Comments

Episode-2561- The Expert Council Show for 11-15-19 — 2 Comments

  1. Hey Jack, I’d like to give my “2 cents” on ethanol fuel.

    Derek almost hit the nail on the head when he talked about how ethanol picks up moisture where straight gas separates moisture. Ethanol is water based, so not only does it pick up moisture, it’s introducing water from the beginning. I could bore everyone trying to explain this from an aviation perspective, but I’ve got a very practical example that could put this to rest for most circumstances.

    First off, I rely on 10 small engines for my homestead and a side hustle. When I used to store my machines during the off season, despite adding stable to ethanol fuel, after six months I would have to clean the carburetor. So I agree that you can use the ethanol fuel with no problems, but you cannot store a small engine with any ethanol in the carburetor or it will gum up.

    Now for the practical part. My 10 gas operated machines (chainsaws, lawn mower, weed eater, snow blower, etc.) Cost me over $12,000 over the period I accumulated them. When I tallied up my fuel for this year, I averaged just under 4 gallons of gasoline per week for all 52 weeks. The price difference for buying straight gas (ethanol free) was $82 for the year. That’s peanuts compared to the price of my equipment.

    For fuel storage, if I used my costs to figure 5gal per week, the price difference is under $10/ month. How much would you spend on enough stabile to treat your monthly fuel?

    I absolutely use the ethanol fuel in my vehicles that I run every day, but for storage and use in my small engines, it’s a no brainer for me.

    Again, I’m not anti ethanol, but the protection of my small engines and the added “assurance” for my storage system is worth every penny to me.

    Just my 2 cents,

    And thanks for a great show.

    Will

  2. Notes on the SSL certs

    First – google now uses this as a ranking signal ( have for some time and they are only ever increasing that signal )

    Second – browsers now flag sites without SSL as insecure

    Third – SSL certs can now be obtained for free using letsencrypt.org — really easy to use robust tool. So if your host is trying to charge you they are crooks. Also, please don’t fall for the marketing of higher priced certs that claim to offer more protection or insurance.