E-Free run

[Sparky-(Admin) 25,287]

Hit a show up in Mass with Tony @Docwheelhorse near Vermont which makes it an easy hop over into New

Hampshire for some ethanol free fuel. 
 Yikes! 
 

 

 

[wh500special 2,409]

With regular gas at $5, that’s not much marginal difference for your preferred flavor. 
 

I’m the odd man out on this forum:   I avoid ethanol free gas…
 

Steve

[Sparky-(Admin) 25,287]

9 minutes ago, wh500special said:

With regular gas at $5, that’s not much marginal difference for your preferred flavor. 
 

I’m the odd man out on this forum:   I avoid ethanol free gas…
 

Steve

The 87 octane regular gas was $4.36. 
  So I’m curious…why do you avoid it? 

[Racinbob 12,955]

Twice a year I fill up the booze free cans. 20 gallons a crack. I hate to say we're fortunate here in the Hoosier state but the state taxes have been removed short term. $4.76 at a Michigan City Murphy. I barely avoided hitting the hundred dollar mark. 

[squonk 46,550]

1 hour ago, Sparky said:

 

 

 

 

The face says it all! 

[ebinmaine 78,811]

1 hour ago, Sparky said:

ethanol free fuel. 
 Yikes! 

 

Worth every cent.  

 

 

1 hour ago, wh500special said:

 

I’m the odd man out on this forum:   I avoid ethanol free gas…

 

1 hour ago, Sparky said:

  So I’m curious…why do you avoid it? 

 

 

[JoeM 9,923]

5.79 in this neck of pa. Picked up 3 cans the other day 88.88 

For me it is worth every penny. When you have a lot of machines that sit from time to time it is a okay, not to mention the mowers use less of it. 

Last year I spent $304 on non e fuel. That cuts all the grass, pressure washes and fuels up a quad. There are a whole bunch of other things I could cut out if I want to save a couple bucks. 

[ri702bill 12,100]

I'm jealous... Here in southern New England, I pay $42 for a 2 gallon pail at either Lowes or Home Depot. There is one "Performance Outdoor" provider a few towns away - BUT... he no longer has a dedicated pump for the E-free; instead he sells VP Racing fuel in 5 gallon pails. Last time I checked, that pail was $104... So that is 25 & change a gallon.

But wait, there's more!!! IF you provide TWO or more "approved" gallon jugs, the "Barista" will crack open a 5 gallon pail & pour it into your containers for FIVE dollars per gallon more! That's $30 and change a gallon.! So here, $10 per gallon would be a good deal.

Edited yesterday at 02:36 PM by ri702bill

[peter lena 9,883]

@wh500special  I too avoid ethanol free fuel , since going over to adding  1-2 oz of sta bil to all my  tractor top offs , I have zero debris in my filters and zero fuel hose break down, years now with nothing but positive results , must work  pete

[adsm08 4,459]

2 hours ago, Racinbob said:

Twice a year I fill up the booze free cans. 20 gallons a crack. I hate to say we're fortunate here in the Hoosier state but the state taxes have been removed short term. $4.76 at a Michigan City Murphy. I barely avoided hitting the hundred dollar mark. 

I put half a tank in the Explorer today. It was $49.98. And that was at Sam's.

[wh500special 2,409]

On 5/23/2026 at 2:31 PM, Sparky said:

…So I’m curious…why do you avoid it? 

Mostly water control.  
 

Ethanol solvates water.   If the tank always has alcohol-laced fuel in it and there isn’t a gigantic leak that lets in rainwater, any water that does enter the tank gets dispersed in the fuel and passes through the engine. Without the alcohol, the water droplets sink to the bottom where they can accumulate and eventually enter the fuel system as one big slug.   
 

Secondarily, the differing solvent properties of non-polar gasoline and polar alcohol keeps things dissolved in the fuel.  So it helps keep things cleaner and avoids a buildup of something.  
 

This presupposes starting with fuel, a tank, and a fuel system that is already clean and dry.  When alcohol fuel Is introduced to a system that never had it, it can mix in the water and water-dissolved gunk and drag it up into the engine.  Likewise, it can dissolve things that accumulated in (and was not soluble in ) the gasoline and stuck to the tank and pull it along.  That does create issues.  
 

Lastly, ethanol gas is cheaper.  
 

I don’t have my head in the sand about alcohol fuels creating legitimate problems for some.  It was either Ed K or Bob M who pointed out it can accelerate the demise of laminated fiberglass marine fuel tanks.   Polyester resins (used to make those tanks and the gel coats that lined them) aren’t particularly alcohol (especially methanol) resistant.  So that’s not great. 
 

there are also some material compatibility issues with plastics and metals.  Generally the 10% dosage doesn’t make these critical though.  
 

I do think it catches the blame for uncovering other sleeping issues like existing water and dirt contamination.  It can also hide a moisture problem for a long time until the fuel gets saturated with water and it drops out all at once in the dreaded phase separation phenomenon. 
 

