Gas Additive, Anyone?

Hi, All. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good gas additive to combat the ethanol problem. This would be for my CAL 25 outboard. Cheers Charlie Annapolis

Best solution I can think of is to use non-ethanol fuel. Most Pacific Northwest marinas sell it, either unbranded or as ValvTect. The East Coast can’t be that far into the Stone Age. Keep Smiling, Fred Haas 3-30 Nemesis Tacoma On Aug 10, 2015, at 4:59 PM, 'Charlie Husar' hu… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > Hi, All. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good gas additive to combat the ethanol problem. This would be for my CAL 25 outboard. > > > > Cheers > > Charlie > > Annapolis > > >

I think all the gas additives are just ethanol. On Mon, Aug 10, 2015 at 4:59 PM, 'Charlie Husar' hu… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > Hi, All. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good gas > additive to combat the ethanol problem. This would be for my CAL 25 > outboard. > > > > Cheers > > Charlie > > Annapolis > > >

On 8/10/2015 7:59 PM, 'Charlie Husar' hu… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats] wrote: > > > Hi, All. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good > gas additive to combat the ethanol problem. This would be for my CAL > 25 outboard. > I'm with those who say "buy recreational gas with no ethanol." My marina sells it at a premium price, but the premium price is worth it because the stuff is stable. I mentioned previously that I'm using some 3 year old non-ethanol gas in a little outboard. It was a little bit less happy this summer, probably because the more volatile elements of the gasoline were gradually evaporating off, so I bought a couple gallons more to freshen up the tank. That's the one that had the rusted-through steel pickup tube when it sat over a winter with the ethanol gas. When I was being a cheapskate and buying gas-station gas, the outboards were always cranky and would go on strike periodically until I had taken the carb apart and cleaned it out. Now they are dependable. At one point I did buy some Sta-Bil, the ethanol gas variety, and had it aboard my other boat in the lazarette. A couple weeks ago I discovered some petroleum goo all over. The Sta-Bil bottle had upended somehow and the cap was slightly loose and I had an hour's worth of messy, oily cleanup to do. Boo. On my Cal 20, I use the outboard so infrequently that I do disconnect the hose afterward and let the gas burn out of the carburetor. On the other boat, it gets sailed weekly and the outboard always gets used to get out of the marina, almost always to get either up or down the river, and often to sneak past the wind shadow of the big electric generating plant on the river. I don't bother with the hose-disconnect ritual on that one. But with the recreational non-ethanol gas, both outboards are dependable and predictable (once you get to know their little personalities). Chris Campbell > >

Charlie I had an outboard dealer/mechanic recommend: http://www.valvtect.com/marineGasAdditives.asp I think it is the best solution.Cheers Mike RobinsonS/V Eleanor May(916) 705-3200 our blog:http://www.sailblogs.com/member/primrose/ To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 19:59:52 -0400 Subject: [Cal_Boats] Gas Additive, Anyone? Hi, All. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good gas additive to combat the ethanol problem. This would be for my CAL 25 outboard. CheersCharlieAnnapolis

If you have just a pint left in the tank, it may have gone sour. My cure was to add a fresh gallon of common gas on top of it. A solution might be to close the air vent when you're not running the engine, but that still might not work, as that still leaves 5 gallons of water vapor bearing air in your tank, and if you have a plastic tank and forget to open your vent, you can collapse your tank. I did that, but the tank popped back out, and that was 8 years ago, and the tank is fine. Someone should invent a one way spring loaded air vent, but maybe it would gum up and become dangerous?Shpritz. Cal 24 On Tuesday, August 11, 2015 9:03 AM, "Michael Robinson mi… [at] hotmail.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: Charlie I had an outboard dealer/mechanic recommend: http://www.valvtect.com/marineGasAdditives.asp I think it is the best solution.Cheers Mike RobinsonS/V Eleanor May(916) 705-3200 our blog:http://www.sailblogs.com/member/primrose/ To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 19:59:52 -0400 Subject: [Cal_Boats] Gas Additive, Anyone? Hi, All. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good gas additive to combat the ethanol problem. This would be for my CAL 25 outboard. CheersCharlieAnnapolis

What about using a little nitroglycerin to help spark things up a bit? Don't they use it in race cars? And I think it only takes a tiny bit. Shpritz. On Tuesday, August 11, 2015 10:21 AM, "Gerald Sobel so… [at] yahoo.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: If you have just a pint left in the tank, it may have gone sour. My cure was to add a fresh gallon of common gas on top of it. A solution might be to close the air vent when you're not running the engine, but that still might not work, as that still leaves 5 gallons of water vapor bearing air in your tank, and if you have a plastic tank and forget to open your vent, you can collapse your tank. I did that, but the tank popped back out, and that was 8 years ago, and the tank is fine. Someone should invent a one way spring loaded air vent, but maybe it would gum up and become dangerous?Shpritz. Cal 24 On Tuesday, August 11, 2015 9:03 AM, "Michael Robinson mi… [at] hotmail.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: Charlie I had an outboard dealer/mechanic recommend: http://www.valvtect.com/marineGasAdditives.asp I think it is the best solution.Cheers Mike RobinsonS/V Eleanor May(916) 705-3200 our blog:http://www.sailblogs.com/member/primrose/ To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 19:59:52 -0400 Subject: [Cal_Boats] Gas Additive, Anyone? Hi, All. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good gas additive to combat the ethanol problem. This would be for my CAL 25 outboard. CheersCharlieAnnapolis

