Fuel adatives?

Do any of you use any fuel additives on a regular basis? and if you do what kind?  My boat sits at a pier all summer and can't help but think all the hot days and cool nights has to be creating condensation in the tank.  Although i'd assume all engine makes would be interested. In my case i'm running a Evinrude E-tec

I add Sea Foam to everything and have never had an issue. All of my engines start up one the first or second crank in the spring and run well. I do by the Ethanol free 93 octane for my four stroke engines but still add the Sea Foam. For my 2 stroke, I buy the gas in a can and have never had any issues with it. Run it in both my chain saw and weed eaters. I swear by Sea Foam. I even dump a can in my truck a couple of times a year.   

I always buy premium gas (no ethanol) for all of my motors.  Only one I don't is my car. For my gas trimmer I don't even buy gas, I buy that gas in a can - higher octane, pre-mixed, and doesn't break down for like 3 or 4 years, or so they claim.  In my outboard, unless I'm using it every day like I did on vacation I always put about 3 ounces of sea foam in the tank before I fill it up.  I never know when the next time I'll get out fishing.  And if I still have gas left at the end of the season I dump it into a portable tank and use it in my snowblower in the winter.  One year I didn't use up all of the fuel in my tank in the snowblower and I let it sit.  Next fall I couldn't get it started until I dumped a bunch of sea foam in there and filled the tank with fresh gas and waited a few days.  It slowly got started and after running about 2 or 3 minutes it shot out a huge fireball out of the exhaust then it ran fine after that.  The fuel mustve broken down in the carberator bowl.  So now I make sure that I run all of my motors (again besides my vehicle) completely out of fuel before I put them away.

TRF-

As touched on earlier in this thread, not all of us have access to ethanol free gas, and either have to drive to the next county, or add some type of fuel treatment. 

Due to EPA Regs., you cannot purchase ethanol free gas in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Racine or Kenosha Counties.  

I’ve learned that seafoam in every tank keeps everything running nicely for me.

If I had a choice, I would definitely burn fuel without ethanol...

Edit: Similar to Star Tron, Sea Foam prevents moisture as well - along with a stabilizer and a fuel system cleaner. 

Don't run ethanol. If you are trying to pinch pennies you should think about selling your boat! Ethanol only causes problems in engines that are not run on a regular basis. You shouldn't have to worry about gummies in your gas so run 91 octane premium non ethanol and I'll put money on problems going away. For storage purposes the Startron enzyme treatment is the way to go. Eliminates water and keeps the system clean. Previous post from Vegas492 was spot on!

The thing with star tron

Does not do enough to prevent carbon buildup

That's why they make a separate product clean up carbon build-up

Seafoam Marine pro covers that also

I went to da Fleet Farm last week... No Stabil but they had Star Tron. Bought a bottle just in case.

Went to Anchor's A'Weigh in Waukesha to get a few things and asked about it. The guy behind the counter was adamant that Star Tron was world's better than Stabil. I don't know about that, but at least it was an endorsement.  Dumped the bottle in my tank and away I went.  

I've seen a few pros that have YouTube channels that use Star Tron. If it's good enough for the pros (even as a paid endorsement), it's good enough for me. I wouldn't be surprised if they're about equal.

Not familiar with Star tron...

There are lots of good products on the market.

You want a stabilizer (to prevent separation), and a cleaner to remove the gum that ethanol leaves behind.

Sea foam checks both boxes, not sure about Star tron...  may be just as good???

Any opinions on Star Tron marine ?

I used Seafoam marine for years, but a friend talked me into using Star Tron. Now, I can't remember his reasons...

.

I don't remember when Sea Foam came out, but i'm 68 now and remember my dad always used to call it "mechanic in a can".  

Seafoam and 89 octane in every tank

That’s smart thinking my friend, ethanol is just evil for outboards lol!

Cheers :)

Brent,

Thanks for the response.  Sounds like you have some great resources for this topic.

I have never had ethanol issues with any of my stuff, but I ALWAYS use additives. Would never run just straight gas by itself.

262-

Good question, the 80% number is based on the folks that I know in the industry.My brother-in-law is the general manager of a marina, and he tells me hands-down, the number one issue they see outboards in their shop is fuel related issues from ethanol.Also, newer motors are more resistant to ethanol, but an outboard with a carburetor, simply won’t tolerate ethanol.

Also, ethanol begins to separate from gas in as little as two weeks. If you don’t burn through a full tank in two weeks, you’re going to have issues.Interestingly, I had a conversation with a Small Engine guy, he fixes weedeaters, lawnmowers, snowblowers, that type of thing, and he stated the same thing as my brother-in-law, it is almost always a fuel related issue.

From personal experience, I have a couple of older outboards with carburetors, and if I run a single tank of gas with ethanol through them, I have issues.I run seafoam in every tank, it stabilizes the gas, as well as keeps your injectors and / or carburetors clean.

I've been using Sea Foam since I got my boat back in 2016. Add a bottle every time I fill up the tank (23 gallons). Dealer also told me to run 87 octane fuel in my Mercury Optimax 90 HP.

The Sea Foam story began in the 1930s, when Fred Fandrei, a salesman in the petroleum industry, wanted to spend more time fishing than fixing his outboard motor because of fuel-related problems. With the goal of finding the perfect petroleum blend, Fred created a formula that would stop fuel from going bad and help his motor run better. The formula became quite popular among his fishing friends. He began selling it to local fishermen in beer bottles and quart jars, naming the formula “Sea Foam” after a friend in Florida called and asked for some of that “Sea Foam stuff.”