Outboard Water Separators?

[Quillback]

The Ethanol Mandate requires refineries to add a number of gallons of ethanol to gasoline, according to the article in the link, 13 billions of ethanol last year. So, as I unserstand it, if the refineries use the mandated amount during the year, they are free to produce non-ethanol blends, in other words it's not illegal to produce non-ethanol gasoline as long as they use the mandated amount to make ethanol blends.

What I found interesting, in my trip to South Dakota this year, is that every gas station I visited in SD sold 87 octane non-ethanol gas and 89 octane with 10% ethanol. So here you have a state that lobbies hard to keep the ethanol mandate (to benefit local farmers in SD), but yet sells non-ethanol gas at every pump in the state. That just ain't right..

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/11/19/congress-should-permanently-waive-the-ethanol-mandate/

[jeb]

But in my research I did find several places (Wikipedia) that says you cannot make E10 or E85 by just pouring ethanol into gasoline that it is a complicated process at the refinery requiring different processes for summer and winter fuel so other than a gas station owner can you please reference that statement.

Sure, I'll post some links. But I'd ask that you do the same about "cannot make E10 or E85 by just pouring ethanol into gasoline":

http://www.nacleanenergy.com/?action=article&id=11620 (note where it says most ethanol is blended at the terminal)

http://www.maine.gov/dep/air/mobile/ethanol.html (see the bottom of the page, under Market Forces)

Let me know if you need more links. They are plentiful.

[Stump bumper]

Like I said I didn't spend much time on this and really didn't know other than a few articles and some research back in the Bush years. Thank you for the information and no I am seeing it is not a mandate to add ethanol just a tax incentive that leads to higher profits thus the reason most companies will do it, there is a lot of mis information out there when people blog to bash a product.

This what I was reading and near as detailed in the mixing procedures then what you were reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_ethanol_fuel_mixtures

[J-Doc]

I just passed by Andersons headed towards Evoca and it was posted as E10. I think someone mentioned it as non-ethanol fuel. Just thought I'd mention this.

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[jeb]

Pull in and read the pumps and other signs. They have 3 grades of regular fuel there, at least that was the case 2-3 weeks ago when I pulled in. All 87 octane. One is 100% gas, one is E10 and I think the other is E5. Odd arrangement. I was not able to get fuel on that stop as my boat requires mid-grade, 89 octane fuel. Seems like they used to have all three grades, but only the premium was E-free. So I think they mix their selection a bit.

[J-Doc]

Saw this just now and thought I'd share. I haven't read it yet but I plan on reading it.

http://blog.powerblocktv.com/?p=8679

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[J-Doc]

So I got all the way to the bottom where they were claiming."millions" in numbers early in the blog but the end of the blog outed that the survey was based on a little o er 1,000 people in a phone based survey sample. Seems way off and skewed data to take such a small sample and compare it with millions. Too many variables.

I do think E15 is a bad thing.

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[fishinwrench]

In a 4-stroke engine, if it will run on it without any detonation I don't see how it could do any internal engine damage.

On a 2-stroke, excessive alcohol might possibly wash the cylinder lubricant away to a degree and shorten engine life. Other than that I'm on the fence about the claims of catastrophic engine failure due to fuel.

If the engine is tuned to the fuel (whatever it may be) then what hard parts can it possibly hurt ?

I just can't ignore the possibility of oil company propaganda here.

[J-Doc]

I agree. If the engine is tuned and built for it, yes no worries but either manufactures are claiming an easy out on warranty work and blaming ethanol or there is some truth to the myth.

I read an article in Bassmaster a couple of years back where the outboard manufacturers were siting issues with E gas stating they didn't have a chance to design their motors for it and now they are scrambling.

If the motor is designed for it, great. If not, seems a risk to me but I'm not a mechanic so I can't really weigh in on it at an informed level. I see both sides of the argument of propaganda and potential hazards. If I can pay about the same amount for non-E fuel, I'll go that route till the dust settles. :-)

It's just like global warming. No one can prove it for sure. MIT scientists all agree its not possible to prove. Global fluctuation in temp is probably a more sustained theory but cannot be proven. Knowing something about this subject matter at a professional level, I agree. If you cannot accurately calculate a carbon footprint, then how can you mandate carbon credits to polluting manufactures? Its a tax on a polluting company with a fancy name. If you can't calculate a credit, how can you charge a credit?

Until it's all settled out over time, I'll go on the safe side and look for non-E as a precaution. Even if it has E in it as Stump said, I'd like to think I tried to prevent any issues. Lol!!

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[jeb]

So I got all the way to the bottom where they were claiming."millions" in numbers early in the blog but the end of the blog outed that the survey was based on a little o er 1,000 people in a phone based survey sample. Seems way off and skewed data to take such a small sample and compare it with millions. Too many variables.

I understand what you're saying, but that's the way surveys work. They are not 100% accurate but, as long as they call folks from a diverse area, the results are probably a pretty good indicator. And I don't doubt it. I'm sure most folks pay little to no attention to fuel mix.

I do think E15 is a bad thing.

Agreed. They should be easing back on ethanol requirements to bring food and crop prices down, not insisting on more. But that's your government at work, wasting more of your hard earned money.