Years ago an old-timer told me that especially with two stroke boat motors, to run them dry every time you pulled them out of the lake. Leaving gas in the carburetors is just a prime recipe for gummed up carburetors.

 

The new damage is on the rear of the trailer. The damage I repaired last year was on both front corners. This repair is much easier, even though I'm doing it solo. All the rotted wood that required replacing has been addressed. Epoxy was shot into the minor delamination, just in case. Today was cleanup of the membrane and the molding. The glue on the membrane brought up a layer of the OSB and that all had to be scraped off. Plenty of mineral spirits were used to get the adhesive to release the OSB fragments. The membrane doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects from that. The membrane will get "stuck" back down after I receive the adhesive on Tuesday.

I put down around 18 Eternabond patches on the roof. Seven of those were from where I removed the roof rack The rest were small tears I found. I finished the day by installing six brackets on one of the solar panels. It was too late in the day to install it on the roof and the Dicor lap sealant on the patches needed more time to cure. Plus, I think it's too heavy and bulky for me to get it on the roof by myself. I did test the panel on the ground and it was outputting 35 volts. Pretty good for a cloudy/smoky day.

My RV roof is starting to look like a quilt.

 

If you use fuel with Ethanol in it, that's certainly true. I go out of my way to buy Ethanol-free fuel for my lawn equipment and the RV generator.

 

Jim....... Good to hear that progress is being made........ Maybe that trailer needs to burn to the ground in the middle of the night.......

Steve..... That trail sounds interesting. sure glad you two are enjoying your tour of Montana.........

 

Oh, and the generator fuel pump seems to have died.

 

Jim.... You are having just too much fun.......

 

Good idea to do that for sure, I run ethanol free fuel all the time and it doesn't go bad as fast. But it does go bad! The last time I used the boat I probably figured I was going to use it again in a short time. It's probably been a year and half, i guess that was too long.

 

The first startup in the spring for my lawn equipment, I'll give it a shot of carb cleaner, just in case.

I have a Honda snowblower that is about 15 years old. It's on its third carburetor. I have no idea why, but if I drain all the fuel out after winter, the next season the carb assembly just keeps leaking fuel. I don't think it's coming from the bowl. If I leave it full of fuel, it doesn't have that problem. I've become quite fast at changing out the carburetor assembly. I keep a new one on hand, just in case.

 

It's not just the boat fuel getting old. The fuel acts as a wetting agent in the jets and such,then the dust swirling around from the gravel roads sticks to it. Over time the jet gets smaller. First you have rough acceleration then hard starts, then no start. For the carb that leaks if left dry, drain it out including tank then add enough atf to tank to fill the carb. Keeps everything wetted, makes a good gentle carb cleaner. Drain carb in spring fill with clean gas

 

I have plenty of ATF sitting around. Leaving fuel in it sounds easier though.

 

Winter blend gasoline goes bad faster than summer blend due to higher content of butane in winter blend.

 

I'd run her down, drain the fuel and throw some trufuel in the tank. Then I'd run it to make certain the trufuel was in the carb.

 

I've used TruFuel in the past. I don't think it's much different than the Ethanol-free fuel I get from the pump. Plus, what I get from the pump is a lower octane.

I keep a can of TruFuel in my ATV cargo box that I take on the trail.

 

Well, you have replaced 3 carbs on the snowblower. So the fuel you are using is gumming up the carb. It's an inexpensive solution. The other thing to consider is who used the pump before you. Never fill up your gas can's before filling up the gas in the vehicle (assuming you are driving a gasser). The reason being there could be as much as a gallon of the previously used fuel left in the lines that needs to exit the system (into your fuel jug) before your precious ethanol free fuel goes into your jug. So if you are driving a diesel truck to the gas station, you are in a pinch. You may always get a little bit of ethanol in your fuel because you couldn't purge the fuel out into your truck. I guess use that can first. I always take the Jeep when getting gasoline for the outdoor equipment for this reason. I always take the truck when getting diesel for the tractor.

You can always buy a tester and check the level yourself:

I've tested Trufuel and it always comes up clean.

 

The station I go to has three nozzles at each pump: Diesel, 85/87/91 gas and Ethanol-free. So I'm getting actual Ethanol-free fuel each time, every gallon.

Before I found this station, I had gone to the local marina where they stock only Ethanol-free fuel.

Thanks for the Ethanol test kit. I've never seen that before. It looks like a simple tool.