Ethanol fuel

[Mike G]

Has anyone tried the STA-BIL Marine formula that is designed to be used with Ethanol? All of the gas stations around the lake contain 10% Ethanol so I was toying with the idea of the STA-BIL but wanted to get some opinions. If I read the instuctions correctly it states to use this at every fill-up.

[wolfeman131]

Has anyone tried the STA-BIL Marine formula that is designed to be used with Ethanol? All of the gas stations around the lake contain 10% Ethanol so I was toying with the idea of the STA-BIL but wanted to get some opinions. If I read the instuctions correctly it states to use this at every fill-up.

I use it every time. Had a problem with the fuel vaporizing in the line 2 summers ago on a HOT summer day. Never encountered that since using the blue, marine Sta-bil.

[sandm]

I, too have had the vapor lock issue. easy and almost free solution is to ensure you run your blower while surfing and before/after each run for a while. if it does vaporlock, just take a cup of lakewater and dump on the fuel pump. solves the issue in a second..
the long-term fix is to add a second inline pump down prior to the fuel filter, but that cost $$..

[pmoomba]

For those using sta-bil in their fillups, are you keeping true to the 1 oz treats 1 1/4 gallons? Looks like ~$20-$30 for a 32 oz which is about one full tank of gas. Seems a bit of a premium on top of gas already but if that's the price of making sure we avoid problems then that's the price. There's no gas station near me that sells fuel without ethanol, and I don't know how quickly I'll turn over fuel so better safe than sorry I suppose.

Looks like it has a shelf life of ~2 years so if there was a place to get in in reasonable bulk (maybe enough for a season or two) that might take the sting out of it a little.

[sandm]

that's a ton of cash to avoid a problem that can be 99% averted with a little bit of preplanning.

heck, the $150 or so for the added fuel pump would pay for itself in a month of heavy use.. better to go that route.