I have also used Sta-Bil for years without issue but I have had nothing but problems the last three years.
I think they forgot the recipe.
How long have you lived in Florida now? How long have you had problems with Sta-Bil, not working?
Coincidence? Might have something to do with the humidity and salt air, maybe?
In Florida the water content of gasoline is a huge issue. Be it from condensation or whatever means, it's present in the fuel you store and purchase more so than I've experienced in other regions. A lot of fuel additives do nothing to help burn the water that's mixed in with your fuel, some are specifically designed for that purpose.
I used Seafoam as a fuel stabilizer in my generator one single time, and never will again.
After 3-4 years of using Sta-Bil with great results, I switched to Seafoam. It failed to do its job and allowed the ethanol to attack the pot metal in the petcock and the carburetor. I spent a dark, very stormy morning, wearing a headlamp and disassembling and cleaning the fuel system on the genny so I could get power on to the house.
Switched back to Sta-bil and never had the issue again.
Seafoam may be good for something, but I saw firsthand that it's not worth a damn as a fuel stabilizer.
Your problem was with ethanol, bruin, not SeaFoam.
I use non-eth gas in my outboard and snow blower. I use StaBil for gas storage, and SeaFoam for running. The snow blower is less of an issue because I can run it dry for the summer. But the boat is in a storage unit and can't be run there. At the end of the year, I fill the tank with non-eth, add Sta-Bil to the mix (It already has SeaFoam in the old gas) and call it good. First trip in the Spring it always starts right up and runs clean.
In 2008 we bought a John Deere Gator and had throttle body issues within the warranty period. JD replaced the throttle body and recommended we run Sea Foam in the fuel. You could actually hear a difference with or without the Sea Foam. I have a 35 gallon tank on a trailer and use it to fuel all my gas engine tools including the Gator and a water truck. Sometimes the fuel will sit in the tank as long as two months. I always put Sea Foam in the stored fuel and it has worked well for me. My engines seem to run better and start easily even after sitting several months. As a side note I was told not to use anything with alcohol in it, in a diesel engine.
