This is pretty much off topic but ethanol doesn't "gel up " anywhere. One of the main problems with ethanol in automotive gasoline is that in an engine that sits for months at a time, the gasoline component will evaporate and leave the ethanol behind which evaporates slower since it's less volatile. If there is also some water in the fuel when this happens, the ethanol/water mix evaporates even slower .
I agree. There are no physical properties by which ethanol can Gel.. that's just an ignorant internet misnomer.
If it's in a sealed container it will always remain Liquid ( it's just basically Metho) and if it's in an open vented container it won't be ther long enough to gel in teh first place.
Ethanol fuel is garbage and i avoid it at all costs. 3 repeated problems I have had with it.....
It is hygroscopic and pulls moisture out the air like no tomorrow. You end up with carbs and tanks Full of water. I could not figure how the neighbours mower ALWAYS had a gut full of water every time she went to mow the lawn. had an issue the same myself eventually and saw something that said it was the ethanol. Sure enough, changing to " real" fuel fixed the problem straight away.
It is hell on a lot of seals and gaskets. had to rebuild the Carb on My Harley and several other engines when it turned the gaskets and seals to goop. even took the tip of a needle in the carb of one of my 2 strokes. seen it play havoc on breather pips on vehicles as well and despite the thing of all the soft hoses bing impervious these days, they are not all up to it at all.
It boils a full 20o C lower than proper petrol. This gave me a shipload of trouble in summer when I stopped the car, went to the shops quickly or other such short shutdown periods then couldn't re fire the thing because of airlocks. Even if you are using a blend like E-10 and think the ethanol component may not be much, it phase changes 1000x greater volume from liquid to a gas so 1Ml of ethanol cooking off creates a litre of " air" in your fuel system and that's a LOT!
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If you suspect gasoline in ANY oil that you want to plan to use in a waste oil furnace, I wouldn't use it.
The explosion hazard is too great with any fuel that produces an ignitable vapor.
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I -have- put petrol in oil I was going to burn however it was a small amount and I knew how much I was putting in and was aware of it. that said, you only need a small amount to fill a tank with vapor and create an explosion hazzard where none existed before.
I know everyone on the internet thinks everything explodes like a bomb as they see on TV but petrol really is energetic and dangerous stuff.
Couple of years ago I caught my father pouring petrol on a bonfire pile he was going to burn. I stopped him and made him get well back while I tossed a stick with a burning rag on the thing. The weather was cold but the whole large pile lifted about a foot and the bang had a neighbour ringing to see if everything was OK.
Scared the ship out of Dad especially later when he figured he poured about a liter of fuel on the pile and was going to put about 5L and realised had I not stopped him and he put it all on and lit it the way he was going to, he would have been dead or wished he was.
I was surprised he didn't know how dangerous it was. He was still wary when I poured engine oil on it but I then explained the difference and while the oil would flare if poured on a hot fire it would never go bang like the petrol would.
The petrol as a liquid is not a problem at all. It's the vapor that comes off it and can travel even in the open that is a real danger.
I'm no safety sissy in any way but it pays to have some respect and knowledge for things that can hurt you is you don't know what you are doing with them.
I have no fear of oil what so ever but I just avoid petrol all together for the main part and if I do something with it, I am very wary, careful and think it through thoroughly before I touch it. Very rare though and only as last ditch solution. The smallest amount of the stuff can cause significant and energetic results.
With the exception of Hydrogen and acetylene, can't think of anything much more dangerous for mucking round with for burning .
