# Seafoam and Stabil



## 2badknees (Jan 28, 2017)

Both Seafoam and Stabil make statements concerning the reliability of their product. They both talk it up Big. I myself prefer the show me approach as opposed to the tell me what it will do. I read posts from members on this site, and many of them I consider to be quite a bit more knowledgeable than me. So lets get to the meat. 

I'm reading a can of seafoam. It says " seafoam works to stabilize fuel up to 2 yrs". Stabil ( marine ) says " stabilizes fuel up to 12 months". I need to know what gives any one the confidence to say that their method of fuel stabilization, or combination of fuel additives, is the correct choice. So site members, Choose your words. 

Also, what happened to Skunkyrmower ( I think that was her name ) ? She disappeared when some members were spatting. I enjoyed what she had to say.


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## Preacherman (Dec 20, 2020)

I have used SeaFoam for over 25 years, not to keep gas good for years. But to treat it for the 6 months that my equipment will be hibernating during the winter months. For the 6 two stroke pieces of equipment I have I buy the premixed gallons of fuel at my local Hardware store as it is ethanol free and doesn’t have the additives that pump gas has. Yes it cost me more but in the long run I have had the same tiller , chainsaw, quad since 1995 and have has zero issues with them and some of them may sit for two years without use. My lawn tractor is 2004 Bolens 38” deck. And that thing has some hours on it. Aside from normal wear and tear, belts, blades, plugs, filters, oil changes, battery- that thing has been great to me. Every year at the last cut I put half can seafoam in cut grass top off with gas pull battery out and it goes to sleep for the winter, along with my V-Twin motorcycle. Last ride gets can of seafoam then top off with gas, remove battery and she sleeps for six months. Both fire right up every year. 
We don’t get a bunch of snow normally here in PA, so any extra gas goes into the truck and come spring I fill my 5 gallon container up add 1/2 can seafoam and repeat the process every few week until it’s time to put them to sleep again. Just my preference I wouldn’t keep gas more than 6 months. It would get dumped in a car . All my equipment is keep inside a climate controlled garaged 65-70 degrees year round which imo matters as far as condensation build up.

here is an easy read article that explains what happens to gas when stored too long. It doesn’t give facts of using a stabilizier. But is a good read. I do know it removed the gum deposits on an old carb, so does it work yes for me! 
Does Gasoline Go Bad?


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## ST1100A (Feb 7, 2015)

Your 'Sea-Foam' is like 'Chevron Techron'. It is basically 'Mineral Spirits' or parts cleaner solvent which is wood alcohol or 'Stoddard Solvent' and some other alcohols in it.
Sea Foam does contain a lot of alcohol, a couple of different types, that is used as a solvent and oxygenator to help burn off combustion chamber deposits like carbon bits.
Naptha is one of the active ingredients of fuel stabilizers.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

ST1100A said:


> Your 'Sea-Foam' is like 'Chevron Techron'. It is basically 'Mineral Spirits' or parts cleaner solvent which is wood alcohol or 'Stoddard Solvent' and some other alcohols in it.
> Sea Foam does contain a lot of alcohol, a couple of different types, that is used as a solvent and oxygenator to help burn off combustion chamber deposits like carbon bits.
> Naptha is one of the active ingredients of fuel stabilizers.


Before I started using E free gas , Chevron was my go-to gasoline. why? Several years back we had several days of zero and below zero weather. Every gas station in town was all froze up in their lines and pumps .

Chevron was the only station that could keep pumping gas.

Have had great success with E free. Havent seen the need for Seafoam but may start using it. I read that it can harm rubber and plastic parts in the carb but not sure.

Probably true if you use too much. I read bad advice online about adding it to your tank.I tell people to follow instructions on the can and put it in your 5 gallon gas jug before filling with gas. People tend to think that more is better.


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## ST1100A (Feb 7, 2015)

E10 gasoline is basically like using fuel with 'Sea-Foam' already in it, so you wouldn't have to add the 'Sea-Foam to it.
That is why the Chevron gas didn't freeze, it had the 'Techron' in it, or - Alcohol in it, and that was before the E10 first came out. Chevron was a good gasoline.


