What’s the story with E10?
To meet climate targets, the Dutch government mandated the mass introduction of E10 from 1 October 2019. E10 fuel contains twice as much ethanol as before: maximum 10 to maximum 5% with E5. This fuel has already been introduced in Belgium.
Ethanol is clean but harmful to your engine’s fuel system. Not only for older cars, but also for machinery. Especially if they’ve been stationary for a longer period.
Problems caused by ethanol
Particularly in the winter, we use our machines less. Even after two to three months of downtime, E10 petrol can cause problems, because ethanol limits the shelf life of the petrol. In fact, a self-mixed E10 two-stroke petrol usually only has a shelf life of one month, because often the oil separates and so the blended lubrication is no longer reliable.
Potential problems caused by ethanol:
- separation of two-stroke oil
- rust and gumming in the tank and fuel system
- higher fuel consumption (2-3%)
- dissolving of (older) rubber and plastic parts
- hotter combustion because engines run leaner
- vapour lock on carburettor engines
- lacquer formation on fuel injectors
- engine knocking
Aspen alkylate petrol is the solution for machines
Aspen fuels are ethanol-free and have a long shelf life. This makes it the ideal solution for the aforementioned problems. Aspen alkylate petrol prevents expensive repairs to the fuel system.
How to store machines for longer periods of time
For problem-free over-wintering, drain the normal petrol as much as possible and replace it with Aspen alkylate petrol. Run the machine on this for a while to fill the entire fuel system with Aspen.
In principle, Aspen alkylate petrol can be mixed with E10 and E5 petrol, but the lower the ethanol content in the engine, the longer the shelf life. In other words, mixing fuels is not a good idea.
Go to ecomaxx.nl for ethanol-free fuel for mopeds, motorbikes and classic cars.
Read here about problems with E10 petrol in practice.