diff --git a/src/fmu/config/_configparserfmu_ipl.py b/src/fmu/config/_configparserfmu_ipl.py
index 721809e..66833a3 100644
--- a/src/fmu/config/_configparserfmu_ipl.py
+++ b/src/fmu/config/_configparserfmu_ipl.py
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ def _freeform_handle_entry(variable, myvalue, myvalues, dtype, template):
     # inner function
     def _fixtheentry(variable, myval, subtype, count=None, template=False):
 
-        logger.info("Fix freeform entry %s", variable)
+        logger.info("Fix freeform entry %s (subtype %s)", variable, subtype)
         tmpvalue = str(myval)
         if "~" in tmpvalue:
             val, var = tmpvalue.split("~")
@@ -414,6 +414,13 @@ def _fixtheentry(variable, myval, subtype, count=None, template=False):
             if val in ("False", "no", "NO", "No", "false", "FALSE"):
                 val = "FALSE"
 
+        if subtype == "Float":
+            logger.info("Input float value is %s (%s)", val, variable)
+            if "e" in str(val).lower():
+                val = "{0:E}".format(float(val))
+
+            logger.info("Updated float value is %s (%s)", val, variable)
+
         if subtype == "String":
             val = '"{}"'.format(val)
             if var:
diff --git a/src/fmu/config/configparserfmu.py b/src/fmu/config/configparserfmu.py
index 1f52242..c2253c8 100644
--- a/src/fmu/config/configparserfmu.py
+++ b/src/fmu/config/configparserfmu.py
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 import datetime
 import json
 
+import pdb
+
 # for ordered dicts!
 from collections import OrderedDict, Counter
 
@@ -208,7 +210,7 @@ def to_yaml(
 
             >>> config.to_yaml('global_variables', destination='../')
         """
-
+        logger.info("To YAML")
         if not destination and not template:
             raise ValueError(
                 "Both destination and template are None."
@@ -233,6 +235,8 @@ def to_yaml(
         mystream = re.sub(r"\s+~", "~", mystream)
         mystream = re.sub(r"~\s+", "~", mystream)
 
+        # pdb.set_trace()
+
         cfg1 = self._get_dest_form(mystream)
         cfg2 = self._get_tmpl_form(mystream)
 
@@ -622,7 +626,9 @@ def _get_required_form(stream, template=False, ipl=False):
     def _get_tmpl_form(stream):
         """Get template form (<...> if present, not numbers)."""
 
-        pattern = "-*[a-zA-Z0-9.]+~"
+        pattern = "\\-*[\\-a-zA-Z0-9.]+~"
+
+        # pdb.set_trace()
 
         if isinstance(stream, list):
             logger.info("STREAM is a list object")
@@ -646,7 +652,8 @@ def _get_tmpl_form(stream):
     def _get_dest_form(stream):
         """Get destination form (numbers, not <...>)"""
 
-        pattern = "~<.+?>"
+        logger.info("TRY DEST %s", stream)
+        pattern = "~.*<.+?>"
 
         if isinstance(stream, list):
             logger.info("STREAM is a list object")
@@ -662,4 +669,5 @@ def _get_dest_form(stream):
         else:
             raise ValueError("Input for templateconversion neither string " "or list")
 
+        logger.info("DEST %s", result)
         return result