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Sta-bil

Geo-TH,In

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
I emptied a sta-bil bottle and was shocked what I saw. Looked like dried varnish stuck to bottle. . I used E85 and some varnish came off. So I emptied another bottle, varnish. Same with third bottle.

Please report back what you find inside your sta-bil plastic bottles
George
 
Here's another pic. First attempt
cvphoto43905.jpg

Didn't post.
I'm done with sta bil.
Replacing a carb on generator. Idle jets are choked.
George
 
(quoted from post at 13:08:25 12/07/19) I emptied a sta-bil bottle and was shocked what I saw. Looked like dried varnish stuck to bottle. . I used E85 and some varnish came off. So I emptied another bottle, varnish. Same with third bottle.

Please report back what you find inside your sta-bil plastic bottles
George
Click to expand...

How old is it. It has a 2 year life after it is opened.

I have never had it gum up.
 
Don't know how old it is. Never thought
it had a shelf life. I know gasoline can
sit sor a year and not go bad.

So what good is sta bill if it goes bad
in 2 years?

I'll never buy any more. I'm done with
it.
George
 
I would guess the reply asking about how old it is might be the best explanation. Anything sitting for years is bound to change in some way. I've only used the stabilizer stuff in a motorcycle that sits for six months and spring starting was always an issue. I'll say it certainly did solve that problem for me. The article below is good reading ....
Fuel Stabilizer information .....
 
I've used it for years with satisfactory results and NEVER saw any residue or foreign material and will continue to do so based on such great results, but if a person had bad results I don't blame them for NOT using it, to each their own experiences and opinions.

John T
 
I use the red Sta-bil constantly in all my equipment from lawn mowers to antique tractors that sit more than they are run, and also in tractors that I use all the time. I've never had any trouble with anything at all that would have been caused by the use of it.
 
Judging from the appearance of that bottle and the label I suspect it is really old.

You would be better off assuming everything has a shelf life unless stated or proven otherwise.

I leaned my lesson with Polyurethane years ago. Never forgot that lesson.

Paul
 
Yes sta bill is old. Only one bottle mentioned shelf life 2 years. Lesson learned. Does sea foam have shelf life ? What about Lucas or Howes? No mention of shelf life .

I'm not going to blame E10 or sta BIL for generator carb screwing up. Good news is China carb from Amazon shipped in 2 days. $16 Tav included, prime. Works great. Best news it appears to be an adjustable carb. None of these California compliant ones.

Hard to see. Old carb is left of my hand.
cvphoto43914.jpg
 
I used Sta-bil once in my generator when it was pretty new, and I had problems afterwards, ended up cleaning the carb. Haven't used any since, no problems. I do use a little Seafoam once in awhile if I suspect a carb is starting to plug, If you catch it quick enough you don't have to take them apart.
 
I used Stabil years ago. I was never impressed by it if the engine was not run within 6 months. I switched to Primrose Protec O Lube. All my engines start like they were run the day before no matter how long they sit. I had one sit for years and it fired right up and ran good.
 
I know it involves reading instructions, but the bottle does have verbiage on it as to how long you have to use the product.

If yours does not, the manufacturer's website says 2 years from purchase:

https://www.goldeagle.com/tips-tools/how-do-i-know-if-my-sta-bil-fuel-stabilizer-is-still-good-to-use/
 
I agree with the seafoam. Only trouble is it works if you catch it,and if the ethanol starts eating the zink you are toast. I even drain my carbs by letting them run dry and STILL that etinol eats them!
 
I had nothing but trouble using Stabil years ago. I switched to Ethanol Shield and had many less problems. Then I switched to pure non ethanol gasoline, and I like that. I do small engine repair and my go to most of the time solution is Mechanic-In-A-Bottle. I call it Miracle -in-a-bottle. It is absolutely amazing how effective that stuff is for cleaning up gummed up carbs. Available at Wally world, Tractor Supply, Menards and other outlets...
 
In the shop that we had here we never did much of the fuel additives, run gasohol everything we did got along fine. sold like maybe 3 bottles of it in last 10 12 years, still have cases of it, startron, and briggs one. probably all go out when we have brush fire clean up. anyone want it at discount, have come get some shippers do not like to deliver it now
 
King
My new policy is to keep all tanks topped off by over winter. In spring run everything out of gass before adding new.
 
I don't use Stabil. IMHO,it's 'snake oil'. I always turn the gas off and run the carb dry.The gas in the tank doesn't seem to go bad in the few winter months. I will drian/syphon a tank if it will set for more than 3-4 months.Like my combine,or pulling tractor.I run Avgas in my ATV/motorcycle,etc. That stuff never goes bad.Just this morning I helped a friend try to start his M. It was full of green goo. He said he put stabil in it.Ended up draining the gas and cleaning out the carb.
 
