Water in the Gasoline.

 Well folks, you will want to pay attention to what I am about to tell you.

I took my lawnmower into a fella that has been repairing lawn and garden equipment for over 35 years. I have to say he is very efficient, because he had my lawn mower back to me in running order in one day.

It seems the major problem was water in the gas, not just a little bit of water, but a lot of water. Now what happens when water gets in your gas, is that it sinks to the bottom of the tank, so that when you try to start your engine, you get nothing but water into the carburetor. Now imagine that! where does this water come from, you might ask? Well it comes out of the air.

Why? because all gas today is 10% or more ethanol alcohol. Ethanol alcohol, for that matter any alcohol has a great afinity for water, it will actually pull moisture out of the air, the longer it sits the more water it collects. Hugh, the repairman, told me that the alcohol is causing small engines to burn up quickly, because it burns much hotter then pure gasoline. Add the water to the mix, and you get rusted and gummed up parts to your engines.

This problem occurs whether the gas is stored indoors or out, it is going to absorb water out of the air, and when the humidity is up, it gets even worse.

How do you fix this problem you ask? Add fuel stabilizer, to your gas cans and to the gas tanks of all your small motor appliances. There are several different kinds of Sta-bilizer so here is a link for a listing of the different kinds and where you can get it: http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/stabil/where_to_buy.aspx I am not pushing this particular website, except that it provides a long list of suppliers.

Two words of caution, 1. add twice as much stabilizer as is called for on the label, and 2. make sure to add stabilizer to your two cycle gas also. Even oil and gas mixtures have alcohol and will absorb water as quickly as plain gasoline.

Alternatively, always empty your appliance's gas tank, then start the engine and use up the gas remaining in the carburator, before storing for long periods of time. On four cycle appliances, change the oil at least once before your start the long summer season. It does indeed help prolong the life of the product.


You have been advised.
God Bless us all, from the gahillbilly.


"(C) Copyright by Victor Winebrenner"