ORIGINAL: Hircflyer
Well I am no chemist I am just relating what happened here when the ethanol 10% law went into effect......maybe they mixed pineapple juice in I don't know.
But those problems I related are real....and if wasn't the ethanol why did the state allow regular gasoline without the 10% ethanol mixture be allowed to be sold Marina's.
I know I was replacing the diaphrams very regular before Walbro introduced the diaphrams that were not rubber.
Here is a quote from a G23 manual
1) Never use any alcohol fuel or alcohol added fuel, or the rubber parts in the
carburetor. If not, the engine will be damaged.
2) Gasoline is very flammable. Avoid smoking, bringing any fires near fuel.
3) To prevent all possible problems on fueling system, make sure to use the fuel filter
which has more than 300 mesh or equivalent and gasoline proof rubber pipe or
equivalent.
Fig.2-A Fig.2-B
As I said, thanks Walbro.
I'm not questioning that you and others had problems as you clearly did. I do question the true nature of what caused those problems. Pe best described the complex nature of our current gasoline and the problems it can cause .... a "combined action of several ingredients".
In my state, ethanol was first introduced in a 10% blend in 1978, has been widely available since 1980 and there has been no mass of problems with its use. Last year, I believe that about 80% of all the gasoline sold in Iowa contained Ethanol. Sure there were problems early on with the solvency of ethanol causing gunk to be released from tanks ... plugging fuel filters, etc. Some fuel lines in those days would soften, etc. But those things were relatively minor and are long past. I have chain saws that are older than 1975 that are still going strong with their original rubber carb parts and they have been soaking in an ethanol mix for a very long time.
Some years ago, I had a friend that was a rep for Phillips Petroleum. He alerted me to the true nature of gasoline and that even back in the 1970s, gasoline was a dumping ground for many petrochemicals. Especially in winter when the cold temperatures allowed the blending of some of the lighter chemicals that would easily evaporate from what was then unsealed storage or cause vapor lock problems in warm months. It is interesting that with the occasional discussions of gasoline in these threads that we never hear from anybody that works in the petroleum industry. That could make for some interesting discussions. I would be curious to know what they put in the gas in Hawii besides ethanol. Would also be curious to know where gas in Hawii is refined. Are there refineries there?
Ethanol used in gas is not a pure chemical by itself as law requires it to be denatured. Here it is usually denatured by adding 10% of a pure gasoline product. So the 10% ethanol in our gas also contains 10% of something else to denature it. Some areas of the country use methanol and I'm sure other substances are used elsewhere.
I hope I didn't hijack this thread but I guess it does apply directly to carb diaphrams and the effects that fuel has on them.