Oil & Fuel Tell diesel and gas apart ?

bcarwell · Oct 1, 2007

Doofus question: I filled two gas cans one with diesel and one with gas, and now I can't remember which is which.

Could somebody please tell this idiot a few easy very reliable ways to test which is which ? I couldn't see much color difference. And somebody said the gas smell would persist and be more pungent but maybe my smeller isn't as sensitive as it used to be...

Thanks.

Bob

Soundguy · Oct 1, 2007

Smell test for sure.

If that fails you, dip a papertowel into each jug. then lay it out in the sun.. the gas will evap pretty quickly.. the fuel oil one will be there for quite a while...

The darwin way would be to hold a flame over each containers mouth.. whichever one blows up is the gas filled can. ( warning :humor.. don't do this! )

Soundguy

jeffinsgf · Oct 1, 2007

The smells are quite distinctive, but some people have dulled or limited sense of smell.

Pour a little of each into two baby food jars. The diesel will be thicker and oily. The gasoline will be as thin as water and will evaporate much, much quicker than the diesel.

If all else fails, light a match. If it burns, its diesel. If it explodes, it was gasoline.

jeffinsgf · Oct 1, 2007

Soundguy -- two great minds travelling on the same path.

Soundguy · Oct 1, 2007

Dang.. that's scarry.. exact same replies.. just worded a bit differently! each of the 3 points represented the same..

Soundguy

john_bud · Oct 1, 2007

The stuff in the RED jug is gas and the stuff in the YELLOW jug is diesel.

(Sorry - couldn't resist! After all, sound and jeff already gave the perfect answers, the only thing left was humor.)

jb

bcarwell · Oct 1, 2007

Thanks guys. Enjoyed the advice <and> the humor. Indeed I am using the diesel for burning and adding to my tractor and obviously didn't want to mix up the two for both reasons but especially the first (!). And I guess if all else fails, I'll get another can of gas and compare.

Sorry for the stupid question. I actually got a red, yellow, and blue can (actually have multiples of each) and I just knew one of these days in a hurry I'd mix them up and forget and never get around to marking them. Lesson learned.

Thanks again,

Bob

MarEng · Oct 1, 2007

Further to Soundguy's paper towel test -

Take the towels outside and away from anything you value - actually I'd do it in the barn just way away from the fuel cans - but you can't be too careful. Light said match. The gas soaked towel will literally explode. The diesel soaked will light, maybe, and then burn rather like my 9 year old pursues her chores, only with much more black smoke. When I use diesel to light off our burn piles I often have to use a gas pilot (teaspoon of gas) to get the diesel started.

The volatility difference is extreme and why we use diesel (60 deg Flash, or higher) on ships.

I guess I'm lucky, I can still tell the difference between gas, diesel and pre-mix by smell.

Soundguy · Oct 1, 2007

I always liked the display the fire dept did.. when i was younger.. they took shallow pans of diesel and gas. a match trhown into a pan of diesel fizzled and went out.. the one thrown inthe pan of gas made a crater...

Soundguy

LBrown59 · Oct 1, 2007

Soundguy said:
Smell test for sure.

If that fails you, dip a papertowel into each jug. then lay it out in the sun.. the gas will evap pretty quickly.. the fuel oil one will be there for quite a while...

The darwin way would be to hold a flame over each containers mouth.. whichever one blows up is the gas filled can. ( warning :humor.. don't do this! )

Soundguy

anybody knows the stuff in the red can is gas and the stuff in the yellow can is diesel.

Why ya think the cans are different collors.

Spiveyman · Oct 1, 2007

I just saw this thread post and it had the highest ratio I've ever seen of replies:views being 8:9. I was the guy that viewed and didn't reply, so I thought I'd open it back up and keep it batting 1.000.

So that my comments above are not the ONLY thing I've added to this thread, I've heard that gasoline will also put out a match if there are no vapors above the liquid. It's the vapors that are flamable. Keep in mind while I'm aware of this tid bit of info, I'm not expactly planning a demo any time soon.

Edit: Of course by the time I could type that the ratio chaged to 10:53

Still pretty high. My first thread was about 3:87 and I was all three replies!

jmfox · Oct 1, 2007

You should be able to feel diesel since it is much slippery (lower on the cracking tower) than gas. As I think about it diesel is different in every way: taste, smell, feel, sight and sound (it doesn't explode and make a crater).

jmf

jeffinsgf · Oct 1, 2007

The old "yellow jug" comment sounds great...given that you can find the @##%$ $$%%#@# yellow jugs!

My diesel jugs are red with DIESEL written in 4 inch tall letters.

Don't use them much, though. Most of my diesel comes out of my farm tank.

jsborn · Oct 1, 2007

Assuming you drive a gas powered car or truck open the gas cap and put your nose to the opening and compare to your favorite colored can if they smell the same it is probably gas if not it is probably Diesel. After this test you are on your own .

RavensRoost · Oct 1, 2007

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but isn't gas heavier than diesel and should float on top of gasoline. So....if you poured some from can "A" into a glass jar then added some from can "B" to the jar, the one that floats is diesel.

The other positive way to tell which is which is to use a sample,,,of each,,, on bees to see which one kills like,,,,,um crap,,,then you will know which one is gas.

RavensRoost

NY_Yankees_Fan · Oct 1, 2007

Here u go do a science experiment.

Take 2 jars, say 4 oz each ( baby food jar works) and pour the liquid from each container in each jar, equal amount. Take a birthday candle and place it 6" from each jar. The jar that ignites is the gasoline. Why, flammable vapours are given off from gasoline since its flash point is - 40 F, diesel has a flash point in the 120F range. The gasoline flammable vapours will boiler over the top of the jar, travel along the ground and ignite on the candle, and flash back and ignite the gasoline in the jar.

AndyMA · Oct 1, 2007

Sniff your car's gas tank opening. Then each can. If you have any sense of smell it should be very easy to tell them apart. I can tell them apart with just a quick look into a can without any smell since the gas is much clearer.

Andy

RavensRoost · Oct 1, 2007

RavensRoost said:
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but isn't gas heavier than diesel and should float on top of gasoline. So....if you poured some from can "A" into a glass jar then added some from can "B" to the jar, the one that floats is diesel.

The other positive way to tell which is which is to use a sample,,,of each,,, on bees to see which one kills like,,,,,um crap,,,then you will know which one is gas.

RavensRoost

I got it backwards: diesel has a higher SG than does gasoline. The,,,um,,,bee test is still valid,,,however.

RavensRoost

Georgia Boy · Oct 1, 2007

Rub some between your fingers and the diesel
will feel slicker.

Glowplug · Oct 1, 2007

I guess everyone's already given just about all the advice capable of being given. That is, except send it off to a lab and have it tested. But I need to point out something that may seem too obvious. If you're talking about off-road (farm) No. 2 diesel then it should be dyed red. It's actually more pink, but us manly men can't be seen playing with pink things. Now if you're talking about standard No. 1 diesel then refer to the above 17 replies.