Does any one use a fuel conditioner to deal with the ethanol in the gasoline and if so what do you use

The best cure for deterioration of fuel during long-term seasonal storage is to drain the tank and carburetor bowl.  There's not much gas involved so I usually siphon / drain into a fuel can and blend into my car's tank.  That way you avoid harmful byproducts from oxidation, water absorption and even microbes introduced as the gas tank breathes air in and out through daily temperature cycles.

There are many "snake oil" additives out there claiming to be the magic cure to perceived E10 problems like gum and varnish formation, corrosion and phase separation with absorbed water.  It's best to read the MSDS to see what you are paying for.  Many contain just a simple stoddard solvent (naphtha) or isopropanol and have little more than a placebo effect.  

There's a good summary here:
http://www.fuel-testers.com/is_gas_additive_safe_with_e10_list.html

Bottom line, get fresh Tier-1 gas from a station that has a high turnover and you will be fine if used up in a month or two.  Otherwise, at least drain the carb bowl with the little screw at the bottom - it's a simple enough precaution.

There's another ethanol problem, namely increased formation of intake valve deposits.  So I blend Red Line SI-1 or Chevron Techron concentrate in all my vehicles periodically to counter clean these deposits that are especially troublesome if you have fuel injection.  These additives contain PEA or poly ether amine that is proven to be effective and is already in Tier-1 gasolines like Chevron and Shell.  

You can read more about the Red Line tech here:
http://www.redlineoil.com/content/files/tech/S1-1%20Tech%20Info.pdf

Cheers,

RR

doctorpc I work in a large outdoor power dealership and we fight the ethanol problem daily. My advice to our customers is if the equipment is stored for 30 days it needs either fuel treatment or a "non-ethanol" fuel.

I suggest Startron for treating fuel. Even better is to completely drain the system of all fuel,then start the engine and run it till it dies. Then add some "ethanol free" fuel like VP Racings SEF(small engine fuel) start and run the engine for about 10 minutes to get the SEF well into the carb,then shut it down and store the unit as normal.

The SEF runs about $8 a quart can and is 94 octane. We've been using this to winterize our customers equipment for a couple of years now and spring start-up is a painless,trouble-free breeze!