2 cycle question

[chrpmaster]

Hi Don

I had a question about your 2 cycle oil. I just bought my first "good" chain saw and was wondering if I use your 2 cycle oil do I still need to add Stabil or other fuel stabilizer? I have had a lot of problems with stale gas causing problems in my chain saws and don't cut enough wood to use up several gallons of gas after its mixed. Is there any problem adding Stabil along with your oil to gas?

Thanks
Andy

[donsoil]

Hi Don

I had a question about your 2 cycle oil. I just bought my first "good" chain saw and was wondering if I use your 2 cycle oil do I still need to add Stabil or other fuel stabilizer? I have had a lot of problems with stale gas causing problems in my chain saws and don't cut enough wood to use up several gallons of gas after its mixed. Is there any problem adding Stabil along with your oil to gas?

Thanks
Andy

Greetings Andy !
Fuel quality has really hit the skids in the last 5 to 10 years, and fuel quality varies greatly from supplier to supplier.
I am quite lucky where I live as I purchase most of my gas from Kwik Star convenience store chain, they offer a gaurantee that their fuel will cause no problems, or they pay for the fix.
I have been using their gas for many years, and have yet to have a problem, and their fuel has been keeping well for me.
If you have options for your fuel purchases, check with the managers of the stores you purchase from and question them about the quality of the fuel and how often they turn over a tank of fuel through their pumps, if the station where you purchase from doesn't move alot of fuel it may be partially stale when you buy it, compounding your stale gas issues.
Another thing, stay away from ethanol blends for 2 cycle and small engines, reason being the ethanol reacts with the pot metal aluminum mix in the carburetors creating a gummy gel that restricts fuel flow, which causes the engine to run lean. A lean running engine runs hot and eventually it destroys the engine.
There is a golf cart repair business near me that has seen this problem over and over in the golf cart engines. When they install the new engine they tell the golf courses to quit running the ethanol blended gasoline and explain why, but they aparently like the less expensive ethanol so the problem wont go away. As I have stated before many people have that little bird on their shoulder singing the cheaper is better song in their ear, and will hear of nothing else, and end up spending more than if they had purchased the better product to begin with.
In your situation if you can find better and fresher fuel that should be a first priority.
Another thing you could do is mix just a gallon at a time, if you dont use it up fairly quickly, run it through your car or truck, by doing this you are able to keep your 2 cycle mix fresh because when you need it you mix a fresh batch.
Another thing you could do is drain the tank on your saw and start it and run it completly out of fuel, by doing this there is very little or no gas left to go stale or evaporate in the tank or carburetor, and leave varnish deposits.
I dont use stabilizers in my fuel, and again maybe I dont have problems because I am lucky enough to have good fuel to start with.
I have 2 stihl chain saws, an o11av that I bought new in the early 1980's , and an 039 that I bought in 1992 , I cut wood at least once a year and sometimes twice a year, I use no stabilizer in the fuel, they sit with fuel in them at times for close to a year, I have yet to have any fuel or starting issues with them.
I also have a stihl FS76 string trimmer that I purchased new in 1991 it has been stored every winter for 6 months with the fuel mix in it, and again I have yet to have a fuel related problem in all the years I have owned it.
For the last six years I have used the Amsoil 100:1 in all 3 of my stihl products with beautiful results.
Another thing to consider, Amsoil is chemically engineered, so there are no impurites in the oil, petroleum based oil has impurities that remain through the refining process. What I am not sure of is how these impurites may react with the gasoline in storage, or if they help the fuel to stale quicker. A neat test to try this idea would be to try storing a sample of the petro 2 cycle mix and a sample of the Amsoil 100:1 mix and check them at 3 months,
6 months, 9 months, and 1 year to see at what point the mixes start turning stale.
Please Let me know if this is helpful !
Have a great day !
Don

[chrpmaster]

Don

Thats good advice about asking the retailer about their gas. I will have to check on that.

Is there any problem using Stabil with the Amsol?

Andy

[donsoil]

Greetings Andy !
You may use stabil with Amsoil if you wish, Amsoil also makes a fuel stabilizer, here is the link :
http://www.amsoil.com/a/fuel-additives-performance-improver?zo=531421

Have a great day!
Don