a bowlful during shutdown and start up unless it has totally dried up.