Equipment Focus | By Brian O'Neil
Ethanol Education M
odern fuel contains up to 10-per- cent ethanol (E10). Most modern power equipment is designed to
handle E10, but problems arise when fuel is left to stand for prolonged periods of time and especially with older equipment not designed to handle any ethanol. The high amount of oxygen present in ethanol natu- rally decays gasoline, which is organic. Imagine if you left a jug of milk in the fridge and then left another jug of milk outside in the middle of the summer, open. Obviously, the milk outside will decay much faster.
This is what happens to the fuel in your fuel system. Even under good conditions, ethanol-blended fuel can deteriorate, caus- ing hard starting and the formation of gum or varnish in your fuel system (see Figures 1-3). This can happen in as little as 60 to 90 days.
Ethanol can have devastating effects on
power equipment. Ethanol-blended gaso- line can damage plastic and rubber fuel- system components. Even newer equipment experiences these problems if it sits for prolonged periods with fuel in the tank (i.e. three months or more). In Figure 4, the bowl gasket became brittle and non pliable. In Figure 5, the 2-cycle carburetor diaphragms are stiff, which causes starting and running problems. The primer line (Figure 6) and return lines (Figure 7) are brittle, causing fuel to leak. Ethanol also attracts water (hygro-
scopic), which causes the already corrosive nature of this blended fuel to become more corrosive. If enough water is ab- sorbed, phase separation will occur. This is more prone to happen during the winter months when the temperature drops below freezing.
Ethanol can hold more moisture in sus- pension in warmer temperatures, but when it gets cold, ethanol cannot hold as much moisture in suspension, and phase separa- tion begins. Phase separation looks like water at the bottom of a fuel tank, but, in reality, this is mostly ethanol with a little bit of water. Did you know that it only takes
22 Landscape and Irrigation September 2012 www.landscapeirrigation.com Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
All photos provided by B3C Fuel Solutions
