Cold weather and junk fuel

[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.