where's the water?

[RonB]

I have a 21" w/ Honda 5.5 that had water in the carb. It would sputter and backfire out the carb, so took off the carb. Got the water out of the bowl, took off the lines/tank and drained them too.

After running a few minutes it'll still backfire through the carb like it did before.

Any ideas?

[Restrorob]

Check the carb for water again, If the tank was not COMPLETELY bone dry along with the fuel lines....It only takes one drop.

Did you check your gas can for water/condensation ?

I have had many customers take their unit home and re-fill it with contaminated fuel right after I cleaned the whole system.

[RonB]

No - tank didn't totally dry, I just shook it but I did blow the line out with air. I'll remove the bowl again to check and let everything dry out if there is any.

[Bill Kapaun]

Or you might just dump a few oz. of Gas Dri in the tank. The alcohol absorbs water.

[fixer67]

Originally Posted by Bill Kapaun

Or you might just dump a few oz. of Gas Dri in the tank. The alcohol absorbs water.

Not all types of alcohols are the same. Alcohol in the fuel is part of the problem to start with. Gas Dri uses METHYL alcohol which bonds with the water letting it burn off along with the gas. Now ETHANOL which is added to almost all gas now days is a type of alcohol, that will pull moisture out of the air via you fuel vent does not bond well with water. By itself it bonds with water real well but when gas is added to the mix the ETHANOL trades the water for gas letting the water settle to the bottom of the gas tank. So you are getting water in your gas right out of thin air. So why do they use ETHANOL and not METHYL alcohol, I can only guess it comes down to cost. I do not know.

[Bill Kapaun]

Originally Posted by fixer67

Not all types of alcohols are the same. Alcohol in the fuel is part of the problem to start with. Gas Dri uses METHYL alcohol which bonds with the water letting it burn off along with the gas. Now ETHANOL which is added to almost all gas now days is a type of alcohol, that will pull moisture out of the air via you fuel vent does not bond well with water. By itself it bonds with water real well but when gas is added to the mix the ETHANOL trades the water for gas letting the water settle to the bottom of the gas tank. So you are getting water in your gas right out of thin air. So why do they use ETHANOL and not METHYL alcohol, I can only guess it comes down to cost. I do not know.

That's somewhat of an over simplification.
I worked gas stations for a couple years at places that used a 10% Ethanol mix. The water level indicator ALWAYS registered at 0.00"!
Obviously, if ANY water was in the gas, it WAS absorbed by the Ethanol.
That said, if allowed to sit for a long time, I think ANY type alcohol will absorb moisture from the air. It's a relatively slow process however. FRESH "GasAhol", WILL remove condensed water from a fuel system as a quick fix.