Removing ethanol from E5 and E10 petrol

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Sandy

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I've no idea what "Aspen" is but that that price it seems pretty daft - if you want to avoid fuel gumming over-winter then just turn off the fuel tap and run the engine dry, just as two-stroke owners, chainsawers, strimmerers etc have done for decades...Problem solved!
Done that in the past with a four stroke still had gumming up.
 

JumbleDuck

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I thought that until I read except in Cornwall, Devon, Wales and the North of England? WTF is going on there?
Probably means that in those areas they share supplies with a company which does put ethanol in. Just because it says "Esso" on the pump doesn't actually mean that Esso refined it. Wales and the North of England suggests Stanlow.
 

jdc

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Some years ago I posted about Aspen for my 2-stroke o/b, see Alkylate petrol for outboards?

I was v negative about it as the pre-mixed 2-stroke Aspen had very low lubricity and my o/b snapped a piston ring pretty much immediately after switching over. But the 'pure' Aspen 4-stroke fuel seems fine and is what my garden machinery service people always use for a last run before winter.
 

Refueler

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Some years ago I posted about Aspen for my 2-stroke o/b, see Alkylate petrol for outboards?

I was v negative about it as the pre-mixed 2-stroke Aspen had very low lubricity and my o/b snapped a piston ring pretty much immediately after switching over. But the 'pure' Aspen 4-stroke fuel seems fine and is what my garden machinery service people always use for a last run before winter.

Unless your O/B is aircooled - you should not be using pre-mix Aspen anyway. But to snap a ring ... that sounds a bit more than just using Aspen Pre Mix.
 

thinwater

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Question from a US guy.

Here, ethanol is not added to the gasoline because the stations or refiners want it, it is because local air pollution laws mandate it. Buy super grade does not change that. In the past it was regional, but in the past 50 years it has also become national, because there is also a national legal quota for ethanol use (pure political agri-business pork--let's not get started) that climbed high enough that it must be sold everywhere. In fact, agri-business is pushing for e15, because gasoline useage is down, but the EPA is resisting, because of engine problems. Marinas and airports have exemptions.

So is ethanol regionally mandated in the UK, is it a national quota, is it because some folks want it, or do we just not know?
 

penberth3

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Question from a US guy.

Here, ethanol is not added to the gasoline because the stations or refiners want it, it is because local air pollution laws mandate it. Buy super grade does not change that. In the past it was regional, but in the past 50 years it has also become national, because there is also a national legal quota for ethanol use (pure political agri-business pork--let's not get started) that climbed high enough that it must be sold everywhere. In fact, agri-business is pushing for e15, because gasoline useage is down, but the EPA is resisting, because of engine problems. Marinas and airports have exemptions.

So is ethanol regionally mandated in the UK, is it a national quota, is it because some folks want it, or do we just not know?

I don't know for sure, but I think it's a national requirement for all road fuels, E5 petrol/gasoline, low sulphur diesel.

Interesting that you mention agri-business. As I understand it ethanol comes from crops grown for that purpose. Farmers are growing it instead of food, and in less well regulated areas eco-systems are being destroyed to clear more land for ethanol crops. If I've got that right, how sustainable is the ethanol-for-fuel business?
 

thinwater

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I'd be willing to bet folding money that some of the push came from the US and agri-business. They need to sell more ethanol from the corn belt. The UK ethanol plant is just a ruse to make it seem home grown.

The ethano-for-fuel business is not sustainable in the US SW, where irrigation water is running lower and the soil is being tortured. Think of how much carbon the soil can hold if farmed responsibly? But we're (US) headed for another dust bowl. like the 1930s.
 

oldmanofthehills

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I'd be willing to bet folding money that some of the push came from the US and agri-business. They need to sell more ethanol from the corn belt. The UK ethanol plant is just a ruse to make it seem home grown.

The ethano-for-fuel business is not sustainable in the US SW, where irrigation water is running lower and the soil is being tortured. Think of how much carbon the soil can hold if farmed responsibly? But we're (US) headed for another dust bowl. like the 1930s.
Humanity is doomed due to 'd**k' head decisions. We are lead by politicians not agronomists or ecologists. Yet we keep electing the mutt heads
 

penfold

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Corn>ethanol>fuel was always a cash cow for subsidy hogs, if you'll pardon the mixed metaphor. The ability of agri-business to behave s******y in pursuit of mammon should never be doubted.
 

Refueler

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In Europe and UK ... you only have to look at the vast fields of Yellow .... Rape Seed .... its the main base for Bio component in Diesel.
Now go to other countries and you see Oil Bearing crops grown instead of staple food .....

The Bio Fuels crops are Cash Crops that Farmers find hard to resist. Imagine you are a farmer in Africa - what are you going to do ?
Its similar to the old Groundnut campaigns years ago. To get money into villages - the push was to grow Groundnuts. I worked with a company that sent its clapped out tractors to Africa for Groundnut project. The rules and specifications for its production are so little compared to the Food Crops. It caters to the Govt quotas .. gets into the statistics of Green Environment etc.

Its lunacy with approval.
 

sheepsheadcrafts

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HELP!!!
From left to right, fuel from tank, fuel released from racor water separator, fuel out of bulb, fuel from VSU (engine is 60hp EFI) new elements : pipe/water separator/bulb/mechanical pump/filters and vsu water cooler, fuel is less than two months old -- engine won't startIMG_20210701_170554_3.jpg
 

TernVI

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HELP!!!
From left to right, fuel from tank, fuel released from racor water separator, fuel out of bulb, fuel from VSU (engine is 60hp EFI) new elements : pipe/water separator/bulb/mechanical pump/filters and vsu water cooler, fuel is less than two months old -- engine won't startView attachment 118235
Looks like something is affecting your fuel after it leaves the tank.
Unsuitable fuel hose?
Copper/brass pipe/fittings?
A leak letting fuel out/air in?

I would clean everything and fit a new filter.
Is the injector pump running?

I find with my EFI motorbikes, a tank or two of BP's most expensive petrol seems to help after a period of non-use.

Running with dirty fuel can also foul injectors and spark plugs.
Get the rest of the system clean before paying to get injectors cleaned, I recently had some done for about £15 each at Injectortune.
 

sheepsheadcrafts

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Looks like something is affecting your fuel after it leaves the tank.
Unsuitable fuel hose?
Copper/brass pipe/fittings?
A leak letting fuel out/air in?

I would clean everything and fit a new filter.
Is the injector pump running?

I find with my EFI motorbikes, a tank or two of BP's most expensive petrol seems to help after a period of non-use.

Running with dirty fuel can also foul injectors and spark plugs.
Get the rest of the system clean before paying to get injectors cleaned, I recently had some done for about £15 each at Injectortune.
all new pipes and filters, the only reuse was the pipe to tank and pipe to engine fittings and the tank itself?, fuel pump runs, i have just flushed through all fittings and pipework and got a new tank of fuel - let's see what happens
 
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