The Most Common Mistake When Storing Stihl Equipment

 As the blower and trimmer season is winding down, it’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to store your equipment so that it will be ready to go when spring rolls back around.  One of the most important aspects of your storage process involves the fuel system.

The most common mistake people make when storing their 2-cycle equipment for winter is not draining the ethanol-laden gas from your tank.

10% of all your gas from the gas station is ethanol, unless otherwise marked. This means that there is a very good chance that the gas you have in your tank has ethanol in it. Over time this ethanol can wreak havoc on your fuel system, breaking your fuel line, clogging your carburetor, eating your primer bulb, any of which can mean being out of commission when spring rolls back around.  It is imperative to drain the ethanol fuel out of your fuel system and tank before you hang up your equipment for the year.

One of the best products to help you store your machine safely without worrying about ethanol is Stihl’s premixed 2-cycle fuel, Motomix. Motomix can be used for storage in two different ways:

1)   Run Stihl Motomix through the carburetor then drain the fuel tank.
The ethanol from regular gas bought from the pump is the part of the fuel that causes the most damage in storage. It is important to flush your ethanol laden fuel out of your fuel system. This includes your carb, your fuel lines and your fuel filter. You need to drain your tank of your gas with ethanol then pour in some Stihl Motomix and let your machine run for a few minutes to get the bad fuel out and the motomix in. Once you do this, you can drain your tank and put your equipment up for the year.

2)   Run Stihl Motomix through the carburetor and keep the Motomix in the tank until next year.
One of the best aspects of Motomix is that it can last in your tank, without causing any damage, for up to two years. This means that you can flush your fuel system, as described above, then leave the motomix fuel in the tank until next spring.

Using motomix to flush any ethanol gas out of your tank is one of the best ways to combat the most common mistakes people make when storing your fuel. Other stabilizers and mixes can add benefit to your machine but only draining the 10% ethanol gas from fuel system will completely protect your machine. There is not a good product on the market that can protect your fuel system from the ethanol in the gas, besides gas that simply does not contain ethanol. Of course you could always switch to using Motomix all the time and you wouldn’t have to worry about draining your tank every winter at all…