What's a good ethanol testing kit that you use to verify pure auto-gas?
Yesterday I visited about 9 of the gas stations in my city, out of which 6 were labeled as "may contain up to 10% ethanol". According to Illinois law, gas stations selling ethanol blended fuel should label it, but I guess lack of a label is not proof positive that the gas is suitable for aviation purposes. Therefore, I guess it's better to test them out. Hence, please share the ethanol testing kits you use and like (or the ones you don't). I found this one which promises good results, but is a bit pricey.
(The purpose of this exercise is to make sure I will have a few options in town to get cheap mogas if I were to buy a mogas compatible airplane in the near future).
Ethanol testing kit?
Moderator: drseti
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Ethanol testing kit?
200 hours of flight and counting
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Re: Ethanol testing kit?
Chances are you'll find that signs that say "May contain up to..." might as well say "Contains..." And even if you find it doesn't today, it might tomorrow, so you can't depend on it.
You can test without a "kit":
1- Pour a small amount of water into a narrow jar (an olive jar works great) and mark the water level with a Sharpie.
2- Add the fuel to around a 10:1 fuel:water ratio.
3- Shake well, let settle for a few minutes.
4- See if the water level has risen above the mark. If it has risen, it has combined with ethanol from the fuel.
You can test without a "kit":
1- Pour a small amount of water into a narrow jar (an olive jar works great) and mark the water level with a Sharpie.
2- Add the fuel to around a 10:1 fuel:water ratio.
3- Shake well, let settle for a few minutes.
4- See if the water level has risen above the mark. If it has risen, it has combined with ethanol from the fuel.
- Bruce
Re: Ethanol testing kit?
Bruce's technique works just fine to determine if the fuel contains any ethanol. The difference with the expensive testing kits is that they quantify the exact percentage. Probably not necessary, since anything over 0% ethanol is, for me, disqualifying.
The opinions posted are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof H Paul Shuch
PhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMT
AvSport LLC, KLHV
[email protected]
AvSport.org
facebook.com/SportFlying
SportPilotExaminer.US
Prof H Paul Shuch
PhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMT
AvSport LLC, KLHV
[email protected]
AvSport.org
facebook.com/SportFlying
SportPilotExaminer.US
Re: Ethanol testing kit?
I have a calibrated fuel drainer/tester. You put a small amount of water in with some fuel, shake it, and let it settle. It reports percentage of ethanol, and costs $6 at Aircraft Spruce:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/ps/ ... Tester.php
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/ps/ ... Tester.php
Andy Walker
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
Re: Ethanol testing kit?
Thank you for the link, Andy.MrMorden wrote:I have a calibrated fuel drainer/tester. You put a small amount of water in with some fuel, shake it, and let it settle. It reports percentage of ethanol, and costs $6 at Aircraft Spruce:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/ps/ ... Tester.php
Bill Ince
LSRI
Retired Heavy Equipment Operator
LSRI
Retired Heavy Equipment Operator
Re: Ethanol testing kit?
Sure thing...a friend turned me on to that tester. It takes about 30 seconds to test a fuel sample, and is accurate to 1/2% to 1%, depending on how good your eyes are at reading distances.Wm.Ince wrote:Thank you for the link, Andy.MrMorden wrote:I have a calibrated fuel drainer/tester. You put a small amount of water in with some fuel, shake it, and let it settle. It reports percentage of ethanol, and costs $6 at Aircraft Spruce:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/ps/ ... Tester.php
Andy Walker
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
Re: Ethanol testing kit?
It looks to me like just a standard fuel sampler, with the addition of calibration marks for measuring ethanol. I would assume you add water to one line, fuel to a second line, shake, and let it settle. Then, you check the dividing line between water and fuel. Its level would reveal how much of the water was absorbed into the fuel, which could then be correlated to ethanol percentage. Am I right?MrMorden wrote:http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/ps/ ... Tester.php
If so, one could use any existing fuel sampler, just by adding the required lines with a Sharpie (assuming one knew where exactly the lines should go). Seems there should be an article out there somewhere which reveals the secret dimensions.
The opinions posted are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof H Paul Shuch
PhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMT
AvSport LLC, KLHV
[email protected]
AvSport.org
facebook.com/SportFlying
SportPilotExaminer.US
Prof H Paul Shuch
PhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMT
AvSport LLC, KLHV
[email protected]
AvSport.org
facebook.com/SportFlying
SportPilotExaminer.US
Re: Ethanol testing kit?
