Cold weather and junk fuel

[John_Mc]

Up here the off road is often high sulfur.

Have you checked into that with the fuel distributor (not the gas station, who may not really know what they have)? In many parts of the country, the distribution network (trucks, storage tanks, etc) is all the same equipment. They just add the dye at the last possible step to differentiate what is subject to the over the road tax and what isn't.

 

[Jstpssng]

Have you checked into that with the fuel distributor (not the gas station, who may not really know what they have)? In many parts of the country, the distribution network (trucks, storage tanks, etc) is all the same equipment. They just add the dye at the last possible step to differentiate what is subject to the over the road tax and what isn't.

No, I haven't checked it. All that I know is that on the off-road pump it states that it's high sulfur fuel.

 

[Fallon]

No, I haven't checked it. All that I know is that on the off-road pump it states that it's high sulfur fuel.

There are a lot of those obselete & wrong stickers still around. I see them here in Colorado, but all our diesel is the new low sulphur.

 

[jbrumberg]

"..... From 2007 to 2014, low sulfur diesel fuel (specified at 500 ppm) and ULSD fuel was phased in for nonroad, locomotive, and marine (NRLM) diesel fuel.
After 2014, EPA’s diesel standards require that:
All nonroad, locomotive, and marine (NRLM) diesel fuel must be ULSD; and
All NRLM engines and equipment must use this fuel (with some exceptions for older locomotive and marine engines)."- From the EPA's Diesel Fuel Standards.

 

[AxleHub]

My supplier of fuel oil delivers in a typical tanktruck. It can carry and dispense 4 variations of product. I often have him fill some 5 gallon cans before doing the home heating oil. The last time he had just done a no. 1 delivery so everything in his 225 foot hose was no. 1 which went into my 6 fuel cans 1st and those go for the tractor. Lol.

 

[jbrumberg]

^^^^^:wink:

 

[BrokenTrack]

A can of 911 goes a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG ways to preventing gelling at low temperatures. It might be a cost, but messing with diesel fuel at 0 degrees means it is well worth it in my opinion.

 

[Oldpath05]

I picked 30 gal of off road fuel yesterday and still put the white bottle Power Service in, been buying it at the same store for the past 5 years, sofar havent had any issues with jellying. Didn't people in the old days add kerosene to diesel to make it run in cold weather.

 

[AxleHub]

Oldpath,

In my subcompact tractor I always use one type of power source. . . . . White bottle from Nov to April and I use grey bottle in May thru October.

My tractor sits outside and it has never gelled, even in -25 degrees.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Yes, I more or less made summer fuel into winter fuel with the addition of kerosene. It's just very expensive here. But so is a gelled fuel system.

 

[jbrumberg]

The local stations that have diesel #1 around here have all added more kerosene to the diesel #1 distillate mix that is coming out of the regional distributors now. I still have to add additives.

 

[RjCorazza]

Yes, I more or less made summer fuel into winter fuel with the addition of kerosene. It's just very expensive here. But so is a gelled fuel
system.

I did this all the time with my previous tractor. With dpf emissions and common rail injection I don’t think I can do this anymore.

 

[marchanna]

I知 very diligent with fuel additives because I don稚 trust the oil companies to put my interests before their profits. Unfortunately in Canada fuel properties and quality reporting is voluntary.

It doesn稚 have to be expensive though. You can go straight to the source for additives. My treatments cost about $4 on 80 litres and I can guarantee it痴 better than anything off the shelf.

 

[Fallon]

A can of 911 goes a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG ways to preventing gelling at low temperatures. It might be a cost, but messing with diesel fuel at 0 degrees means it is well worth it in my opinion.

911 isn't for normal use, excessive use can damage things as noted on the bottle. Power Service white bottle is for prevention.

 

[marchanna]

Lucas makes an antigel/water dispersant. One bottle treats well over a hundred gallons. It seems to work pretty well, I use it to treat my fuel which I store in an outdoor 300 gallon tank. I think that痴 a better option than using 911 on a regular basis.

 

[dodge man]

I had mine gell up about two weeks ago. We had a couple of weeks with the temps a little below or above zero. I was also adding Howes to the fuel when it happened. New filters and I was good to go. I have never found water in my fuel but did find something that looked like rust flakes in my 5 gallon cans. The gelled fuel was obvious in the Racor I added to my BX, it looked like someone stuffed the filter full of vanilla pudding.

 

[AxleHub]

Lucas makes an antigel/water dispersant. One bottle treats well over a hundred gallons. It seems to work pretty well, I use it to treat my fuel which I store in an outdoor 300 gallon tank. I think that痴 a better option than using 911 on a regular basis.

Marchanna,

Power Service comes in 3 forms:

Red bottle is the 911 and is for emergency needs . . It is not intended for normal use and it can be harmful if used all the time because it is designed for a specific problem.

Gray bottle is the color of dry concrete and it's intended for warm weather (above 30 degrees). 1 bottle treats 250 gallons and costs 10 to 12 dollars.

White bottle is the color of snow and it's intended for winter weather (30 degrees and below). 1 bottle treats 250 gallons and runs on sale price is 8.49 to 12.00 dollars.

Both the white and gray versions include lubricate agents as well as cleaning benefits and the white also has the anti-gel functions.

 

[marchanna]

Marchanna,

Power Service comes in 3 forms:

Red bottle is the 911 and is for emergency needs . . It is not intended for normal use and it can be harmful if used all the time because it is designed for a specific problem.

Gray bottle is the color of dry concrete and it's intended for warm weather (above 30 degrees). 1 bottle treats 250 gallons and costs 10 to 12 dollars.

White bottle is the color of snow and it's intended for winter weather (30 degrees and below). 1 bottle treats 250 gallons and runs on sale price is 8.49 to 12.00 dollars.

Both the white and gray versions include lubricate agents as well as cleaning benefits and the white also has the anti-gel functions.

Yes, I was aware of that. I've used the grey before, but generally I don't like it. It doesn't have enough cetane improver in it to make any noticeable/measurable difference (less that 10% by volume per their SDS), and any of the testing for lubricity I've seen, doesn't show any significant improvement above plain untreated pump diesel. I can't comment on the anti-gel performance because I haven't seen any tests, and I haven't used the white bottle version myself. The SDS does not give as much info as most other brands, but it does say "petroleum distillates 40 - 90%", so basically they're saying the contents of the bottle could be up to 90% diesel fuel! If a 1 litre bottle is $10, then that quite a premium you're paying for mostly diesel fuel.

Not trying to be a Debbie-downer (no offence to any board members named Debbie), but most the products on the shelf are snake oil. Not to say that all are, but research is key. Most brands selling this stuff are just packagers, and don't actually have any so-called trade secrets. The companies that actually make the individual additives are multinational corps that produce thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of metric tonnes every year. All this stuff is already blended in by the petro companies, just not in ideal concentrations, only minimum required concentrations as determined by law, or logistical necessity.

 

[dodge man]

The potential problems of Bio diesel are known but the one big benefit, it adds lubricity as good as or better than any additive.

 

[marchanna]

The potential problems of Bio diesel are known but the one big benefit, it adds lubricity as good as or better than any additive.

I’ve seen that also, in one study.