Ethanol Destroying Most Types of Power Equipment

At the end of last month the growing grass roots opposition to ethanol received a boost as a state legislature, David Campbell, introduced a bill that would ban ethanol from being blended with gasoline in the state of New Hampshire.

One report said, "Equipment repair shops all over the Northeast report growing problems with engines caused by gasoline containing the current EPA-mandated 10 percent ethanol, or “E-10” gas. The engines, many of which are two-cycle, weren’t engineered to accommodate the differing characteristics of E-10 fuel, leading to an array of problems, including hard starting, erratic running, internal damage and eventual failure."

If this is happening in the northeast, it's happening everywhere this type of equipment is being used. It's either being underreported, neglected, or equipment users aren't aware of the cause behind their equipment failures.

This is similar to bad gas in a car which has damaged the device which measures how much gas is in the tank. You don't know it until a number of people discover they've been victims of the same problem, and figure out it has come from the same cause.

With all this being done at the "E-10" level, think of what will happen at the "E-15" or "E-20" level, which is being pushed unethically by the ethanol industry.

"There’s lots more of that to come if EPA allows E-15, E-20 or higher ethanol blends to come to market," says Kris Kiser of OEPI (Outdoor Power Equipment Institute), a Washington trade group.

So why is this outrage being perpetrated upon people?

Kiser says this:

“We’re now using less gasoline across the country, so the ethanol lobby is trying to force more ethanol onto the market."

If that were to happen, Kiser says most “'legacy equipment'-outdoor equipment engines made before 2008" will break down.

Some state bureaucrats form the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services are discouraging Cambell in his fight saying the state won't receive gas under the current federal ethanol mandates if he pursues this course.

But as Cambell said, "if New Hampshire bans it we’ll be the first state to do it, but if 10, 20 or 30 states eventually come along I say it will stop the idiocy."

I think he's right. That many states banning it will undermine the completely misguided, and in some cases, unethical, foisting of ethanol upon the public.

Many of the supporters behind the legislation are owners of snowmobiles, weed whackers, chainsaws and outboard boat motors, or any other similar equipment. Once word gets out on the terrible damage to users' equipment, it shouldn't take long before the ethanol debacle is finally and thankfully buried.

Ethanol Gas Destroying Snowmobile Engines

In more grim news concerning the ethanol industry, snowmobilers are reporting a new gas, E10, which is a mixture including 10 percent ethanol, is ruining engines of their machines.

Snowmobiles and ethanol simply do not mix, and it's best to just get rid of the combination before the machine is destroyed completely.

"There's a major issue with ethanol in that in as little as ten days ethanol will separate from gas and if you burn straight ethanol in a snowmobile or a lawnmower or something like that you're going to cook the engine on it," said Lt. Pat Dorian with the Maine Warden Service.
If that's not enough, condensation can be a huge problem too, as water can absorb ethanol, which can also destroy the snowmobile engines.

Now the solution to the problem of condensation is to put an additive in with your gas which prevents the ethanol from separating from the gasoline.

I have a better idea: get rid of ethanol permanently. This is getting more ludicrous by the moment. You put ethanol in your machines, although they'll get ruined, then you have to go out and get an additive to prevent the engine from getting ruined by putting ethanol in in the first place. Just use the normal gasoline you have always used, that will keep all this nonsense from happening.

This just shows the corn-based ethanol isn't the only issue, it's ethanol itself that's the issue.

Ethanol Fix continues to call for the complete abandonment of the pursuit of ethanol as a viable biofuel.

It doesn't matter which piece of power equipment run by small engines you have, it's going to end up being ruined by the use of ethanol mixed gas in it.

When you consider you're riding a snowmobile in many cases far away from home, it can become a potential danger and hazard to run it with ethanol, similar to running an outboard motor in the summer far away from where you put it in the water. It's becoming dangerous to use the mixed fuel, as it could result in harm to the user.

Now with calls for a higher mixture of ethanol in gas used for snowmobiles and other power equipment, it's going to get worse if this outrage continues, as not only is it unsafe, but it's getting costly to owners as small engine mechanics confirm they've never seen so many small engine equipment in their shops.

To me, snowmobiles, generators, chainsaws, boat motors, among many, can pose a danger to those using them with ethanol when the chances of them malfunctioning or not functioning could end up being a physical danger to the user.

Taking everything into consideration, snowmobiles aren't a good fit for ethanol, and neither are chainsaws, generators and boat motors. It's time to drop the usage, as the current bitterly cold winter shows, it could be a matter of life and death if your snowmobile malfunctions far away from safety because ethanaol messed up the engine.

We need to communicate with our lawmakers and let them know the damage and safety hazard ethanol is when used in snowmobiles and other power equipment we own. That way we can get rid of the misguided strategy and drill for more oil that already exists and put our research money into something that works.

Snowmobiles using ethanol isn't one of those areas that we should be even thinking about considering, as experience has proven.