Posts: 3476
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
Here would be a reasonable argument for not using E10 in your SMALL ENGNINE.... Look at the fuel line it is made with... If anything will break down quickly, it will be the fuel lines in these engines. I've replaced many over the years from weed whips, chain saws, lawnmowers, blowers, edgers, hedge trimmers (worked for lawn care company for a few years during college) and all of them had polyurethane fuel lines. They would literally disintegrate over time due to various reasons...but for their purpose, that fuel line works very well and the engines were easy to maintain by changing them out every few years.
Almost all small engines are made with fuel lines consisting of polyurethane, which is conditionally resistant to ethanol, not resistant to benzene nor Toluene (both components in various fuel blends), but is resistant to pure gasoline. Note it is not gasoline-proof, though...it will still break down over time, just not as fast...
The parts inside of a carb for these engines are primarily some rubber compound for certain parts (O rings, etc), gaskets that are a rubber/fiber compound, with a plastic float (both alcohol and gasoline resistant), The item that breaks down is the fuel line, and those bits and pieces are what get in the jets of the carburetor. The other parts remain decent, although gaskets do their job and rip from time to time, needing replacement. They do stay in tact when not disassembled. This is what the first video posted reflected for a SMALL engine...it does not transfer to our marine and automobile engines of today. If the fuel is unstabilized, it does not take much fuel for things to get gelled up and clogged either, which also means it is important to stabilize your fuel in a small engine as well. Again...the main issue...maintenance...
Below is a link to the various chemicals that have been tested with Polyurethane fuel lines. A quick scan shows what they are resistant to, conditionally resistant to, and not resistant to.
Goes to show a small engine is built on a completely different level than our marine engines and our automobiles on the road today. The engineers have done this work for us and continue to test and test and test as they design and refine our power plants under the hood.
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/polyurethane-chemical-resistance-...
Steve
Edited by VMS 10/29/2019 1:33 PM
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