Keeping fuel clean . . Mr. Funnel to the rescue.

[AxleHub]

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/files/oil-fuel-lubricants/441375-keeping-fuel-clean-mr-funnel-p693-jpg"/>

I use one of those paint strainers like the one above for my filtering. I have a medium sized Mr. Funnel and find it's just way too slow so I rarely use it. The paint strainer works great for everything and costs just a couple bucks and has a nice stainless screen. I haul a lot of my gas with plastic cans. One thing I have learned is that the gunk usually comes from the OUTSIDE not the inside of the can. I make it a habit to wipe off the area around the spout and cap as well as the threads. There is a lot of gunk and tree debris that seems to find it's onto those cans.

Drizler. I also use plastic gas containers in most all cases. In gas I use very fresh non-ethanol gas from a high volume dealer . . But I still end up with a very very fine brown content that gets caught. It takes an accumulation of it to see it floating in the refuse bottle but it was probably 3 tablespoons per 5 gallons. The finess of it tells me I don't have any other filters that would have caught it and I would never have seen it without it being separated.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Drizler. I also use plastic gas containers in most all cases. In gas I use very fresh non-ethanol gas from a high volume dealer . . But I still end up with a very very fine brown content that gets caught. It takes an accumulation of it to see it floating in the refuse bottle but it was probably 3 tablespoons per 5 gallons. The finess of it tells me I don't have any other filters that would have caught it and I would never have seen it without it being separated.

If it is that fine what is the use in filtering it out? Would it not just go on through and come out the exhaust pipe? Ed

 

[Ed of all trades]

Drizler. I also use plastic gas containers in most all cases. In gas I use very fresh non-ethanol gas from a high volume dealer . . But I still end up with a very very fine brown content that gets caught. It takes an accumulation of it to see it floating in the refuse bottle but it was probably 3 tablespoons per 5 gallons. The finess of it tells me I don't have any other filters that would have caught it and I would never have seen it without it being separated.

If it is that fine what is the use in filtering it out? Would it not just go on through and come out the exhaust pipe? Ed

 

[drizler]

If it is that fine what is the use in filtering it out? Would it not just go on through and come out the exhaust pipe? Ed

That was always my take on it all. Aside from the corrosion problems associated with ethanol the only real issue with gunk is when it blocks a jet or jams up the inlet needle on those small carbs.
One has to ask where all the gunk and dirt comes from. Once was a time not many years ago when gas stations kept leaky tanks in operation until they had so much water in their gas or product loss they either closed the place or replaced the tanks. Remember all the local newspaper stories about peoples basements filling up with gas vapors from the station across the street? The not so occasional poor slob who turned on a light switch and blew his house to bits. I used to work at a prison near Denver. Some time after I left some poor inmate on the outside detail went into the garage outside the back gate. He turned on the light switch and the whole building exploded in one of those classic movie style explosions. It was so bad it blew the glass out of the guard shack in the rear gate 200' away giving the guard a face full of glass. Of course it came from the gas pumps 50' away from the closest part of the building and came up and in from who knows where. Of course most of these incidents are much less climatic but leaking tanks was an issue that no one even thought much about and went quietly on.
Naturally when the gas leaks out the mud just has to come in doesn't it along with ground water. Remember how everybody used to say "don't buy your gas at this or that el cheapo gas station? You know the one that was pretty run down and was always a cent or two cheaper? It was always the one where now and again people seemed to pick up water as well. No surprise.
Those days are pretty well gone , at least in most of the East and West Coast States. ****, in Vermont they demand double tanks now and have sensors between the hulls of the tanks that send a report to Montpelier daily. NY. hasn't gotten quite there yet but with their extremist policies on environmental cleanups and the way they just come dig up your tank and hand you a massive bill you don't see old tanks much any more. They freeze your assets too until it's all said and done. Even if you buy a piece of property that had an old tank and someone makes even a vague complaint they just come and dig and you get the bill along with them snatching up your bank account to pay the bill. I've seen that one twice for old Agway gas stations closed 40 years earlier on property someone unknowingly bought.
Anyways, with all this sort of thing going on I'm sure you won't find anything much getting into the gas you buy these days. It all pretty much comes from the same fuel rack and pipe too . Ask the guy who drives the big delivery truck. Around here they get all the gas from one place and the only difference is the the actual tap. Mobile gets their own and everybody else gets "other" and I am pretty sure it's just a pipeline and price thing. So essentially it's the same gas of the same quality every place you go. With all that in mind you aren't likely to encounter dirt and muck anymore and the gas is cleaner than it's ever been. Too bad the ethanol came along to create a whole other problem, corrosion. That's why it's a good idea to drain the carb and run it dry when you lay those small engines up.

