Sta-bil Marine & Seafoam

[Billfo]

I am about the winterize & have a product question.


Regarding "Sta-bil Marine & Seafoam" , are both these products about the same as in function, effectiveness & application ? I imagine there are personal preferences... but as far as the actual product goes are they about the same ? Thanks...

 

[further]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

I think sta-bil is used as a fuel treatment to nuetralize ethanol in the fuel so it doesn't ruin your fuel system and hoses. Seafoam is used as a fuel additive also but to remove carbon buildup - you would use seafoam in a decarbon process. Sta-bil is normally used when storing for long periods.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

This information is straight from their websites...:

Marine Formula STA-BIL Ethanol Treatment & Performance Improver contains DOUBLE the corrosion preventers and more than FOUR TIMES the fuel system cleaner than in Regular STA-BIL to prevent against corrosion and deposit build up in Marine Engines. Use AT EVERY FILL UP to protect your boat or other marine equipment from the damaging effects of Ethanol in the marine environment.


SEA FOAM Motor Treatment is a 100% pure petroleum product that safely and effectively cleans internal fuel and oil system components, helping your gasoline or diesel engine run cleaner and more efficiently. SEA FOAM is an EPA-registered product, and will not harm engine components, seals, gaskets, catalytic converters or oxygen sensors.

SEA FOAM liquefies gum and varnish deposits or internal engine components, removing carbon deposits, freeing sticky valve lifters and rings curing rough idle, pinging and hesitation problems. By using SEA FOAM to eliminate varnish and carbon buildup, mechanics can more accurately diagnose mechanical problems that may exist. That is why Sea Foam has been so popular with professional mechanics for over 65 years.

As a fuel system additive, Sea Foam will clean fuel injectors, clean carbon, gum and varnish deposits, add lubricity to fuel, stabilize fuel for 2 years and control moisture.

As an oil system additive, Sea Foam controls moisture, gum, varnish and residue deposits.


They are about the same when used as a fuel treatment. However, seafoam can be used in many other ways making it more versitle. One of these applications is using it as a carb cleaner. Very common with boats that sit a little while and need a little Pep me Up...

 

[Billfo]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Thanks for the replies... I was worried Id start a prefereace war.. (like mc tires.. LOL) I think I have decided what to use .

 

[Paul Ryan]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

"SEA FOAM liquefies gum" Thanks Knightgang for the info. The restore I'm working through is getting close to fuel tank cleaning, but with no tank access hole I wondering how I would tackle this. The tank has sat for two years that I have had the boat and I dont know how many years before I got it. Sea Foam, fresh fuel, and a few good fuel filters sounds like the winner for getting the tank cleaned up then Sta-Bil for years hassle free fuel system.

 

[gss036]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Paul, you need to drain the tank completely. Use the engine feed hose to siphon out the old fuel through the water separating 10 micron filter, if it does have one, it about time as undoubtedly the tank is going to have a bunch of junk in it. But an extra filter. I like the Racor type filter that you can see through so you can see what is coming through the fuel system.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

SEA FOAM Motor Treatment is a 100% pure petroleum product.....

Since when is isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) a petroleum product? The last thing I want to add to my E-10 fuel on a regular basis is more alcohol

Ingredients -CAS # - Wt.%

Pale Oil - 64742-54-7 -40.00 - 60.00%

Naphtha - 64742-49-0 -25.00 - 35.00%

IPA - 67-63-0 -10.00 - 20.00%

Carbon dioxide -124-38-9-3.00 - 5.00%

 

[WAVENBYE2]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

I have always used seafoam and have been happy with the results, was thinking about using Sta-bil but don't use ethanol gas, so I will probably stick to what I know works on my engine.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

i'll assume dingbat is correct in his facts. i ain't addin alcohol to my fuel either. i think further is right on too. i've only tried seafoam once. i used it as a decarbonizer. i wasn't impressed. if i want to decarb i open it up. stabil is a fuel preservitive. this is what i use. run it in good the last few times out. no issues nest season..

 

[Cannondale]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

IPA has ALWAYS been a petroleum product.

Isopropoyl alcohol, which IPA really doesn't refer to and actually refers to propene or propylene, is a petroleum distillate.

Propene is produced from non-renewable fossil fuels - petroleum, natural gas and to a much lesser extent coal. Propene is a byproduct of oil refining and natural gas processing. Ethylene, propene, and other compounds are produced by cracking larger hydrocarbon molecules. Propene is separated by fractional distillation from hydrocarbon mixtures obtained from cracking and other refining processes.