Race cars use nitrous oxide, nitroglycerine is used in dynamite, both make engines go fast for short periods of time but one could cause very bad side effects while being loaded. From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2015 3:48 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Fw: [Cal_Boats] Gas Additive, Anyone? What about using a little nitroglycerin to help spark things up a bit? Don't they use it in race cars? And I think it only takes a tiny bit. Shpritz. On Tuesday, August 11, 2015 10:21 AM, "Gerald Sobel so… [at] yahoo.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: If you have just a pint left in the tank, it may have gone sour. My cure was to add a fresh gallon of common gas on top of it. A solution might be to close the air vent when you're not running the engine, but that still might not work, as that still leaves 5 gallons of water vapor bearing air in your tank, and if you have a plastic tank and forget to open your vent, you can collapse your tank. I did that, but the tank popped back out, and that was 8 years ago, and the tank is fine. Someone should invent a one way spring loaded air vent, but maybe it would gum up and become dangerous? Shpritz. Cal 24 On Tuesday, August 11, 2015 9:03 AM, "Michael Robinson mi… [at] hotmail.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: Charlie I had an outboard dealer/mechanic recommend: http://www.valvtect.com/marineGasAdditives.asp I think it is the best solution. Cheers Mike Robinson S/V Eleanor May (916) 705-3200 our blog: http://www.sailblogs.com/member/primrose/ _____ To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 19:59:52 -0400 Subject: [Cal_Boats] Gas Additive, Anyone? Hi, All. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good gas additive to combat the ethanol problem. This would be for my CAL 25 outboard. Cheers Charlie Annapolis

I think you are referring to nitromethane. It can really give you some extra horse power. I don't know why outboards should be so sensitive to fuel but I guess they are. I have had gas in my motorhome that was put in there maybe 4 years ago. Gas in my Gray Marine engine for the last 26 years has all been from the gas station on the way to the boat. Carb problems pretty much went away with the engine rebuild that involved all new fuel lines and a new tank. The old steel tank was replaced in the process although it did not leak but it looked bad from the outside. It was probably 20 years old as the old one, probably 35 years old at the time, did leak. Allen > > From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] > Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2015 3:48 PM > To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > Subject: Fw: [Cal_Boats] Gas Additive, Anyone? > > > > > > What about using a little nitroglycerin to help spark things up a bit? Don't they use it in race cars? And I think it only takes a tiny bit. > > Shpritz. > > > > On Tuesday, August 11, 2015 10:21 AM, "Gerald Sobel so… [at] yahoo.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > > > > If you have just a pint left in the tank, it may have gone sour. My cure was to add a fresh gallon of common gas on top of it. A solution might be to close the air vent when you're not running the engine, but that still might not work, as that still leaves 5 gallons of water vapor bearing air in your tank, and if you have a plastic tank and forget to open your vent, you can collapse your tank. I did that, but the tank popped back out, and that was 8 years ago, and the tank is fine. Someone should invent a one way spring loaded air vent, but maybe it would gum up and become dangerous? > > Shpritz. Cal 24 > > > > > > On Tuesday, August 11, 2015 9:03 AM, "Michael Robinson mi… [at] hotmail.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > > > > Charlie I had an outboard dealer/mechanic recommend: http://www.valvtect.com/marineGasAdditives.asp > > I think it is the best solution. > > Cheers > > Mike Robinson > > S/V Eleanor May > > (916) 705-3200 > > > > our blog: > > http://www.sailblogs.com/member/primrose/ > > > > > > ________________________________ > > To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 19:59:52 -0400 > Subject: [Cal_Boats] Gas Additive, Anyone? > > > Hi, All. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good gas additive to combat the ethanol problem. This would be for my CAL 25 outboard. > > > > Cheers > > Charlie > > Annapolis > > > > > > > >

On 8/11/2015 4:38 PM, Allen Edwards al… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats] wrote: > > > I think you are referring to nitromethane. It can really give you > some extra horse power. > > I don't know why outboards should be so sensitive to fuel but I guess > they are. I have had gas in my motorhome that was put in there maybe > 4 years ago. Gas in my Gray Marine engine for the last 26 years has > all been from the gas station on the way to the boat. Carb problems > pretty much went away with the engine rebuild that involved all new > fuel lines and a new tank. The old steel tank was replaced in the > process although it did not leak but it looked bad from the outside. > It was probably 20 years old as the old one, probably 35 years old at > the time, did leak. Starting about 5 or 6 years ago, I began having problems with my summer car, a 1986 fuel-injected Mustang V-8, in the spring. About 30 miles down the highway it would sporadically buck once or twice--just enough to give heart palpitations--every couple miles for a while. It would do that for a tank of gas or 2 or 3, then run fine all summer. I finally thought "water" and started using isopropyl alcohol fuel dryer in the spring. Problem solved. This year I started using it BEFORE the first outing and had no symptoms at all. Last winter I also put some Sta-Bil fuel stabilizer in it before storing. Chris Campbell > >

On 8/11/2015 1:21 PM, Gerald Sobel so… [at] yahoo.com [Cal_Boats] wrote: > > > Someone should invent a one way spring loaded air vent, but maybe it > would gum up and become dangerous? OMC used to use little one-way air vents (anti-vacuum) on their steel gas tanks . They're not feasible with the plastic tanks, which can balloon out with pressure. Chris campbell