🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1393@fisher.UUCP>, djl@fisher.UUCP (Dan Levin) writes:
> Please note that the "dial your octane" Sunoco pumps,
> the ones that produce 93.5 octane gas, do so by adding
> more and more alcohol to the fuel.  While this does increase
> the octane, it will also play havoc with your mixture
> (NB, the optimum combustion mixture for ethanol is 40% different
> from that for typical gas, ~9:1 vs. ~15:1).
> 
> 			***dan
> 
> {allegra,astrovax,princeton}!fisher!djl
> The misplaced (That car sure is rusty!) Californian

In the local Sunoco station here in Chantilly, VA, there is a sign in the
window that says Sunoco does not put alcohol in its gas.  I questioned the
attendent about this and they say they don't put alcohol in their gas.  Here
in Chantilly, the price of 93.5 Octane Sunoco unleaded is more than the price
of Amoco Super unleaded (and other brands), so I tend to doubt they are using
some cheap method of increasing their Octane.  I use Sunoco 93.5 Octane almost
exclusively, but want to avoid using any gas that contains alcohol.  Can anyone
confirm whether they use alcohol in their gas?

                  Dennis Gibbs

> Can anyone confirm whether they use alcohol in their gas?
> 
You can check it (or any other gas) yourself with a simple test.
You will need a test tube, graduated cylinder, or any other
container where known volumes can be marked.  Fill the lower
half with water and the upper half with a gas sample.  Shake
the mixture for a minute and compare the volume gain of the
water.  Any alcohol in the gas will disolve out and into the
water.  The volume gain of the water equals the amount of alcohol
in the gas.

[discussion of gas alcohol in gas]
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              etc.

   Please also be advised that alcohol *in any form*, that means as an
octane booster, gas line antifreeze, etc.,  plays havoc with the rubber
diaphragms in your carburator.  Alcohol has the effect of drying out rubber,
so therefore your diaphragms in the carburator become very stiff and do
not do what they are supposed to (as part of a pump/regulator assembly for
example).  This means early carburator replacement/rebuild time.  If you
don't believe me, find someone that uses alot of gas line antifreeze and
offer to rebuild their carburator...the diaphragms will be like typing
paper almost...

-- 
     Adrian Zannin
     SUNY at Buffalo Computer Science

..{bbncca,decvax,dual,rocksvax,watmath,sbcs}!sunybcs!ugzannin
CSNET:    ugzannin@Buffalo.CSNET
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BITNET:   ugzannin@sunybcs.BITNET

In article <2957@sunybcs.UUCP>, ugzannin@sunybcs.UUCP (Adrian Zannin) writes:
> [discussion of gas alcohol in gas]
>    Please also be advised that alcohol *in any form*, that means as an
> octane booster, gas line antifreeze, etc.,  plays havoc with the rubber
> diaphragms in your carburator.  Alcohol has the effect of drying out rubber,
> so therefore your diaphragms in the carburator become very stiff and do
> not do what they are supposed to (as part of a pump/regulator assembly for
> example).  This means early carburator replacement/rebuild time.  If you
> don't believe me, find someone that uses alot of gas line antifreeze and
> offer to rebuild their carburator...the diaphragms will be like typing
> paper almost...

	Sorry, but this is simply NOT true!  Simple alcohols likely to be
found as fuel additives (like methanol, ethanol, etc.) are NOT harmful to
virtually all rubber formulations.
	If the synthetic rubber in contact with the fuel is losing elasticity
or undergoing chemical attack, it is NOT the result of any alcohol.  Also,
there is no water bound with any synthetic rubber material which would "dry"
out.  There are several other chemical mechanisms which could cause rubber to
lose elasticity.  For example, chloroprene rubber (Neoprene) is a common
elastomer used in automotive applications which has excellent resistance to
the aliphatic hydrocarbons in gasoline, but has poor resistance to ketones
such as acetone.  On the other hand, chlorosulfonated rubber (Hypalon) and
polysulfide rubber (Thiokol) have excellent resistance to both gasoline and
ketones.
	I suspect that if in fact there is a correlation between rubber
deterioration and the use of gasoline antifreeze, it is the result of
chloroprene rubber components being exposed to an antifreeze formulation
which uses acetone.

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....
	Besides doing nasty things to rubber components of your carb/
injector, Alcohol acts as an Acid as well as a BASE to various metal
parts in your carb/injector mechanism (Unless your carb/inj was specifically
designed for use of gas + CH3OH + C2H5OH). 
Jan

>  [discussion of the harmful effects of alcohol on rubber]
>         This means early carburator replacement/rebuild time.  If you
> don't believe me, find someone that uses alot of gas line antifreeze and
> offer to rebuild their carburator...the diaphragms will be like typing
> paper almost...
> -- 
>      Adrian Zannin
> ..{bbncca,decvax,dual,rocksvax,watmath,sbcs}!sunybcs!ugzannin
> CSNET:    ugzannin@Buffalo.CSNET
> ARPANET:  ugzannin%Buffalo@csnet-relay.ARPA
> BITNET:   ugzannin@sunybcs.BITNET

When I lived in Winnipeg I used a lot of gas-line antifreeze in
my 76 Mazda 808.  I drove that car 105,000 miles and never touched
the carburettor.