Storing fuel

Delancey

I have heard ( dunno where ) that one drawback to the removal of lead from petrol is that the storage life is now something like 6 weeks.
Is this true ?
If so , what if anything can be done to prolong its life in , say , a jerrycan ?

What is the position with stroring diesel fuel ?

Sticky_Fingers

You are absolutely correct, petrol does indeed have a rather short shelf life of about 6-12 months depending on storage.
It's best to store fuel in a cool place, avoid large temperature changes and fill up your jerry can as much as possible to limit the amount of air trapped inside. Opening and closing of the container should be kept to an absolute minimum to reduce the loss of the lighter volatile chemicals within the fuel that aid in starting.
You can buy fuel stabilizers that will increase the useful lifetime of your petrol but only out to a year and a half, two max, again depending on storage.
It is also worth noting that the type of engine you are using will have a pretty large impact upon the useful lifetime of petrol, a tough as nails generator may run (badly) on the same "stale" petrol that your car engine refused to start on or vice versa.

With diesel the shelf life is a bit longer, it's not as processed or volatile so all the octane goodness takes a bit longer to evaporate off but a major problem is that if water is present in the fuel then bacteria actually grow in the diesel and contaminate the fuel. Again to minimize this you can buy diesel stabilizers and can prolong the life of the fuel by storing in a completely filled airtight container to limit water vapour. Properly stored diesel should be good for approximately 8-14 months without problems. As with petrol the type of engine will also play a large role in the best before date of your diesel fuel so all these time periods should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Stinicker

This year I started the lawnmower in March with petrol bought the previous august so it is definitely not six weeks I reckon it loses octane as it is stored longer and it dosen't give off the same vapours fresh petrol would.

Tabnabs

If you're storing petrol or diesel or any period (especially in metal containers or tanks) make sure to fill it to the brim. The last thing you want is condensation forming inside the tank and dripping into the fuel.

Grizzly 45

Get a can of STA BIL fuel stabiliser.Dump it into your fuel supply per instructions.It supposedly will perserve diesel up to four years in a clean fuel tank and Gasoline for appx 18/24 months.Its a pig to get around here,I had to order it in from the UK.
BTW Octane rating hasnt anything to do with fuel life.Its the "explosiveness " or combustion rating of the fuel,and it has been reduced over the years due to engine technology and saftey factors.
Petrol and diesel doesnt need a long "shelf life" at the moment,as there is such a demand for it so it doesnt need much perservatives.Thats why your mower engine runs rough with the first tank load in the season.Dump in some surgical spirts to clean out the wax and buildups and it will run fine by the time you have the tank washed out and refilled with clean gas.:D

meathstevie

The best ( as in a survival situation ) way to store fuel ( not for combustion engines but for heat generation ) is in solid form. Wood in a relatively dry windy place will last for about forever, same for turf. The best yield to weight ratio for solid fuels of course is coal.

Hal Emmerich

What about Home heating oil in the green tank outside, if its half full?

Whats the best way to stop condensation building up inside that?

Tabnabs

To stop condensation - either have it full so as to reduce the bare surface inside the tank where condensation can occur or empty so that any condensation that does form does not enter the fuel.

You could also look at putting a water separator filter on the line where you could drain off any excess water should it be a problem.

However, most importantly - the first question you'd have to ask is how likely is it for condensation in your tank to degrade the fuel? If you are storing it long term (many months or years etc) then perhaps, but the average house will use up so much oil that the system is in regular circulation and water will get little chance to damage the fuel quality.

fodda

Hal Emmerich wrote: »

What about Home heating oil in the green tank outside, if its half full?

Whats the best way to stop condensation building up inside that?

Empty it and put it in containers.

eth0

The figure they give for the shelf life of fuel is a fairly cautious one and I never noticed an engine running bad cause the fuel was too old. Most modern petrol engines will adjust the ignition timing to kompensate for bad fuel and those small 1-cylinder engines i've had running off years old fuel without ill effect.

fodda

eth0 wrote: »

The figure they give for the shelf life of fuel is a fairly cautious one and I never noticed an engine running bad cause the fuel was too old. Most modern petrol engines will adjust the ignition timing to kompensate for bad fuel and those small 1-cylinder engines i've had running off years old fuel without ill effect.

The fuel has recently changed yet again to comply with some EU directive on renewables and the enviroment. Petrol never did last long but you have to understand how it is made and additives.
Diesel...well get some diesel and what is known as gasoil and smell them and you will see how it has changed.

eth0

fodda wrote: »

The fuel has recently changed yet again to comply with some EU directive on renewables and the enviroment. Petrol never did last long but you have to understand how it is made and additives.
Diesel...well get some diesel and what is known as gasoil and smell them and you will see how it has changed.

E5 ethanol mandatory blend? the ethanol would draw water into the petrol alright but again keeping the container sealed will help a lot.

havn't really ever bothered with diesel engines. have to laugh at everyone mad to buy diesels now cause they're a slight bit more efficient and watch them have trouble with DPF's and DMF's and all this codology a few years down the line

fodda

eth0 wrote: »

E5 ethanol mandatory blend? the ethanol would draw water into the petrol alright but again keeping the container sealed will help a lot.

havn't really ever bothered with diesel engines. have to laugh at everyone mad to buy diesels now cause they're a slight bit more efficient and watch them have trouble with DPF's and DMF's and all this codology a few years down the line

There is more than ethonal, there are chemicals which keep the mixture stable etc but these only last for a short while.....so i am told. What i should imagine is.....as soon as you pour out your sealed petrol all the explosive vapours will just evapourate immediately, where when it is new they are released slowly.

As regards diesel, this is why self sufficient off grid people buy old type diesel engines for generators, but some are now buying old petrol engines for woodgas.

Red Neck Hughie

Hal Emmerich wrote: »

What about Home heating oil in the green tank outside, if its half full?

Whats the best way to stop condensation building up inside that?

Water is heavier than the fuel so goes to the bottom of the tank. The outlet is 2 or 3 inches above the bottom of the tank so you will need a lot of condensation to build up to the level where ts going to be a problem. Just think - how often is it a problem now in normal use? Same tank = same conditions, mine rarely gets to be half full these days....

Markcheese

An engineer in whitegate was telling me that diesel seperates out over time, basically a bio fuel that's added to diesel , rendered l fats called FAME, it only takes a few months to start separating ....