Stale fuel

[Windmill]

Have read a lot here re fuel going off particularly badly in our plaggy tanks, borne out by the fluorescent yellow fuel I originally drained from mine Also had an eggcup full of water and other bits of rubbish in it of course

Found these on evilbay which I'd not come across before Item number:350510671838. Has anyone used them and if so are they any good? also wondered if they would stop 2 stroke degradation/separation? I'm plagued by 2 stroke degrading and going "Stringy" in the tank, blocking everything up. I know - drain it off when you lay it up, but it don't always work out like that.............

[Windmill]

Came across this..............not sure I'd want to try it though, just changing the petrol has to be easier on the nerves

"An old trick that can remove water from fuel is to throw a bottle of methylated spirits into the fuel tank. This trick exploits the hydroscopic properties of the alcohol so that water is absorbed into the alcohol and can ignite in the engine. However it is important to note that the alcohol will become saturated if there is more water in the tank than it can bind with."

Knew a guy back in the 70's who used to run a lambretta on paraffin with a tin of model aircraft engine fuel mixed in, smoked like ......but got him to work & back every day

see here http://fulloctane.com/article/1/why-does-fuel-go-stale/

[radiograf]

Instead of meths, try using Silkolene Pro FST. This is a petrol additive based on isopropyl alcohol, it also absorbs water in the fuel, but unlike meths won't attack the alloy in your engine. I use it during the winter in both my etz251 and er5 to combat carb icing.

[Skorpion]

Have read a lot here re fuel going off particularly badly in our plaggy tanks, borne out by the fluorescent yellow fuel I originally drained from mine Also had an eggcup full of water and other bits of rubbish in it of course

Found these on evilbay which I'd not come across before Item number:350510671838. Has anyone used them and if so are they any good? also wondered if they would stop 2 stroke degradation/separation? I'm plagued by 2 stroke degrading and going "Stringy" in the tank, blocking everything up. I know - drain it off when you lay it up, but it don't always work out like that.............

I think fuel going off in less than 6 months is a problem in the USA not in the UK.

As to petrol affecting the plastic petrol tank of a Skorpion, yes mine has developed slight ripples on one side that I have put down to the ethanol in the fuel.

Two stroke oil I have noticed going stringy/snot like at very low temperatures when pouring from the bottle, this I'm putting down to the Polybutene now used in semi synthetic low smoke 2T oil, as I never noticed it when I used mineral 2T oil, try mineral oil in winter.

[Windmill]

Thanks radiograf & Skorpion, will definitely try both....A safe additive to dry up water in fuel would be great, even cleaning a tank out doesn't get all the stuff in the corners and being Mr Impatience don't leave it empty overnight to dry out properly. Airline does help but I'm never sure it's all gone so an additive to make sure is great, Thanks.

The two stroke issue, yes you could well be right Skorpion, I don't remember anything like that either with the old 2 stroke mixes and the bikes/engines it's happened to have all been run on synthetic Was recommended to this stuff 5 years ago and yes it uses less and smokes less but I have three bikes affected this way at the moment. Granted they have been stood a while but they just drip stringy goo out of the tank. It's not that the petrol isn't there having evaporated, it has simply separated, plenty of neat petrol sat on top of the goo

Thanks again guys