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Small engine E85

  • 23-07-2010 9:55am
    #1
    gu10
    Closed Accounts Posts: 113 ✭✭


    Is there any small engine available now (less than 10kW) that is designed from the ground up to run on E85 or E100? I have looked around but all I can find is a bunch of rednecks fear mongering about how even a small concentration of ethanol caused their small engine to explode (no exaggeration)and how the evil gubmint should stop interfering with their 'gas'.

    The general indication seems to be that anything made within the last 10 years should be grand with 10% ethanol and that anything more will void the warranty and possibly cause the engine to break.

    Most of the problems from using ethanol seem to be from rubber fuel lines and some rubber seals being eroded but then there are people saying that just about anything used to make an engine gets corroded by ethanol and a small minority that says its a load of nonsense.

    Even if nothing gets corroded the engine will run like a donkey because it needs to push more fuel through the engine than with ordinary petrol due to the lower energy content of ethanol but that seems to be an easy enough modification I cant find any decent guide on how to do it. The real problem is changing the compression ratio so it will run efficiently on E85 so a purpose-built ethanol engine would be ideal.

    Back in 1994 I used to have a tiny 2-stroke engine for a model airplane or boat that could only run on ethanol or possibly methanol but it wasn't something you could get at a pump - it was expensive stuff presumably made with a special 2-stroke oil that isn't affected by the ethanol and apparently there still is such a thing available now but its tiny and only good for model airplanes and such.

    Has anyone here tried running a lawnmower off E85 or tried to convert an engine?


Comments

  • #2
    CJhaughey
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,907 ✭✭✭✭CJhaughey


    Its true, alcohol in petrol makes shít of small 2t engines.
    strimmers, chainsaws and most 2t equipment doesnt run well on alcohol blended fuel, they just aren't set up for it. Jetting changes are impossible due to the small size of the carbs and the fact that most manufacturers don't cater for carb tuning on that size of engine.
    In Scandinavia and most of Europe they avoid the issue of damaging these engines by selling a fuel called Aspen which is much cleaner and specifically designed for small engines.
    Over here the mandatory use of E5 petrol is actually responsible for lots of seized engines. Alcohol is hydrophilic and with a humid climate like this it an absorb a lot of atmospheric moisture which doesn't do good things to the internals of engines.
    4T engines like B+S, Kohler, Kawasaki and others run OK on Ethanol fuel as they don't depend on premix to stay lubricated.


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