 

[davesl708]

That was always my take on it all. Aside from the corrosion problems associated with ethanol the only real issue with gunk is when it blocks a jet or jams up the inlet needle on those small carbs.
One has to ask where all the gunk and dirt comes from. Once was a time not many years ago when gas stations kept leaky tanks in operation until they had so much water in their gas or product loss they either closed the place or replaced the tanks. Remember all the local newspaper stories about peoples basements filling up with gas vapors from the station across the street? The not so occasional poor slob who turned on a light switch and blew his house to bits. I used to work at a prison near Denver. Some time after I left some poor inmate on the outside detail went into the garage outside the back gate. He turned on the light switch and the whole building exploded in one of those classic movie style explosions. It was so bad it blew the glass out of the guard shack in the rear gate 200' away giving the guard a face full of glass. Of course it came from the gas pumps 50' away from the closest part of the building and came up and in from who knows where. Of course most of these incidents are much less climatic but leaking tanks was an issue that no one even thought much about and went quietly on.
Naturally when the gas leaks out the mud just has to come in doesn't it along with ground water. Remember how everybody used to say "don't buy your gas at this or that el cheapo gas station? You know the one that was pretty run down and was always a cent or two cheaper? It was always the one where now and again people seemed to pick up water as well. No surprise.
Those days are pretty well gone , at least in most of the East and West Coast States. ****, in Vermont they demand double tanks now and have sensors between the hulls of the tanks that send a report to Montpelier daily. NY. hasn't gotten quite there yet but with their extremist policies on environmental cleanups and the way they just come dig up your tank and hand you a massive bill you don't see old tanks much any more. They freeze your assets too until it's all said and done. Even if you buy a piece of property that had an old tank and someone makes even a vague complaint they just come and dig and you get the bill along with them snatching up your bank account to pay the bill. I've seen that one twice for old Agway gas stations closed 40 years earlier on property someone unknowingly bought.
Anyways, with all this sort of thing going on I'm sure you won't find anything much getting into the gas you buy these days. It all pretty much comes from the same fuel rack and pipe too . Ask the guy who drives the big delivery truck. Around here they get all the gas from one place and the only difference is the the actual tap. Mobile gets their own and everybody else gets "other" and I am pretty sure it's just a pipeline and price thing. So essentially it's the same gas of the same quality every place you go. With all that in mind you aren't likely to encounter dirt and muck anymore and the gas is cleaner than it's ever been. Too bad the ethanol came along to create a whole other problem, corrosion. That's why it's a good idea to drain the carb and run it dry when you lay those small engines up.

Wow, conviction by phone call. Great way to hammer your competition. Just call the state and say "I got water from so and so." They get shut down for a while and at a big expense. Only in America.

I remember the old steel tanks. Grew up working pumping gas. They banned the above ground tanks where you could see a leak in favor of buried tanks.
Now the steel is rusting and leaking. I see some of the new tanks wrapped in fiberglass. Maybe that is the solution or possibly ABS tanks.

