Mix gas, storage and shelf life

[Dave Shepard]

I brought my 036 to work as I knew I had to buck a bunch of logs for the mill, and I wasn't really in the mood to tolerate the Husky 55, too small for the job. The Stihl has been sitting since about May. I fired it up, third pull  , lopped off a couple of knobs on a log that was on the deck. Something didn't seem right, it cut like my 394 used to(before it blew up  :'() I fired it up again and held the throttle wide open and it sounded like it was running somewhere between 15,000 and about 1.2 million RPMs. I actually thought it might blow apart in my hands. I know no one has been near the saw, so I figured that it must have something to do with the old gas, so I drained it and put in fresh. Now it runs fine. ???

I have never had a problem like this before. Could it be the new gas with ethanol? If so, what is  the shelf life of mix gas these days?


Dave

[Reddog]

90 days is what I have been told.

[Furby]

30 days is what I hear from almost every source.

Edit:
Do a google and it's spread out all across the board, lots of folks claiming gas never goes bad as well. :

[sawguy21]

Straight go juice starts giving problems after thirty days, dump it in the truck in small amounts after 45 and get fresh. The quality 2 stroke oils have stabilizer in them which is supposed to be be good for up to two years but don't push it. I never keep mix over 3 months.

[Dave Shepard]

This gas was about three months old. I use the Stihl mix in the orange bottle. I believe it is supposed to be there best mix. When I dump old mix, I do it all at once. Never had a truck complain yet. :D


Dave

[beenthere]

Regardless of the shelf life, we have no clue as to the time that has past by before we pump the gas at the 'pump'.  I suspect a lot of gas is stored when purchased in bulk, and waiting for the next price hike to distribute it. There should be a test to use at the station to give the 'half life' of the gas we are buying. (I think  ;D )
Any gas-testing inventions out there?

[Furby]

Talk about opening a door............. 

Let's rephrase that and ask if there are any gasoline testing inventions out there. ;) ;D

[Corley5]

Fall, winter and spring saw gas doesn't get old here.  I mix it five gallons at a time.  The rest of the year we'll mix a gallon if we need a saw and keep it around for couple weeks or so before dumping it in the pickup or lawnmower.

[IL Bull]

I always add Stabil to my mixed gas for my own piece of mind.  ;D