Dont Store Gas for Too Long Before You Use It

You should not store gas for more than a few weeks before using it in outdoor power equipment and snow blowers if they want to reduce the damage ethanol gas can do on a small engine. We recommend using it within 20 days. However, gas stabilizers and additives to treat ethanol can help prolong the life of small engines.

Ethanol has become a challenge to the owners of lawn mowers, snow blowers, chain saws, outboard motors and other small engines. After more than a few weeks Ethanol begins to turn into something similar to pudding, a gummy, gelatinous substance that fouls carburetors and shortens engine life.

Virtually all gasoline contains up to 10% ethanol, a limit that the EPA recently raised to 15% if the fuel is burned in modern vehicles. Because E15 gasoline damages or destroys small engines, its use in them is banned. It’s virtually impossible to buy bulk gasoline without ethanol, so at Monnick Supply, we recommend adding gas stabilizers and ethanol treatment additives to the gas.

We also suggest storing any gasoline slated for small-engine use for no more than a few weeks. The unused fuel should then be dumped into the tank of a vehicle, where it will be diluted and burned in a bigger engine.

For information or for fuel stabilizers, contact Monnick Supply in Marlborough and Framingham.