Interesting note on fuel

It’s in my 2018 manual. I suspect all the Prime manuals have it. The topic has been discussed multiple times albeit not recently.

 

why do they repeat themselves in parentheses in the first part, and what is 'a certain amount of time' in the second?

 

Gained in translation?

 

I've gone almost 10 months without adding fuel and have never seen that message. At the end of that 9.5 months, the tank was still 7/8ths full.

 

As you know "everything" you read on Google and Wikipedia is true.
I'd say your number is low.
In today's world the gas underground is already bad according to your number.

 

depends on what you're using it for. my lawnmower manual also says one month, but car fuel systems are closed

 

In PRIME, I use the engine often enough on HV, a full tank rarely lasts longer than a month. Now, with COVID-19 stay home order, the full tank is going to last more than two months, but doubt it will go much longer than that. So, I never worried about freshness of the gas in my PRIME.

But in my small gas engine machines, gas often sit in the tank over winter (for summer equipments like lawnmower) or over summer (for winter equipments like snow thrower). Yeah, the manual says to fill with fresh gas each time used. But I am not going to run to a gas station to buy 0.5 gal of fresh gas each time I have to cut grass. But I did buy ethanol free gas for my small yard machines last time. I did put Stabil but it's been sitting in a jerry can more than a month now.

 

same here. as long as i'm using them frequently, having a few gallons on hand doesn't seem to be an issue

 

So.....what is your plan going forward ?

 

That figure is for gas in a generic plastic can for the lawnmower. The tank of a car sealed tighter. Even then, gas lasts longer than a month when it comes for most uses. Friend got a car that started up on the ten year old gas in the tank.

Gasoline goes 'bad' because of evaporation and oxidation. The lighter compounds float off, and air reacts with the rest, forming undesirable ones. The evaporation controls on a car greatly limit how much of the light stuff escapes the tank, and limits the amount of air getting to basically just replacing the space left but used fuel. As plastic gas can has none of those systems. Its the difference between a closed bottle of water in the fridge, and an open one on the counter.

Short term, the gas in the can will lower in octane. Which is probably the main reason power equipment calls for midgrade fuel. When someone uses the gas from last season, it is still high enough octane to not damage the engine. Long term, the undesirable compounds will lead to bad deposits in the engine. That friend bent a couple of push rods because of the gum build up in that car.

The gas in stations around me usually aren't in the tank for longer than a couple of weeks.

While I had gas lawn equipment, I just dumped any leftover gas at the end of the season into the car; even the small bit of oil mixed stuff. I think it is more important to run whatever dry before storing. The little bit that is left in the equipments' tank probably goes bad faster than in the gas can. I also added a shot of acetone of rubbing alcohol to the first tank of the season to clean out water and gunk in the carb.

 

Might happen. COVID-19 has cancelled our two driving vacations this year. I filled up Dec. 10th last year. I have burned about a half gallon since and I can't tell by the gauge if anything is different from completely full. The Miles to Empty says 505 miles. At this rate it could take several years to go through this tankl!

 

There is no additive that will recondition stale gasoline. That said, I'd add some good gas system additive. Pick one that claims to improve general engine operation, clean things, remove moisture in the system, and maybe also stabilize fuel. Dose according to label instructions. Run in HV operation until that fuel is mainly consumed.

Then, for this situation, I'd look for ethanol-free gas, fill up, and add a gasoline stabilizer. You'll be good for many more months this way. Ordinarily I don't care about ethanol, but gasoline with ethanol does need a stabilizer when stored many months. So does gasoline without ethanol, but the problem is less. (Well, I care about ethanol about 5 pm every afternoon, especially ethanol with added flavoring of juniper berries, or maybe smoky peat.)

 

I am in a situation where no daily amount of driving exceeds 32 miles and my 2017 Prime is getting 32-35 miles to a charge. I have not added fuel since July 5 when I took my last long trip. I have about 1 gallon of fuel in the tank. I plan to keep driving without adding fuel until I get that warning to add fresh fuel. My miles per charge seemed to increase as the amount of fuel in my tank decreased. I guess 10-11 gallons of gas might be heavy enough to affect miles per charge?