Storing Your Pressure Washer With Regular Shamrock Gas For Winter
Winter storage for all of your gasoline or diesel engine equipment is the focus of this article. I don’t know about everyone else, but I personally have more equipment with small engines than I first realized. After thinking about it a little I soon realized there was more stuff around here than meets the Eye. Lets see here now. Well there’s the emergency generator, the compressor, the pressure washer, the tiller, the push lawn mower, the riding mower, the four wheeler,and the chain saw.
These items, or pieces of equipment are all going to need some attention. Nothing serious but, important, never the less. The problem with all these small engine equipped life savers is the fact that you didn’t realize how many you really owned and now you’ve got to weatherize all of them.
Not to fear its nothing complicated. Nothing you can’t handle. Anyone with a little common sense can handle the task at hand. A little common sense, and 30 or 40 minutes and you will be prepared for mother natures worst case scenario.
To explain this in the most simplest terms. The reason we must prepare the equipment for winter is because the fuel will go bad, and when it goes bad it is going bad in the carburetor or throttle body, fuel tank, fuel lines, fuel filter, fuel pump and all through the fuel system. This gasoline turns to a thick varnish smelling residue, if left too long.
The way most manufactures are recommending, is to put in an additive. This additive is made especially for winter storage of small engine equipped Items. There are numerous makers of these additives but, one is probably good as the others.
The way I recommend is to go ahead and put the fuel additive in. They usually recommend to a full tank. Now like I said this is the way I do It. I Install the additive, turn the fuel off, coming out of the fuel tank. now start and run the machine till it dies from lack of fuel. Now the carburetor is dry and you can put it up for the winter.
With most of these additives all that is actually absolutely necessary is to put the additive in and run the engine a few minutes to insure the additive has reached all the components.
One very good additive is called Red line.