That is correct. Making your own sounds like more than $6 worth of work for possibly incorrect results to me.drseti wrote:It looks to me like just a standard fuel sampler, with the addition of calibration marks for measuring ethanol. I would assume you add water to one line, fuel to a second line, shake, and let it settle. Then, you check the dividing line between water and fuel. Its level would reveal how much of the water was absorbed into the fuel, which could then be correlated to ethanol percentage. Am I right?MrMorden wrote:http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/ps/ ... Tester.php
If so, one could use any existing fuel sampler, just by adding the required lines with a Sharpie (assuming one knew where exactly the lines should go). Seems there should be an article out there somewhere which reveals the secret dimensions.
Andy Walker
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
Re: Ethanol testing kit?
I use a similar tester to the one that Andy referenced. It's accurate. In my experience it matches the gas stations that I tested. Those that advertised "up to 10 percent" were 10%. One gas station that I use regularly that is "ethanol free" really is ethanol free. Whooo hoo!
Re: Ethanol testing kit?
https://www.amazon.com/Ajax-Scientific- ... 00EPQ5A50/
I went a step up over Andy's suggestion and bought a 10 mL graduated cylinder. Additional advantage of it is that it's free-standing, so you can pour water into it easily without jiggling. The diameter of 10 mL cylinder is just right to cork it with your thumb. An olive bottle is much too big. Remember that you have to dispose of the mix, so unless you have a Gatts jar, it's a problem.
{Correction: my cylinder is actually 50 mL}
I went a step up over Andy's suggestion and bought a 10 mL graduated cylinder. Additional advantage of it is that it's free-standing, so you can pour water into it easily without jiggling. The diameter of 10 mL cylinder is just right to cork it with your thumb. An olive bottle is much too big. Remember that you have to dispose of the mix, so unless you have a Gatts jar, it's a problem.
{Correction: my cylinder is actually 50 mL}
Last edited by zaitcev on Fri Jan 02, 2015 9:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Ethanol testing kit?
Unless you have a small thumb.zaitcev wrote:The diameter of 10 mL cylinder is just right to cork it with your thumb.
Good that it's metric, since 1 ml = 1 cc. How many ml of water, and how many of petrol, do you typically add to test?
The opinions posted are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof H Paul Shuch
PhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMT
AvSport LLC, KLHV
[email protected]
AvSport.org
facebook.com/SportFlying
SportPilotExaminer.US
Prof H Paul Shuch
PhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMT
AvSport LLC, KLHV
[email protected]
AvSport.org
facebook.com/SportFlying
SportPilotExaminer.US
Re: Ethanol testing kit?
Sorry, I forgot the details. My cylinder is actually 50 mL, not 10. I fill it with 40 mL of gas and 10 mL of water. The more gas you have, the more the division moves, so you can reliably detect smaller amounts of ethanol. The division surface is not very exact and the surface (meniscus) is not flat where it touches the walls. In my case, I am not interested in exact measurement, but I want to know if there's ethanol.drseti wrote:Good that it's metric, since 1 ml = 1 cc. How many ml of water, and how many of petrol, do you typically add to test?
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Re: Ethanol testing kit?
Thanks, I'm going to try this later today. A couple of questions:Merlinspop wrote:Chances are you'll find that signs that say "May contain up to..." might as well say "Contains..." And even if you find it doesn't today, it might tomorrow, so you can't depend on it.
You can test without a "kit":
1- Pour a small amount of water into a narrow jar (an olive jar works great) and mark the water level with a Sharpie.
2- Add the fuel to around a 10:1 fuel:water ratio.
3- Shake well, let settle for a few minutes.
4- See if the water level has risen above the mark. If it has risen, it has combined with ethanol from the fuel.
Edit: I did the experiment, here are the answers.
1. Is the 10:1 ratio important? Other places on the net I read 3:1.
Edit: It doesn't seem to matter much. The more gas the merrier, the impact of the test becomes easier to read.
2. Should I top off the bottle to the max with fuel, or once a ratio of fuel to water is there, it's enough. A.k.a, does air in the bottle invalidate the experiment?
Edit: No, it doesn't seem to matter at all
200 hours of flight and counting
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- Posts: 106
- Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2013 6:33 pm
- Location: Champaign, IL
Re: Ethanol testing kit?
Gas station #1: a bust. Even though it doesn't show the proper label, the gas seems to have 10% alcohol.
200 hours of flight and counting
Re: Ethanol testing kit?
The labels can often be hard to spot.