Propene, also known as propylene, is an unsaturated organic compound having the chemical formula C3H6. It has one double bond, and is the second simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons, and it is also second in natural abundance.

Propene is the raw material for a wide variety of products including polypropylene, a versatile polymer used in packaging and other applications. It is the second highest volume petrochemical feedstock after ethylene.[citation needed] Propene and benzene are converted to acetone and phenol via the cumene process. Propene is also used to produce isopropanol (propan-2-ol), acrylonitrile, propylene oxide (epoxypropane) and epichlorohydrin.

 

[robert graham]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Go to: Marine Fuel Additives for lots of info., ingredients, etc. in most additive products. Seems Naphtha, Mineral Spirits(Paint Thinner), alcohol, Pale Oil, other "petroleum based" products in most of them. I use the Stabil Marine with good success. Good Luck!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

It's my understanding that Yamaha's "ring free" is effectively the same as sea foam. I use Startron (which is like Stabil) and ringfree at every fill up; I don't store the gas over the winter but use it for all but a couple of months (and run it some then).

My impression is that the startron/stabil is for maintaining the quality of the fuel and the ringfree/sea foam is for cleaning the engine, although their functions are in some degrees duplicative.

But because Seafoam has so much of the solvent qualities, it strikes me that it would be better not to have it sitting and cleaning the tank, dropping all the impurities out to the bottom. Rather, I'd use startron/stabil for the stored fuel, and then wait and add the seafoam when you fire it up in the spring. But I won't pretend to have the chemical analysis background in reaching this opinion.

 

[frankie g]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Just use Star-Tron!

 

[dingbat]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Isopropoyl alcohol, which IPA really doesn't refer to and actually refers to propene or propylene, is a petroleum distillate.

Hummm.... I'm no chemist. Per the CAS registry for "IPA".

Per CAS Registry Number: 67-63-0-
CA Index Name: Isopropyl alcohol (also propan-2-ol, 2-propanol or the abbreviation IPA) is a common name for a chemical compound with the molecular formula C3H8O

Isopropyl alcohol is produced by combining water and propene. There are two processes for achieving this: indirect hydration via the sulfuric acid process and direct hydration. These processes give predominantly isopropyl alcohol rather than 1-propanol because the addition of water or sulfuric acid to propene follows Markovnikov's rule.

The indirect process reacts propene with sulfuric acid to form a mixture of sulfate esters. Subsequent hydrolysis of these esters produces isopropyl alcohol. Direct hydration reacts propene and water, either in gas or liquid phases, at high pressures in the presence of solid or supported acidic catalysts. Both processes require that the isopropyl alcohol be separated from water and other by-products by distillation. Isopropyl alcohol and water form an azeotrope and simple distillation gives a material which is 87.9% by weight isopropyl alcohol and 12.1% by weight water. Pure (anhydrous) isopropyl alcohol is made by azeotropic distillation of the "wet" isopropyl alcohol using either diisopropyl ether or cyclohexane as azeotroping agents.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Propene is an oil byproduct.

IPA is completley different from ethanol. It is commonly used as a gas drier but doesn't have the same phase seperation properties as ethanol.

 

[Numlaar]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seafoam

Personally I feel they do two slightly different things...

I run Sea foam (and Startron) in mine during season fuel cleaner, and (enzymatic ethanol eliminator).

Sta bil doesnt actually get rid of ethanol, it just stabilizes it to prevent it from Phase seperating during storage...

I use the stabil when I fill up to park my boat for the winter, but not during regular use. I use the seafoam/startron combo instead.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seafoam

I use Sta-bil religiously. Every gallon that goes into the boat gets treated. I recently switched to the marine formula as it's cheaper to use (lower concentration needed).

I use Seafoam once in a while during the season, and always at the start and end. My storage method is to treat the remaining fuel in the tank with high concentrations of both.

They're both well-proven products.

My .02

 

[SteveRay]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seaform

Just use Star-Tron!

+1 for a stabilizer!

Sea Foam is a great de-carbonizing treatment

 

[gss036]

Re: Sta-bil Marine & Seafoam

Sta-bil is not make a marine ethanol fuel additive since so much of it is out there now. Since the 1 st of August we cannot buy gas w/o 10% alcohol. Some STUPID state law.