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Well things seem a little slow today so how about
re-opening a can of worms? We had a brief discussion a while back regarding
ethanol in fuel. Frankly at the time I didnt know much about the subject but
have been reading a little since I'm burning auto fuel.
At the time I think it was Al G. who said so far he
hasnt found any auto fuel with ethanol in it. If I got that wrong I apologize.
So far I havent found any auto fuel that DOESNT. As far as I can tell from my
reading ALL auto fuel in CA has at least 6% and most is at 10% now.
Looks like the concerns are:
1) Vapor lock
2) Potential corrosion of aluminum components in
the fuel system.
3) Deterioration of rubber (and other?) components
in the fuel system.
4) Water.
5) Dislodging contaminants from previously used
fuels.
I believe (hope?) the vapor lock issues to be
a non-problem with our EFI systems. The potential corrosion issues seem to
be overstated for ethanol, clearly a problem with methanol. All the hose in my
airplane is Earls Perform-O-Flex which according to their website is "synthetic
rubber". I assume they mean neoprene which I gather is ethanol safe. I assume
the injectors themselves are safe? I thought Pro-Seal is also supposed
to be ethanol safe. My airplane is new so there should be no issue with
dislodged contaminants.
This leaves the issue of ethanol's affinity for
water. Other than always keeping the tanks full to minimize airspace in the tank
and condensation any ideas on how to deal with this other than hoping it doesnt
happen?
I bring this subject up because for the second time
since I've started flying I've found a little contamination during my pre-flight
when sumping the tanks. Each fuel sample has a few ground pepper sized black
flakes in it. Whatever it is it crumbles to powder between the fingers. The
first time I completely drained the tanks and pulled the fuel filters and
cleaned them. When I refilled the tanks I used a Mr. Funnel to make sure nothing
bad got added. So whatever this is, its residual junk in the tanks from when
they were built. Or its something (like ethanol) attacking the Pro
Seal.
Any comments on ethanol in general or my fuel
contamination issue are welcome.
Mike Wills
RV-4 N144MW
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