Loren - check the label of the Stihl 2 cycle oil. It probably has fuel stabilizer added to it. I used to add Stabil to my 2 cycle mix, but one day I read the oil label and fuel stabilizer was already in there.
 
George, in some cases it's better to buy the smallest quantity of a product. Then you'll empty the container before it goes bad. I take that approach with PVC cement. Even the smallest bottles of PVC cement are still too big. It's hard for me to resist a bargain, but if they were giving away PVC cement for free, I'd only take one bottle. In your case, you had three bottles of Stabil, when it looks like you only needed one half of one bottle at the most.

I've never had a problem with using Stabil, but a bottle of it gets used up pretty quick around here. I don't use it in my road vehicles, but every gallon of off-road gasoline gets doped with Stabil.
 
After reading the others here is something I did with a lot of the chainsaws in my collection. Mix one bottle of two cycle mix and a gallon of synthetic kerosene from Lowes or Depot. The saw will start on the little gas left in the carb and after it starts running on this mix it cleans everything . Let it run out of the fuel mix. After any tiny bit evaporates it leaves virtually no deposits. Next year throw some mix in and pull the rope.
 
Thats what i was told,once it's in the tank mixed, it's best to burn it out before 1 year, or it's going to stick every thing in the carb.
 
I have been aware of the stabilizer in Stihl 2 cycle. When I make my last load of firewood for the season I also fuel my splitter motor with saw gas. I figure that it lubes the top end of the motor a bit for winter storage. Most of my tractors are diesel, and I don't worry much about the gas ones. They always start in the spring.------------Loren
 
I found a lid wrench at Menard's [I think] that tightens the PVC lids without distorting them. I have a can out in the shop that is approaching a year old. I checked it yesterday [I have a project coming up] and it looked as good as new. It's been stored on an open shelf, upside down and with the lid tightened by this handy dandy wrench.
the wrench
 
I have yet to hear any plausible explanation about how Sta-Bil and other fuel stabilizers supposedly work. Which leads me to believe they're snake oil. I still use Sta-Bil, but it's more from superstitious belief than logic.
 
So why are OEMs marketing their own brand, or adding it to their marketed brand of oil for 2 strokers....like Stihl for one, or Mercury Marine for another, or Chevrolet for a third........ if it doesn't work? Don't tell me it's just another profit maker....I did my own "cause and effect testing" and it's in all my fuels, including my "gasoline".
 
PJH,
I too only buy small bottles of PVC/CPVC glue. Next time I go to use it it's bad.
My question is if Sta bil goes bad in the bottle, what's the shelf life of sta bil mixed with gas? Will it leave snake poo in your carb? I'll never buy it again, period. Lesson learned. Hope others have learned something too.
geo
 
> So why are OEMs marketing their own brand, or adding it to their marketed brand of oil for 2 strokers....like Stihl for one, or Mercury Marine for another, or Chevrolet for a third........ if it doesn't work? Don't tell me it's just another profit maker....I did my own "cause and effect testing" and it's in all my fuels, including my "gasoline".

I'll note for the record that you made no attempt to explain how you think it works. And it IS very profitable. As for the two-stroke oils that claim to have "fuel stabilizer" qualities, well, they have to cut the oil with SOMETHING; they might as well claim magical properties for their solvent of choice.
 


I m pretty sure;

After a time (2yrs) or sooner if the cap is left off, sta bil will absorb the moisture in the air and loose is usefulness.
 
I had to drain the carb on the sm and 400 one spring. That fall I ran out of gas with the sm and dumped a gallon of saw gas in to get into the barn. It started the next spring. Had to drain the carb on the 400 again. So I just try to get a little 2 stroke oil into the gas before parking anything for a long time.
 
The Naptha cuts through the baked on grime allowing rings to limber up and do the job in which they intended, especially on 2 wedge shaped ringed Loop Charged 2 stroke outboard engines.
The Alcohol is to treat small amounts of water in the fuel...condensation results type thing.
The Mineral Oil is to lubricate the engine since it was primarily made/used as a 2 stroke outboard fix-all.

Having brought several small 2 and 4 stroke engines back from the dead, only using the product, plus running for 10 years with no carburetor problems on a 2 stroke outboard helped to convince me. Having zero fuel problems with any of my vehicles...cars, trucks, boats, tractors, mowers, small engines using it.....have helped to convince me.
 


I've had nothing but problems using Sta-bil. I try to drain tanks if I'm not going to be using a machine now.
 
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