| To All,
This is a good opportunity for me to mention some tests that I have been running on ethanol. I posted the following message on the Glasair List regarding the use of ethanol-laced gasoline. Note that the Glasair resin system, Derakane 411, is supposed to be safe for up to 10% ethanol. But here is what I found:
______________
Here is an update on the gasohol tests that I have been
running. The witness samples that I have put into the test
jars are all from either my own or the original factory
layups, all using Derakane 411 of some sort. I used the -
45 for a long time, but switched to -350 sometime later
as it was easier to get and wetted out better. I have three
tests running as noted below:
1. The first test is with two samples in a jar with Jose
Cuervo. Jose Cuervo is 40% ethanol. I have an original
factory layup in there and one of my own that also has
bondo on one side. I removed the samples from the jar
and first rubbed my finger over the sample to see if
anything would come off on my fingers. Nothing did. I
thought that maybe if some material balled up under my
finger rub, it would be telling. Then, I took a butter
knofe, with a very dull edge, and scraped it vigorously
over each surface. There was definitely a residue that
came off the surface. The factory sample and my own
sample had similar result. The bondo surface held,
however, and did not produce and debris. The material
that came off was slightly gooey, but did not go very
deep. The scratch results could not be felt with my finger.
it also required vigorous scratching to get it to come off.
2. The next sample is a jar with gasohol at 5.7% ethanol,
the current California formulation. This is soon to go up
to 10%. I have three samples in this jar. One is an original
factory layup, the second is a fresh layup I did a few
weeks prior to starting the test. It was not post cured in
any way. The third sample was from that same batch of
recent layups, but was post cured at 200 degrees for 3
hours. The factory sample was subjected to the scratch
test mentioned above. A much smaller amount of residue
came off, but a very little did. On the other two samples,
there was no residue at all. The post-cure process did
not make any difference. The results from my recent
layups is what I was expecting, and was suitably
disappointed when the factory layup (now 11 years old),
showed signs of a residual buildup, however small.
Again, it was much less than the Jose Cuervo sample, but
it was there. And, it still required vigorous scratching to
get it to come off. However, even a very small amount of
that stuff is very disappointing.
3. The third jar has the same gasohol along with water. I
did not have time to test that sample. I'll have to get back
to you on that one.
These results are, indeed, disappointing. While I have
totally conflicting reports on the effect of gasohol, where
some say that it is wildly dangerous and others say that
they have been flying with gasohol in their vinyl-ester
tanks for 100s of hours with no problem, I remain
concerned. One report that I remember came from this
list and said that the ethanol generated bubbles in the
fiberglass structure (IIRC). I found no such result. What I
found was a very small amount of residue that required
active scraping to get it to come off.
But, this test has only been running for 2 months. The
Jose Cuervo definitely generated an unacceptable amount
of residue. This corresponds to the Derakane Chemical
Resistance Chart that says gasohol up to 10 % should be
OK, over that is not recommended. However, even in my
5.7% sample, I found a little residue on the factory layup.
Since the top and bottom of our gas tanks are done at the
factory, this bring great concern.
Given these results, my choice is to run 100LL for now,
until either I can find ethanol-free mogas, or there is a
replacement for 100LL.
I met someone a few weeks ago that is trying to develop a
factory for producing butanol. Butanol is supposedly very
similar to gasoline, in that it is nearly the same octane, it
has almost as much energy, per gallon, and it is non-
corrosive. This guy is making it out of biomass, waste
product, not foodstuffs. See the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butanol_fuel
But, until it is thoroughly tested, it looks like 100LL for me
unless ethanol free mogas can be found.
Steve
Super II RG
Best Regards,
Steve Thomas _______________________________________________________
On Nov 5, 2009, at 1:32 PM, Bobby J. Hughes wrote:
This is a response from
Aeromotive regarding my fuel filter and ethanol. My fuel \ 2 stroke oil mixture
also seems to be a different color with Ethanol in the mix. Has anyone else
observed this?
Bobby Hughes
RV10 Renesis
Yes, it’s fine. However, watch as
the ethanol/methanol gasoline blends will dissolve years of shellac and debris
in the transport and underground storage containers which will then end up in
someone’s gas tank. You’ll need to make sure that the filter is serviced
more frequently going forward; probably at least once a year in the spring and
maybe once again mid-season over the first couple
years.
Hope this helps, good
luck and thanks for choosing Aeromotive!
Brett
Clow Aeromotive,
Inc. 7805
Barton St. Lenexa,
KS 66214 913-647-7300
Ext. 109
From: Bobby J.
Hughes [mailto:bhughes@qnsi.net]
Sent: Friday, October 30, 2009 6:19
PM
To:
tech@aeromotiveinc.com
Subject:
Fuel Filter \ Ethenol
10 Micron Fabric element for 12308, P/N 12608
Ethanol is now at all Texas gas stations. Is
this filter safe for 10% ethanol? Bobby J
Hughes
|