Thread: Diesel

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

John, how do you treat diesel for water?
and airtight?
as in sealed against leaks like a jerry can,
or
NO air on top of the fuel in a sealed container?

Diesel, if allowed to stand will separate out the water, and the water will be in the bottom, eventually. Bacteria grow on the interface between the diesel and the water. So the main thing is to make sure that you have not already got water in the bottom of the tank/container. If you do, allow the fuel to stand undisturbed at least overnight, and remove as much as possible down to just above the water. Then remove the rest, plus as much water as possible down into a separate container (and preferably don't use this in an engine).

Then clean out and dry the container. How you do this is going to depend on the container - jerricans are easy - tip out as much out as you can, blow through with air for a while, then leave open in the sun for a hot dry day. Vehicle tanks vary from easy if there is a drain to difficult, and overhead storage tanks or underground tanks can be a real problem.

Next problem is to keep water out. Apart from getting water from storage, it mostly gets in by condensation from the air. This can be minimised by only having a small volume of air in contact with the fuel (keep your tank full!), moving inland, or sealing from the air, such as in a jerrican.

Consider what happens with a partly full tank. It cools overnight, and if the humidity reaches 100%, water condenses onto the exposed sides of the tank, runs down and ends up under the fuel. Next day, the air expands, pushing a lot of the dryer air out, only to be replaced as the next evening cools by a fresh lot of moist air, and the cycle repeats.

If the tank has very little air space, the amount of moisture that gets in is much leass, but also, the air tends to be kept warmer because it is in contact with the thermal mass of the fuel, which retains heat a lot better than the top of the tank.

Hope this helps,

John

I drove my Isuzu County home 3 years ago when I bought it. It's been on the same half tank since then. Just got it going again a few weeks ago and started first go. I've done maybe 100kms now and no issue. So that's running on 3 year old diesel.

Don't get me started on petrol in 2 strokes tho! It barely lasts a few weeks before I can't get the whipper snipper to start. Put fresh fuel in and it starts first go every time. Fuel stabliser extends it to a few months, but I can really only buy a few litres at a time or I have to continually throw it out. Anyone know where can I get a 2 stroke diesel whipper snipper from?

Originally Posted by Judo

Anyone know where can I get a 2 stroke diesel whipper snipper from?

Don't bother. Get a Honda GX35 4 stroke petrol powered one, you'll never look back. No mess, no smoke and 100% reliable starting, idling and running. Economical too, uses about 1/2 the fuel of a 2 stroke. I drain the fuel out of mine at the end of a session and put it back in the jerry can.

Originally Posted by bee utey

...... I drain the fuel out of mine at the end of a session and put it back in the jerry can.

That is the solution to most engines that are used only occasionally.

I don't really understand the problem with two strokes though - the only two stroke I run is my chainsaw - and it typically spends all summer sitting in the shed, often as not with fuel in it. I have been doing this now for about 25 years, and the only time it has failed to start easily was the time the screw holding the throttle plate on came out. (but I live west of the ranges)

John

Originally Posted by Judo

I drove my Isuzu County home 3 years ago when I bought it. It's been on the same half tank since then. Just got it going again a few weeks ago and started first go. I've done maybe 100kms now and no issue. So that's running on 3 year old diesel.

Don't get me started on petrol in 2 strokes tho! It barely lasts a few weeks before I can't get the whipper snipper to start. Put fresh fuel in and it starts first go every time. Fuel stabliser extends it to a few months, but I can really only buy a few litres at a time or I have to continually throw it out. Anyone know where can I get a 2 stroke diesel whipper snipper from?

I have an older chainsaw like this, it has to have fresh fuel everytime.

And I agree re the 4 stroke Honda brushcutters. Mine is 17 years old and never fails to start first time everytime.

I have 5 different Stihl products. Between them all one would be used at least once a fortnight,
so I sometimes swap the fuel out from one that has been sitting for a while, into one I am using.

The issue with two stroke fuel is, the oil and petrol separating over time. As each product has a different specific gravity, shaking the storage, vessel before use, should alleviate the problem.

Originally Posted by bee utey

I drain the fuel out of mine at the end of a session and put it back in the jerry can.

i cant remember the reason behind it, but i though this was bad? dries out the gaskets or something?