I have been putting my alcohol test kit to work. I have tested several local stations and have found gas ranging from 6.5% up to almost the full 10%. My plan was to find the lowest concentration of alcohol and use it for my truck and maybe the boat.
Yesterday I had an idea. When I test the gas the amount of water in the jar increases indicating the alcohol removed from the gas. I “tested” about a pint of gasoline, therefore removing the alcohol. I very carefully poured off this gas leaving the water/alcohol behind. I next “tested” this gas again. The results indicated NO alcohol. My question to all ya’ll smart folks is this. I have a few 15 gallon translucent plastic drums. If I put about 2 inches of water in the bottom of one of these drums and then fill it with gas and shake it up and let it sit for an hour or so and then drain off the gas, have I just “made” a drum of alcohol free gas?
Let me know what ya’ll think. Trust me I plan to do a lot of talking and research before I pour this stuff into a $17,000. dollar outboard.
You can buy ethanol free gas
They don’t sell it everywhere, but there are 4-5 spots in Charleston…typically runs more expensive (this weekend it was $4.19/gallon where i get mine) than normal gas, but not as expensive as the ethanol free gas you’d buy at a marina.
I just go to spinx. Removing the alcohol lowers the octane. There comes a point where my time is worth more than a few dollars here or there. Just not worth the trouble and damange that could possibly be done.
Ya’ll are right. Just suck it up and pay the price. I was at the new Parkers in Beaufort the other day and noticed the regular was $2.98 and the marine (alcohol free) was $4.03 and that made me start thinking about how much trouble it would be to remove the alcohol from the regular.
Oh and BTW, the regular on that particular day was only 6.58% alcohol.
Do not use the gas you like that. They use the ethanol to raise the octane. I had phase separation on a tank of E10 and the gas that was left ran rough. Ended up dumping it at the recycling center. Cleaned carbs and never put any ethanol in again. It’s $3.59 per gallon in Lexington where I get bait.
Yeppers, I found out that the octane numbers drop by about 5% without the alcohol. We are up to five from a low of two marine fuel stations in Beaufort now. I expect we will soon see some drop in price. Thanks for all the input.