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## ST1100A (Feb 7, 2015)

Orangputah, I forgot to mention, most people don't realize how much alcohol is in 'Sea-Foam'. It is basically all alcohol which is used as the 'Solvent' part and a couple of drops of light 10 weight oil in it added as a very light lubricant.
People that buy 'E-Free' gasoline and add 'Sea-Foam' to it just turned their gasoline into 'E10 - E15' gasoline depending on how much they put in it, so right there they are spending a lot of extra money on their fuel buy paying the extra price for the 'E-Free' then paying for the alcohol in 'Sea-Foam' to add to it.
They could save a lot of money and just buy the 'E10' and be done with it because it already has the alcohol solvent in it that they are paying extra for when they purchase a can of 'Sea-Foam' and then add that extra alcohol to their fuel mixture.
Like you mentioned, add the additives to your 5 gallon can before you add the fuel to it so it can be measured properly and will mix better in the can when it is filled with the proper amount and not 'Over-dosed' with it.
Your good fuel stabilizers for gasoline contain 'Naptha' in them, not Alcohol. Your Diesel fuel conditioners/stabilizer/anti-gel additives contain Acetone in them.


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## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

Seafoam is fine. Fuel stabilizers are fine. Fuel system cleaners are fine. . . . I use them on a routine basis to keep my various power equipment running. Don't get asphyxiated on the marketing claims, just use common sense. 

Stabilzer will extend the self-life of your fuel, but make sure your fuel jugs aren't collecting too much dust.


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## Tony P. (Jan 9, 2017)

ST1100A said:


> I forgot to mention, most people don't realize how much alcohol is in 'Sea-Foam'. It is basically all alcohol which is used as the 'Solvent' part and a couple of drops of light 10 weight oil in it added as a very light lubricant.
> People that buy 'E-Free' gasoline and add 'Sea-Foam' to it just turned their gasoline into 'E10 - E15' gasoline depending on how much they put in it, so right there they are spending a lot of extra money on their fuel buy paying the extra price for the 'E-Free' then paying for the alcohol in 'Sea-Foam' to add to it.


It would be good if someone could show where is information comes from. According to the SeaFoam safety data sheet, isopropanol is less than 25% and appears to be more like 15%. That being the case, adding an ounce of SeaFoam to a gallon of gasoline comes out to well under .002 alcohol, which is insignificant.


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## Tony P. (Jan 9, 2017)

I used STA-BIL for years. STA-BIL claims to keep fuel fresh for up to 2 years. I had a bottle over a year old and checked the shelf life. Their website says:


> If you have an unopened bottle of STA-BIL, it will be good for up to five years. Then once you open the bottle we recommend using within two years for best results. However, after the two years you may still use the product as a fuel system cleaner as long as there is no sediment or flakes. After the two years the product will no longer be effective for storage purposes and we recommend a fresh new bottle.


So, although STA-BIL claims to keep fuel fresh for up to 2 years, an opened bottle of STA-BIL lasts under 2 years so it's not possible for the product to keep fuel fresh that long. Sounds like their claims are suspect to me.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

Boy, wish I had a dollar for every gas and oil post, I would be a millionaire ...

There are already a gazillion posts on this topic, but I will post again how I do mine.

_" I always add 2oz of Stabil and 2 oz of SeaFoam in all my 5 gallon gas cans. Never have an issue with any of my equipment, starts all the time and runs great. I do periodically fire up and run all my equipment, new, old, summer, winter .... as it is not good to let any equipment just sit there, as equipment is meant to be run and operated. "_

I have done this all my life, and with never having a fuel issue, I will continue doing it this way for the remainder of said life ...


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## GT14 (Feb 12, 2011)

*Trayl Fixes All year long fuel test with Different Stabilizers this is the Dec 20 edition attached. The Feb should be up soon.*


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## GT14 (Feb 12, 2011)

oneacer said:


> Boy, wish I had a dollar for every gas and oil post, I would be a millionaire ...
> 
> There are already a gazillion posts on this topic, but I will post again how I do mine.
> 
> ...


*I use 2oz of Stabil and 2oz of Marvel Mystery Oil (for upper end lube) to my 5 gal cans.*


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## tlshawks (Feb 9, 2018)

Since I rarely need a whole lot of stored gasoline, I just use 91 octane ethanol free gas. The old Tecumseh's don't seem to mind older 91 at all. My mower Briggs engines (1990's vintage Quantums) tend to want nothing older than say a month or two tops (same with Stihl gas trimmers and my Poulan chain saw). My 1980 Mercury boat motor I believe would run on water - gas age doesn't seem to affect it at all.

The most small engine gas I ever buy is 2 gallons (except the boat motor of course), and I keep the receipt thumbtacked in my shed so I know how old it is. Once it hits 60 days, I put it in one of my vehicles and buy a fresh tank. I also drain gas from my engines when the time comes as well as run the carbs out. I do the same if I have to mix a 2nd tank for the 2 strokes.

