Helo:
Regarding the gas stabilizer Sta-Bil product, and winter storage of lawnmowers, etc:
After running the tank, and hopefully most of the carb, dry, is it OK to put a little Sta-Bil in the empty tank and cranking over a few times to distribute ?
Or, is it too concentrated to be used safely this way ?
B.
It should only be used in accordance with the easy to follow instructions. You are headed for trouble.
Captain Joe Redcloud Mohnton PA
It depends on whether it will ignite in the spring. If not, you'll be stuck trying to get it out of the carb so gasoline can get in.
Personally, I suspect if it it burnt well, it wouldn't be able to do what it is supposed to do.
That's not to say it won't burn if a match is applied, but to burn in a carb the liquid has to be very volatile. Kerosene burns too but it's not volatile enough to burn in a carbureted engine. (I realize now that I don't know how diesels work, but I don't think there are any diesel lawnmoweres ??)
I wouldn't do it. I used Sta-bil in one lawn mower last fall, as directed, and the mower started up fine the next year. I am tempted to use it the whole second half of the summer, because in my situationI can't predict which tank will be the last.
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Not so. Plenty of farm tractors used to be "dual fuel", and maybe some still are. They started on gasoline from a small tank, then switched over to kero once the engine was warmed up. IIRC, you had to switch back to gasoline just before shutdown so the carb bowl was filled with that for the next start.
I've seen small one lunger genny sets made that way too, for use in remote places where gasoline was in short supply but kero was plentiful for lanterns and stoves.
During WWII, when gasoline was rationed, I remember poring over a DIY article in Mechanix Illustrated (or a similar rag) giving step by step instructions on how to add kero capability to your car. (Kero was also known as "No.1" fuel oil.) One part I still remember was loosely wrapping a copper kero fuel line around the exhaust manifold so that the kero was warmed when it reached the carb.
I don't know for sure, but I'd suspect those folks who are running their cars on biodiesel fuel derived from scavanged deep fat fryer oil and such may have to start the engines on something like gasoline when they are cold. Can someone comment on that?
I haven't run into any walk behind ones, but there's sure plenty of diesel riding mowers offered.
Given that I had a small one cylinder diesel model aircraft engine over
50 years ago (NOT a glow plug engine.), There's no technical reason I can think of why a small lawnmower couldn't be diesel powered.Jeff
Why would you do this instead of just following the directions? It's not like the stuff's expensive...
-Tim
"I don't know for sure, but I'd suspect those folks who are running their cars on biodiesel fuel derived from scavanged deep fat fryer oil and such may have to start the engines on something like gasoline when they
are cold. Can someone comment on that? "
That's how most of the diesels that are converted to use vegetable oil work. The salvaged vegetable oil turns to gel below freezing or even higher. So they have a tank of conventional diesel fuel too. That tank is used for start up and is switched back to again for a brief period before shut down. That fills the fuel pump, injection pump, etc with regular diesel fuel. When the car is warmed up, then it is switched over to the veg oil. They also need heated fuel lines, heater in the veg oil tank, etc. Typically all that is contained in a kit.
I looked into it a bit since I have a Mercedes turbodiesel. Looked like it cost about $1600 for the conversion kit.
Sta-Bil is made to be used with gasoline. Most manufacturers say to either drain the tank and run the engine dry or to leave gas with Sta-Bil in it (up to six months). Sta-Bil of course says that you should use their product. I live in a cold climate so don't bother with doing much with the mower but I faithfully drain and run my snow blower dry.
I had no idea. Thanks a lot.
I've wondered what No. 1 was, every time I bought No. 2. Thanks again.
I re ad to the end. Interesting.
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remember,if you have air in the fuel tank youll get water condensing into it.
It makes no sense to use it that way. It is likely to cause a problem to do so.
Oooh...that would be sweet!
I was going to toss in a joke here about kerosene refrigerators but a little web searching and it turns out they are still made. Whoda thunk it.
Just leave gas in the tank and start and run the mower for a minute every few weeks during the winter.
Yea right. Be sure to mark it on your calendar so you don't forget.
And how does this do anything for the gas that stays in the tank anyhow?
Fill the tank as full as possible to leave as little airspace as you can. This reduces the amount of moisture that will build up in the tank. A small shot of gas stabilizer wouldn't hurt either.
How is that going to keep the gas from going stale?
-Tim
Burn it... :)
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