I have a gas leaf blower that requires 40:1 oil:gas mixture. I have a 1 gallon gas tank premixed with this oil gas.
I'm thinking of buying a chainsaw (stihl) which requires 50:1 mixture. Do I need another gas tank to premix with this ratio, or is it ok to just use the
40:1 mix? Or perhaps I could put 45:1 mix in both??BTW, all 2-cycle engine oil claim to be smoke-less. Which is the most smokeless of all?
I wouldn't go lean (on oil) relative to manufacturer's recommendation. Slightly higher on oil wouldn't be terrible.
I never saw any that I would call "smokeless"...some may be a little less than others but I've no specific recommendation.
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I would just go 1:40 for both.
Too lean burns your cylinders, too rich fouls your plugs- and cylinder walls. I have a gallon of 40-1 & a gallon of 50-1 in my garage. Those 2 pale in comparison to the 2 5gal blue cans, the 2 2.5 gallon red cans, and the 5 gallon yellow can.
But if that extra 1 gallon can is going to bother you- these folks say it is the oil that determines the mix- not the machine. . and theirs is 100-1.
Electric.
Jim
45:1 is close enough to both that it likely wouldn't ever be a problem.
I always kept 32:1 mix around for dirt bikes and just used that in any
2-stroke power equipment that needed fuel. Now with what I've paid for my Stihl trimmer, it gets Stihl brand oil mixed like they say. No exceptions.
Too much oil can also burn up an engine. The extra oil displaces fuel, which leans the air/fuel mix causing heat. Also, 2-stroke oil burns hot anyways, so the extra oil makes it worse.
The oil manufacturer determines how lean it can be mixed and still properly lubricate an engine. The engine manufacturer decides the proper mix for the engine. Drastically changing the oil mix (from
32:1 to 100:1 for example) requires recalibrating the carb. Those people probably make a good oil, but it still gets mixed 40:1 if it goes in my chainsaw.
First, check the instructions again. Some are different depending on the oil. IIRC, Stihl is 50:1 on their oil (probably synthetic) but needs more oil for the regular stuff. In your case, I'd use 40:1 for everything unless it makes an exception for better oils.
I have been running Red Line synthetic at 50:1, and while it is not 100% smokeless, the inside of the engine is amazingly clean. I had to dismantle a 3-year old leaf blower to repair a broken bolt, and the inside of the cylinder was shiny clean, showing no wear at all. There was no ring ridge. The exhaust port was bare metal. I use that leaf blower for everything from cleaning gutters to forge bellows to burning brush, and my yard is surrounded by huge old maples. It had a lot of hours on it. Judging from the condition of the cylinder, it's going to last 25 or 30 years, unless something breaks.
Around here, you buy Red Line at the NAPA store. Good stuff. Highly recommended.
just run the 50:1 stihl mix in everything. They'll be fine. Don't go too rich with the oil. It actually makes the engines run lean and overheat.
s
bad news for the stihl. And may void the warranty when it goes in with the seized piston.
s
I have a 30 year old poulan that is supposed to use 16:1. I stopped using 16:1 25 years ago and have been running it on about 40:1 without any problem. I run it, my weed eater, and my leaf blower all on the same 40:1 mix (made with high quality oil). The counter guy at the lawn and garden shop said with the synthetic oils you can just run them like that without a problem. Has worked for me.
Extra oil will cause it to sieze? How's that?
Guess I should have read more replies before asking.
I run the same mix in all my 2 cycle stuff (Echo and Shindaiwa), not paying a huge amount of attention to the exact mix and have not had any problems in a decade of this. If you run a landscaping business putting
10 hours a day on everything it may be more important, but for general homeowner running a few hours a weekend at most it just doesn't seem to matter.too much oil makes them run lean. the oil takes up space that would normally be occupied by gasoline in the mix. a very interesting demonstration by the stihl people one year at the kansas speedway . involved a bunch of infared thermometers and little engine dynos and the like.
s
I cannot see how to much oil would make a lean condition , more air makes a lean condition, oil is not as combustable as gas, to much oil fouls plugs, plugs foul from rich mixtures. I run 32-1 in everything but with a good synthetic like Mobil it is reported you can cut the oil in half, 40-1 is real safe in synthetic. A richer mix will make for harder starting and many of todays carbs cant be adjusted. I run my Sthil and everything at 32-1, you just have to try it and see if it runs ok.
Miror miror on the wall, which oil is the most smokeless of them all? *
Most two cycle engines aren't fussy. Run the lowest number mix, which the most oil. I run 32:1 just cause it's easy to calculate one ounce of oil per quart of gasoline. Four ounces per galon.
I know a guy who owns a street cleaning business. In the fall, he runs about 40 Stihl backpack leaf blowers 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. He told me he runs Amsoil 100:1, and never has a problem with his equipment.
I suspect the actual oil mix is not relevant. When I started running 2- cycle engines, the only oil available was paraffin based non-detergent motor oil, and everything mixed 16:1 and left a blue cloud 100' across. As lubricants improved, the oil mix was adjusted so the engine ran better.
My Toro snowblower needs a 50:1 fuel oil mix and it felt too lean in my estimation. Like what someone said a bit more oil would seem a harmless idea. So I used guesswork to do my mixing and inevitably the oil ratio crept up. I had three seasons of increasingly difficult starts and difficulty to keep running including the necessity to run it on full choke. It was an old machine I inherited from my brother so I thought it was showing its age. I took the carb apart and later the engine apart too a number of times each season to service it. It would work okay for a few jobs then would stall again. It seemed mechanically okay and there wasn't much else left to fix. That left only the oil fuel mix to check up on. Sure enough that lean 50:1 ratio fixed the problem. I can now start my snowblower with a few pulls even in the coldest weather. I need to be very careful to prime the engine with only three squirts of gas. Start with a full choke for the first two or three pulls then half choke. The first sputter and I have to open the choke fully to start.
The engine runs smoothly, no smoke and really sips gas. I use less than a liter where before I would use 2 liters. I mix gas only as needed using a 2 liter pop bottle and a dollar store graduated bottle for dispensing 40 ml of oil. The snowthrower tank is topped up after a job so there is very little gas in the pop bottle (minimal fire hazard and cold in winter anyway.) My lawn mower is 4 stroke and needs straight gas that I can use from the gas tank thereby avoid storing gas in multiple containers and having to remember which tank is for what as well as avoiding storing hazardous fuel..
imagine that. it runs the best with the manufacturers recommended ratio.
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