I simply never let any gas sit all that long. I'm tired of cleaning out carbs.

I have a can of Sea Foam, but last year I never used it (except the new boat gas in the spring) because I keep track of how often I use every machine and make sure I never let them contain old gas. OCD? Sure - but keeping track ain't all that hard. I have post-its in the shed for this purpose and write down when every engine runs. I also never "fill completely up" any machine unless I am 100% certain I will use it all within say 30 days.


Ain't had a gas related problem in years except with the Briggs lawn mower engines. Once I implemented my tracking system, they've all always started 1st or 2nd pull.


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## Tony P. (Jan 9, 2017)

I've been very interested in trying Star-Tron, a product not as well known as STA-BIL but has had good write-ups. After my earlier post I noticed an 8 ounce bottle is on sale at one of the big box hardware stores for $1.74 or 75% off the regular price. Looks like I'm going to give it a try.


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

All gas treatment and oil posts should be banned from all forums in perpetuity. They're a black hole of disharmony.


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## aa335 (Jan 21, 2020)

tabora said:


> All gas treatment and oil posts should be banned from all forums in perpetuity. They're a black hole of disharmony.


Agreed. It's either a cult or religion.


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## gibbs296 (Jun 22, 2014)

It can't be gainsaid that these additives work for many hominids...


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## aa335 (Jan 21, 2020)

gibbs296 said:


> It can't be gainsaid that these additives work for many hominids...


I'll put on a second mask before I believe it.


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## 2badknees (Jan 28, 2017)

I don't want this thread to become confused. I am a vey confused guy anyway. My question is, why are knowledgeable members in this forum using a combination of both stabil and seafoam. Is it a magical formula ? Re read #1


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## ST1100A (Feb 7, 2015)

2badknees said:


> I don't want this thread to become confused. I am a vey confused guy anyway. My question is, why are knowledgeable members in this forum using a combination of both stabil and seafoam. Is it a magical formula ? Re read #1


Basically because 'Sea-Foam' is not a Stabilizer, it is just a 'Cleaner', so that is why they are using both.
A really good product that nobody knows about is a treatment marketed by Briggs and Stratton that is a cleaner, stabilizer and metal protectant with metal 'De-Ionizers' in it, not only for the metal of the fuel system, but there is also metal in the gasoline from when it is refined and manufactured at the refineries.
Out of all the different products so far, I have had the best results with 'Star-Tron' so far, and 'Briggs&Stratton 5 in 1'.


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## Tony P. (Jan 9, 2017)

2badknees said:


> I don't want this thread to become confused. I am a vey confused guy anyway. My question is, why are knowledgeable members in this forum using a combination of both stabil and seafoam. Is it a magical formula ? Re read #1


Just like the guys who wear a belt and suspenders, order surf and turf, or drink black and tan. Two are better than one.


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## arienskids (Jan 26, 2018)

Personally I don’t use fuel stabilizers myself because I think it encourages people to be lazy, provides false confidence and most makers labels show mostly false promises, but stabil doesn’t usually work and is very easy to overdose, I have seen many carburetors come in to the shop and there will be a red slime in the carb bowl and we will call the customer “well I just mixed fresh gas with stabil yesterday and it stopped running” and then we know why. It cleans right out but it doesn’t burn for whatever reason. The only one that actually works is startron, and you can overdose that and it won’t hurt anything, but I still always tell customers if you have to use stabilizer use startron but if you can just don’t keep your fuel longer then 90 days and only buy what you need and can use in that time period


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## SnowGuy69 (Feb 12, 2014)

tabora said:


> All gas treatment and oil posts should be banned from all forums in perpetuity. They're a black hole of disharmony.


Interesting idea. But I think they coudl be banned UNLESS we use Tony P idea of stating a reference.



Tony P. said:


> It would be good if someone could show where is information comes from. According to the SeaFoam safety data sheet, isopropanol is less than 25% and appears to be more like 15%. That being the case, adding an ounce of SeaFoam to a gallon of gasoline comes out to well under .002 alcohol, which is insignificant.


I like this. Stating a reference. Too many say..."_I have been doing this for years and nothing bad happened_." People do not realize that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. The fact that you use a certain oil, a certain gas additive, etc. and nothing bad has happened is not proof it works.


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## 140278 (Aug 27, 2020)

i knew what direction this was going to go. CLOSED


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