1. Sea Foam: this stuff really works. I have an old Craftsman lawn mower here. In storage for 9 years. I did all the right things when storing -- put in Stabil fuel stabilizer, ran the motor dry, etc. I took it out last year to try to run it, no can do. There's almost nothing more frustrating than yanking and yanking that damn starter cord on lawnmowers, outboard engines, etc; and the engines not starting.
I then heard about Sea Foam. I put this stuff in the lawn mower carburetor, along with fresh premium gas (no ethanol, no can find in CA); and I am not kidding, this lawn mower started up on the first pull. I let the engine go off and tried yanking the starter cord again, it would not start until I sprayed Sea Foam in there. I then ran it for ten minutes and was able to start it without Sea Foam, with gas soaking the air filter, and about three starts with Sea Foam.
There's two kinds of Sea Foam:
Sea Foam SF-16 Motor Treatment: this goes in gas and cleans engines; stabilizes stored fuel for up to two years
Sea Foam SS14 Cleaner and Lube - spray this in carburetors, helps engines start up
2. When you are trying to pour gas into a mower or elsewhere, don't you ALWAYS spill the gas everywhere? I bought a 1-gallon can of WD-40 recently and tried to transfer that stuff from the old-style metal can into smaller spray bottles. It was impossible. That stuff spilled everywhere; it was an incredible waste. I tried everything: funnels, something to screw onto the spout, etc. It was maddening. The can was one of those metal things that never pour well and were designed in the 1950s.
I did some research, consulted my friend Dr. Dale Stokes, and bought a peristaltic (dosing) pump from Amazon for about $9. It took a bit of time to find the right wires and connectors to connect this to a 12-volt battery (a car battery will be fine; I used a 6-pack of AA NiMh batteries in a holder; and later a 12V battery from an old burglar alarm) and the proper sized tubing. It works great and results in little waste. I used the dosing pump today to get the old gas out of the lawnmower and putting in fresh gas from my gas can. No more mess.
Peristaltic (dosing) pumps are designed to take fluids out and put them in a container in small, controlled doses. You can take the tubing right out of the pump and replace it; the fluids don't go into the pump. Therefore you can use different tubing for different fluids with no contamination. Because the fluid stays in the tubing, I believe this pump will work fine with low-viscosity fluids like WD-40 and gasoline. However, please do your research before using this with any flammable liquids, and ensure that you have all proper safety procedures in place. WARNING: do your research before using this with any flammable liquids, and ensure that you have all proper safety procedures in place.
I bought a Gikfun peristaltic pump at Amazon. It accepts vinyl tubing that is 1/8" inner diameter (ID). It looks like it will work with standard aquarium tubing which is 1/4" ID, but it did not work for me!
3. In a similar vein, I bought a diaphragm pump to pump out the remaining water at the bottom of a hot tub when draining the tub. This diaphragm pump was under $10 at Amazon, required some vinyl tubing of the right size, and a 12V power source. I use the diaphragm pump to get rid of the very last amount of water remaining in my hot tub when I am draining the tub. With a diaphragm pump, the fluid being pumped actually enters the pump, so different fluids can mix if you use the same pump, even if you change out the vinyl tubing. Because the fluid goes into the pump seals and valves, do not use this pump with low-viscosity or flammable fluids like WD-40 and gasoline. This pump states that it is to be used only with water.
I bought a Gikfun diaphragm pump from Amazon. 5/16" or 1/4" inner diameter (ID) vinyl tubing will fit this pump just fine. I mistakenly bought 3/16" IUD tubing and made it fit by heating it up in a cup of hot water. Microwaved hot water in a pyrex measuring cup has done all kinds of good things for me recently. I've used it to get a garden hose pliable enough to fit a hose mender adapter; and to get the top off of a store-bought pepper bottle so I could re-use the bottle and pepper grinder on the top.
