Kerosene - what is it?

[dknarnd]

Where does K1 clear fall in the diesel fuel catagory?

This summer I tore down an old mobil home that was on my property so I saved the fuel from the tank, I was having the tank filled with Kerosene. I drained the tank into a drum and the kerosene is pink color, is this just dyed K1 kerosene? Can this be used in the tractor or should it only be used in a mix with fuel from the pumps?

I also use kerosene in a salamander heater for heating my garage but I have about 70 gallons of the stuff to use. Although I also kept the furnace from the mobil home and plan on installing that in my garage for heat but still I won't use that much kerosene in a year.

 

[California]

If there's no sediment or water, burn it as diesel fuel. You should probably add lubricity by using Power Service etc.

Last year when diesel was $3.29 I noticed a seasonal spring closeout on odorless kerosene heater fuel, $1.99/gallon, at Home Depot. I bought a shopping cart load of gallon jugs.

Kerosene has less heat/gallon and there was a slight noticeable decline in maximum hp. The tractor ran more smoothly than usual. I think that was the tank where I also used a tiny can of 50:1 2cycle oil as an additional lubricity additive.

 

[RalphVa]

Kerosene boils just lighter than diesel.

Vermonters have used as much as 50/50 kero/diesel in the winter for flowability at low temps. I've put in as much as about 1/3 into a tank of diesel fuel on my 4010 so far.

Ralph

 

[cp1969]

Where does K1 clear fall in the diesel fuel catagory?

K1 is approximately the same thing as #1 diesel and Jet-A. Most refineries make one product that meets the specs for all three and can be sold as any of them.

Without knowing the pedigree of the pink Kerosene, I would use it in the salamander, not a diesel engine.

 

[DieselPower]

As cp1969 said, K1 is about the same as #1 diesal and Jet-A fuel. A low lubricity fuel so don't use it full strength in a diesel engine unless you plan on changing your injectors soon. I would go a max of 1/3 kero to 2/3 diesel.

 

[Partsman2]

Going the other way with this - what happens if you run off-road diesel in a kerosene heater? Does it put off smoke or heavy fumes?

It would sure be nice to fill my kero heater out of my diesel tank rather than running to the store to fill 5 gal cans.

 

[midlf]

Going the other way with this - what happens if you run off-road diesel in a kerosene heater? Does it put off smoke or heavy fumes?

It would sure be nice to fill my kero heater out of my diesel tank rather than running to the store to fill 5 gal cans.

I ran diesel in my salamander heater, ONCE. Fumes were strong enough to drive me out of the building. On K1 the fumes were almost unnoticeable.

 

[RalphVa]

Diesel in a kero stove would smoke terribly. If you use off road diesel in a catalytic (no vent type) kero stove, you'll likely foul up the catalyst that converts the CO to CO2.

Ralph

 

[dknarnd]

As cp1969 said, K1 is about the same as #1 diesal and Jet-A fuel. A low lubricity fuel so don't use it full strength in a diesel engine unless you plan on changing your injectors soon. I would go a max of 1/3 kero to 2/3 diesel.

My brother lives near the capital of NY and has had problems with fuel gelling up in the winter so he is now missing about 20% to 40% kerosene in his fuel for winter use. So he is in the ball park of being safe at 20% - 30% but 40% is starting to push it. I'm going to stay at no more than 20% and see how it works this winter. Although I still don't see the need in doing this because the stuff out of the local pumps is being run all winter by vehicles without mixing kerosene in it. Why would it be different in a tractor, unless it is the use factor where the vehicle is being used every day but my tractor may sit for a few weeks at a time before using it in the winter.

 

[rswyan]

Going the other way with this - what happens if you run off-road diesel in a kerosene heater?

I have a DESA 170K BTU Reddy Heater I picked up from Lowes last year that I'm using in the polebarn. It's rated to use kero, No. 1 & No. 2 Diesel/Fuel Oil, Jet-A or JP-8 fuels. I've been burning premium off-road diesel directly from the tank I fill my tractor from and don't find the fumes or smell any worse than the more expensive K1 kero that I picked up when I first got it. Of course, there's no ceiling in the barn at the moment and it's slightly over a 3000 sq. ft. area. Maybe if it were more enclosed and smaller it would be more noticable.

 

[Tig]

Although I still don't see the need in doing this because the stuff out of the local pumps is being run all winter by vehicles without mixing kerosene in it. Why would it be different in a tractor, unless it is the use factor where the vehicle is being used every day but my tractor may sit for a few weeks at a time before using it in the winter.

Way back in auto shop class we were taught that fuel additives were adjusted seasonally in cold climates to prevent icing etc. If so problems could arrise if you have a tank full of summer fuel and the weather gets very cold.

 

[cp1969]

dknarnd said:

...Although I still don't see the need in doing this because the stuff out of the local pumps is being run all winter by vehicles without mixing kerosene in it...

In the past, #1 was blended with #2 to improve cold flow characteristics, so many times what people thought to be #2 diesel (because that's what the pump says) were actually pumping a blend of the two.

I don't know how it will work this year with ULSD hitting the pumps and as far as I know, there is no ULSD #1 to mix with it. This might be the winter that gives a true test to anti-gel additives, depending on how cold it gets.

BTW, dknarnd: Good screen name.

 

[dknarnd]

BTW, dknarnd: Good screen name.

Very few people ever figure it out but I had to shorten it up to fit a liscence plate.

 

[cp1969]

I don't know how it will work this year with ULSD hitting the pumps and as far as I know, there is no ULSD #1 to mix with it.

I was mistaken. It looks like there is ULSD #1 after all, at least in some places.

http://www.magellanlp.com/docs/Y-Grade No. 1 Fuel Oil.pdf

According to that spec sheet, max sulfur ppm is <10.

 

[RalphVa]

I've heard of Vermonters using 50/50 kero/diesel in the winter time to avoid gell formation. (Actually, it's wax, not gel, but the wax will gel the fuel. Kero keeps it dissolved. We use kerosene in propane dewaxing plants industrially to wash the filters used to remove the wax from lubricating oil.)

Ralph

 

[KICK]

. (Actually, it's wax, not gel, but the wax will gel the fuel.
Ralph

I believe its parafin, if you wanna split hairs.

 

[midlf]

I believe the Brits call kerosene "paraffin oil".

 

[tallyho8]

I'm pretty sure that i've heard a few old timers around here call it "coal oil".

 

[Tom_Veatch]

I'm pretty sure that i've heard a few old timers around here call it "coal oil".

I'm quite sure you did. When I was growing up in the piney woods south of Shreveport, La., during the late 40's/early 50's, before the REA brought electricity into the area, our interior lighting was by "coal oil" lanterns. At that time, "Frigidaire" was the common term for all home refrigerators, or, in more recent times, any copy machine was a "Xerox machine" regardless of the actual brand name.

The "original" product was extracted from coal (see here), but has been largely (entirely?) replaced by kerosene, a petroleum distillate. But I still think of kerosene as "coal oil" while I get a cold one out of my Frigidaire on the way to make a Xerox copy from my IBM computer. Old habits and thought patterns die hard.

 

[purpony]

is anyone using straight home heating oil 100% in their tractor? I was thinking if the truck comes to fill the home heating tank, way not have them fill a 55 drum with it for the tractor as well.