Thread: Seafoam or Marine StaBil

Originally Posted by Lou

Ethanol is a primary alcohol, Isopropyl is a secondary alcohol which, unlike ethanol, bonds with both water and petrol. Not all alcohols are the same, not by a long shot, but I am not going to get deep into the chemistry of alcohols, you are free to look it up on your own. In short, you don't understand that they are not the same, and react differently with water and fuel.

You are correct sir! I don't understand the deep chemistry of alcohols, nor do i want to look it up on my own. Last time I was in a lab was at certain National Laboratory growing SAM's, and didn't get too deep into the deep chemistry of alcohols. That's been years ago anyway.

But, according to the link Specklater posted, it is recommended not to use fuel system treatment products that contain alcohol. It did recommend Startron and Stabil, since they don't contain alcohol, so now I'm really confused???

Originally Posted by Lou

Now we can all save a lot of money by buying the ingredients from hardware stores and mixing them to the proportions in the products mentioned.

A gallon of naptha goes for about the same price as 10oz of Stabil. Sounds like your concoction could indeed save a lot of money Thumbs Up

I didn't see any mention of Mercury Quicksilver fuel stablizer in this thread. I am not positive that is the name of it. I have a buddy whose brother in law is a Mercury dealer in Salisbury, NC. This brother in law gave my buddy a container of what was described to me as Quicksilver fuel stablizer. My buddy was told by the brother in law to run this in his boat, chainsaws, weedeaters and he would never have any more starting problems. Anyone use this at all, and how does it rank with Marine Sta-bilt and Seafoam?

Originally Posted by poppop

I didn't see any mention of Mercury Quicksilver fuel stablizer in this thread. I am not positive that is the name of it. I have a buddy whose brother in law is a Mercury dealer in Salisbury, NC. This brother in law gave my buddy a container of what was described to me as Quicksilver fuel stablizer. My buddy was told by the brother in law to run this in his boat, chainsaws, weedeaters and he would never have any more starting problems. Anyone use this at all, and how does it rank with Marine Sta-bilt and Seafoam?

The main ingredient is isopropanol alcohol. Draw your own conclusion.

Originally Posted by specklater

Is your gas additive safe with E10 fuel?
This link is the best info I've found on the subject. After reading this I use Stabil Marine and nothing else. Have had no carb or fuel system problems. Hope this helps.A fuel/water seperator is also cheap insurance.

I know it is a matter of choice. But if you read the link Specklater posted it just makes sense. If you are worried about ethanol then why use an alcohol based fuel additive??? Read the article and it will fill in the blanks.

Originally Posted by gijimbo

I know it is a matter of choice. But if you read the link Specklater posted it just makes sense. If you are worried about ethanol then why use an alcohol based fuel additive??? Read the article and it will fill in the blanks.

Exactly!

I use Marine Stabil and ethanol free gasoline everytime i fill up. No problems and boat runs better than it has since i have had it.

How do you run the carbs dry? Just by unhooking the gas line and running it out of gas?

There is a new stabilizer I saw advertised on a boat show last Saturday called Formula X-2 that is supposed to be better than anything else on the market. They showed how marine stabilizer did not get the water mixed with the gas so it could be burned but the Formula X-2 did mix the water with the gas to burn. It was a pretty impressive demonstration and the guy doing it wasn't biased. They have a web site you can visit if you like...Thumbs Up