 

[AxleHub]

If it is that fine what is the use in filtering it out? Would it not just go on through and come out the exhaust pipe? Ed

Great question Ed. We have to remember some things to answer it:

1. Both tolerances and materials engines are made of have changed greatly in the ladt decade or two. Once engine parts were all decent quality metal. Today cheap white metal is used which is easily worn by contaminated fuel. Even worse . . plastic parts form parts of engines frequently . . and plastic wears even easier than cheap quality metals.

2. Those tolerances are more critical today than in padt times. Fuel flows thru smaller orifices and tighter and lighter bearing surfaces . . At times under higher compressions. Tight tolerances jamb up easier or create tighter but faster venturi flows with still lower octane gases than past. Think of it like a fine sandblaster aimed at internal engine components. And smooth surfaces become rougher and weaker.

3. Lastly fuel filters get worn or torn at just like the parts do. Older style fuel filters were heavier built AND needed to filter for less tolerance tightness and better engine materials. Todays filters can catch easy particles and plug up . . But fine particles are allowed to pass thru. And as we all know that pasding particles will tear at the fabric creating greater sizes to allow to pass with out getting caught. People say they haven't needed to (or ever) changed their filters. Maybe that doesn't mean clean fuel but filtets that have gotten less filtering potential instead.

 

[Wa11banger]

3 tablespoons per 5 gallons.

Yah, I can tell you I haven't seen that bad of contamination ever, from all of the places I regularly buy fuel.. If that is the best you can get, you DO need some kind of extra filtering.

"Mr. Funnel incorporates a 100 micron, Teflon coated stainless steel filter element."

100 Microns? sorry but that is no where near as good as my 5 micron fuel filter or my 7 micro water separator filters. I have yet to find water on my fuel of any significant level tested both in tank and in storage tank. I think anyone that cant find fuel at better than 3Tbs per 5 gallons needs this.. Or really needs to find better fuel source. Because if that is the best that can be supplied what else is wrong with that fuel that is below 100 microns to remove

 

[davesl708]

I buy my fuel 5 gal. at a time. I rinse the can after I get to the last few ounces. This last time I found small black flakes in the bottom as well as some small globs of clear gel. Not sure what the gel is but will be getting a filter/funnel to pre-filter the fuel from now on.

 

[Wa11banger]

I buy my fuel 5 gal. at a time. I rinse the can after I get to the last few ounces. This last time I found small black flakes in the bottom as well as some small globs of clear gel. Not sure what the gel is but will be getting a filter/funnel to pre-filter the fuel from now on.

Don't get me wrong, I filter at my transfer tank.. But I do that because of what I might introduce into the system during transfer, the fact that my transfer tank gets places it probably shouldnt.. But if I found flakes in my can after getting fuel from a place I would bring it to their attention and if things didnt change I would find another place to get fuel.. With that being said I have a ton of places to get fuel some others may be stuck with the supplier they have.

 

[AxleHub]

Yah, I can tell you I haven't seen that bad of contamination ever, from all of the places I regularly buy fuel.. If that is the best you can get, you DO need some kind of extra filtering.

"Mr. Funnel incorporates a 100 micron, Teflon coated stainless steel filter element."

100 Microns? sorry but that is no where near as good as my 5 micron fuel filter or my 7 micro water separator filters. I have yet to find water on my fuel of any significant level tested both in tank and in storage tank. I think anyone that cant find fuel at better than 3Tbs per 5 gallons needs this.. Or really needs to find better fuel source. Because if that is the best that can be supplied what else is wrong with that fuel that is below 100 microns to remove

Greetings wal1banger, I believe there is some confusion in.your post.

You stated that the Mr. FUNNEL filters to 100 microns. That is incorrect (not accurate). The Mr. Funnel filters all work at 50 microns. That is confirmed by email from both the tech support and sales sides of the manufacturer of Mr. Funnel.

Secondly, you claim you are using a 7 micron water filter. 50 microns filters water.

Third, I am awaiting verification on what level of micron filtration will prevent oil and gas from passing thru a filter because 5 microns seems like a constrictor. So we'll see.