The Midwest doesn’t seem to be plagued with the same extent of problems that are attributed to alcohol on the East coast.  My guess - and this is a guess - is that the octane improver MTBE that was used out east instead of alcohol postponed and exacerbated the alcohol-related effects into more recent times. 
 

As long as your stuff is clean and dry and it’s kept clean and dry I don’t find any personal benefit from avoiding it. 
 

Steve

Edited 17 hours ago by wh500special

[kpinnc 18,216]

5 hours ago, wh500special said:

The Midwest doesn’t seem to be plagued with the same extent of problems that are attributed to alcohol on the East coast.  

 

I never thunk of that. Less humidity likely makes ethanol not nearly as troublesome with carburetor equipped machines. 

[ebinmaine 78,811]

7 hours ago, kpinnc said:

 

I never thunk of that. Less humidity likely makes ethanol not nearly as troublesome with carburetor equipped machines. 

 

 

Agreed. Here in Maine we also have to consider the VERY wide range of temperatures we see throughout the year. We can see 25⁰ below zero and 95⁰ above within a 4 month period and that's without consideration for extreme weather.  

 

And also..

 

12 hours ago, wh500special said:

catches the blame for uncovering other sleeping issues like existing water and dirt contamination.

 

 

This is definitely true. We've experienced it several times over the years.  

 

 

We use non ethanol fuel here because we have many combinations of potential issues occurring. Different machines, tank/line materials, usage rates, etc. 

AND... because we have good access to reasonably priced non ethanol fuel.  

 

 

Sta-Bil does not negate the issues ethanol causes.  It slows the decomposition of the fuel. 

 

We've never even used a stabilizer until we got the big generator.  And quite frankly only used it then because we took some Stabil home from my late father's stuff.  I wouldn't have bought it.  I've seriously considered using it in my truck as well due to the limited running time that'll get. 

 

 

No ethanol. No additives. No problems.

 

 

If/when an additive becomes available that does actually work to eliminate the issue with ethanol and be cost effective simultaneously .. only then we'd allow ethanol fuel.  

[adsm08 4,459]

2 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

If/when an additive becomes available that does actually work to eliminate the issue with ethanol and be cost effective simultaneously .. only then we'd allow ethanol fuel.  

 

Water will strip the alcohol out of the fuel. The alcohol does not want to bond to gasoline nearly as badly as it does water. Add water to e10, shake, and allow it to settle and you can skim the pure gas off the top.

[ebinmaine 78,811]

6 minutes ago, adsm08 said:

 

Water will strip the alcohol out of the fuel. The alcohol does not want to bond to gasoline nearly as badly as it does water. Add water to e10, shake, and allow it to settle and you can skim the pure gas off the top.

 

 

I've read about that.

It lowers the octane rating a few points. 

More importantly, 

Also read that it often leaves up to 1% of the total volume as fine water droplets that are suspended in the gasoline, depending on temperature. It's invisible to the eye so appears ok to use.  

That's obviously a corrosion issue. Also causes different burn characteristics.  

Doesn't seem like a good risk.  

[Handy Don 16,591]

28 minutes ago, adsm08 said:

 

Water will strip the alcohol out of the fuel. The alcohol does not want to bond to gasoline nearly as badly as it does water. Add water to e10, shake, and allow it to settle and you can skim the pure gas off the top.

Yeah, an interesting science experiment or demonstration. I couldn’t be bothered with the tediousness for any regular usage. Disposing of the “water” with its uncertain chemical composition would trouble me, as well. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Handy Don

[wh500special 2,409]

11 hours ago, kpinnc said:

 

I never thunk of that. Less humidity likely makes ethanol not nearly as troublesome with carburetor equipped machines. 

Interesting observation.   But not where I was going with my earlier missive. 
 

While it might not compare to the year-round humidity that Charlotte experiences, the bulk of what most would call the Midwest has appreciable humidity.  Summertime from Ohio to Missouri is probably indistinguishable ftom the Mid Atlantic to the Palmetto state. 
 

What I mean to imply was that two paths for boosting octane and oxygenating fuel were taken in the US.  One used MTBE - predominantly the Eastern US - and the other used Ethanol.  The corn belt states preferred ethanol.  Eventually MTBE was phased out around 2004-2006 as it has other environmental problems, so ethanol introduction came later to the East. 
 

Putting ethanol into fuel tanks solublized the water and schmutz that had accumulated and put it into customer’s equipment.  This happened a couple of decades earlier in the Midwest than it did elsewhere, so the more recent event trumps our memories of the acute issues that developed. 
 

Humidity can play a role though.  Some amount of water is grabbed out of the air and dissolved into the gasoline.  This isn’t an infinite loop though.  It’s highly unlikely a volume of fuel can saturate just from exposure to air since as the water enters the fuel it decreases the affinity for the ethanol laced fuel to grab more out of the air. As the gasoline evaporates though, it can leave the water mix behind.  But this isn’t particularly unique to blended fuel

as water accumulates in all breathing tanks and evaporation leaves behind an undefined and undesirable witches brew in all tanks. 
 

steve

Edited 1 hour ago by wh500special