A couple thoughts:

The gas could have been old, or had water in it. I'm not a proponent of sta-bil. I see many mowers in the shop with sta-bil in them and they don't start either.

If your tank went empty, you may have to prime the line again. You could have dumped dirt into the tank with the gas.

I'd look for lack of fuel somewhere.

A thing or two to know about Stabil. First, I think it does a fine job added to "fresh" fuel at maintaining the runability of the fuel for up to 6 months. It does better at preventing the fuel from "varnishing" the carb. Some feel that fuel freshness is maintained only for 3 months. Fuel should ideally be stored in an environment with a moderate temperature fluctuation in a sealed container. Stabil that sits on the shelf for a while seems to have hard,little red flakes at the bottom of the container- that when added to gas do not dissolve. So, did the STabil itself cause your dilemma? If you drop the bowl of the carb and find the red flakes, then yes- it did. Sounds like a next step to me to drop the bowl, clean the main jet and see what you find. If debris or water is found, clean the tank and lines as well as adding fresh fuel.

"The only thing that was different is the gas I used had STA-BIL fuel stabilizer in it. Any thought or ideas?"

Stabil has a shelf life. The only time I have ever has trouble with ethanol was right after I got concerned from things I had read here on the list and put Stabil in the gas and in two engines. They did just as you describe. Drained and flushed it, put in old gas from another can and all was fine.

Walt Conner

I now use the Marine Sta-Bil for Ethanol fuels. It's a completely different product and is super-concentrated. I never had any trouble with the original red formula over a period of about ten years, using it in everything I have, vehicles and all. I use the new formula because we have to use 10% Ethanol gas here, plus the new blue formula is only 1 oz to 10 gallons.
As to the question, I doubt if the Sta-Bil had anything to do with the problem. It is true that if you use Sta-Bil with flakes in it and there's no filter to keep them out of the carb, they could clog an orifice, just like any other contaminant. I've never seen these flakes myself but have no reason to doubt that it has happened.

I HAVE seen the flakes, but I didn't know they were from the Stabil.

The problem with the ethanol is that it eats up rubber parts. Does the Marine sta-bil protect rubber or just prolong the life of gas?

It is designed to prevent corrosion associated with Ethanol fuels, along with all the usual Sta-Bil attributes.

I came across something the other day.
I installed a hot air furnace in my
barn and use a 15 gal drum for fuel tank.
Not wanting to mess up the new OLD furnace
I strain the fuel oil through a paint filter
strainer. To my amazement, a purchase of 5 gallons
of No 2 left a complete load of black particles in my new
strainer.
Could be the same in gas, I'm afraid to test.

Don't you have a regular canister filter installed. You should. Those felt type filters can hold alot of debris and rarely plug up, unless the tank is allowed to go empty.

You don't have alot of heat pressure with 15 gallons. There is also a secondary filter in the oil pump of the burner.

My friend had the same issue, with a push mower less than 2 years old , to be safe he added a measured amount of Briggs and stratton red for all gas engines fuel stabilizer, new bottle purchase, that also would help with keeping carb clean , then mower would start and shut down, the fuel stabilizer was added to fresh non ethanol gas. We dumped the fuel stabilizer and gas mix and put in gas alone, mower worked fine, just to be sure we drained gas tank and put the gas fuel stabilizer mix back in, mower would start and shut down, we drained the tank and put gas only in and mower worked fine. I've worked around engines for over 25 years, and used carb cleaner and fuel stabilizer the problem as it seems, bad fuel stabilizer.

FWIW, my small engine guru absolutely despises the stuff. Says that none of it works for very long and that it causes far more problems than it's worth. He vehemently recommends against using any brand whatsoever. With his 32 years in the biz I tend to think he knows what he's talking about.

I'm lucky in that I now live close to a recreational lake and have access to ethanol-free fuel. It costs more (approx. 30-35 cents a gal.) but it's worth it and it's all I use-even in my pickup.

I read somewhere recently the epa wants to mandate the ratio up to 15% and later to 20% ethanol in motor fuel in the near future. I can only imagine what that will do to old fuel lines, O-rings, gaskets, etc. Better yet-why do we need any gov't agency that says we should convert food into fuel that causes so many problems?

If it aint broke, don’t fix it. I do not believe in using fuel stabilizers. First, how do they work?

One manufacturer says its stabilizer contains other hydrocarbons and other additives that sit on the surface of the gasoline to prevent water absorption and limit evaporation. I would love to hear the scientific basis for that. What hydrocarbon is lighter than gasoline, insoluble in gasoline and less volatile than gasoline? I’m not a chemist, so someone will have to explain this process before i accept it as valid.

I will summarize my thoughts regarding using stabilizers in small engines with the following suggestions:

1. Use only ethanol free gas, if available in your area, in small engines. If not available, switch to cordless equipment if possible. If neither option is viable, hire a lawn service and rent other equipment when needed. Let them deal with maintenance issues. I hate ethanol that much. If none of these options work for you, good luck.

2. Do not add stabilizer to ethanol free gas or use fuel-mix oil or pre-mixed gasoline with stabilizer. You don‘t need it. Stabilizer is only needed because of ethanol. For 50 years, I never had problems with my small engines unless I let gas stand and evaporate for many months. That is, until I decided to become ”wise” and add stabilizer. It seemingly coats everything in the carb and causes float needles to stick and jets to clog, even after only short periods of a month or less.

3. At the end of every season, I drain all small engines to almost empty, run the engine totally out of gas and burn all of the drained gas and any pre-mixed gas I have in my mowers and use them until they run out of gas. Usually with no problem. Worst case, a little smoke is visible and it might be necessary to clean the lawnmower spark plug(s) with a wire brush.

4. I start with fresh gas and for my two strokes I mix fresh fuel at the start of every season.

5. Fuel stabilizer is a snake oil solution for a nonexistent problem when you use fresh ethanol-free gasoline.

6. Ethanol in gasoline no longer makes sense. It is harmful to the environment and its mandated use in gasoline means the cost of corn, a food staple in America, third world countries and everywhere else, has increased dramatically. etc., etc etc. For those who may question this statement based on the USDA Study, I say “a model is as good as its input data. Crap in, crap out.”

7 I could go on, but I won’t.

I've been using Startron over the last 10 years or so in everything that burns gas, and for 20 years before that I was using Sta-Bil. We have to use Ethanol (E10) in my area and Startron works for that. Also, it has cleaning properties that keep the fuel system and combustion areas clean. When I park my equipment for the season, I cut them off and walk away. Months later they fire right up and go to work. The vehicles love it - start fast, run smooth and stay powerful. Two cars have 'special needs'; the Honda Odyssey has VCM which causes the 'off' cylinders on many of them to eventually foul with oil and require internal engine repairs. Ours has had no such problem. Also a KIA turbo 2.0L, an engine that has had some problems with carbon build up causing pre-ignition which is not a good thing with the turbo, resulting in eventual rod bearing failure - not on mine, though. I would actually be afraid to stop using Startron. It wasn't true 40 years ago but today's incredibly complex engines need help to keep running strong.