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How long can you store Diesel?

H

HamAndEggs

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I'll preface this by saying I've never owned a single machine that runs on Diesel.

All my experience with Diesel has been from SmallEngineMechanic, DieselCreek, Andrew Camarata etc on YouTube, And it seems quite often one of them will get some old bulldozer or loader that has been sitting for 10+ years, and with no much work it fires right up on the old rusty Diesel in the tank.

But, when you look for how long Diesel lasts, you get answers like 6mo-1yr, which just can't be true.

I keep untreated E10 gas in Wavian NATO cans for over 1 year without issue

So, what's the deal here?
 
simp5782

simp5782

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HamAndEggs said:
I'll preface this by saying I've never owned a single machine that runs on Diesel.

All my experience with Diesel has been from SmallEngineMechanic, DieselCreek, Andrew Camarata etc on YouTube, And it seems quite often one of them will get some old bulldozer or loader that has been sitting for 10+ years, and with no much work it fires right up on the old rusty Diesel in the tank.

But, when you look for how long Diesel lasts, you get answers like 6mo-1yr, which just can't be true.

I keep untreated E10 gas in Wavian NATO cans for over 1 year without issue

So, what's the deal here?
Click to expand...
It depends on several things. The cooler you can keep it the better. I have a friend in Florida that has it stored in a chest freezer set to 20 degrees. He has several. He treats it with additives to prevent the gelling though but he doesn't report any issues on long term storage. It just won't get algae like it would stored outdoors in that area.

No sunlight containers are preferred like purple or blue barrels

You can cut any bio blend diesel with kerosene to help as well
 
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C

Captaincarrier

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Water is the biggest demon for diesel fuel. Water is the food source for the nasty growth we find in our tanks.

One half ounce of water will pull the ethanol out of a gallon of E10 and place the fuel in Phase Separation. And air is the biggest demon for gasoline. The light ingredients start to evaporate and will create a lean condition.

Fuel stabilizers actually create a barrier at the upper level of gasoline and slows down the evaporation process.

Lawn mowers, motorcycles, weed eaters and boats all have vented fuel tanks. Automobiles have a closed system because of EPA. Leave your gas cap off and your check engine lite comes on.

Words of experience from cleaning over 5,000 fuel tanks.
 
C

Chainbreaker

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My personal experience is...There are a LOT of factors to consider when buying, storing & treating diesel fuel for long term storage.

- Are you storing in an airtight fuel can (Jerry can/Nato Wavian etc.) or a vented tank that breathes?
- Is your fuel Station a good source? Older stations & low turnover stations might have older tanks and/or older fuel that already have some contaminants.
- If you are storing fuel in a vented tank, is it shaded or in direct sunlight? Expansion/contraction of fuel level causes breathing in/out of air
- Dry climate or wet?
- Do you treat your fuel when filling up storage cans/tanks? I use Optilube XPD (cetane booster, added lubrication, etc.) plus BioBore JF to kill any critters.
- Are you using any kind of desiccant beads in a vent filter on storage tank vent to remove water in air, to prevent condensation in tank?
- Do you plan to use a "fuel polisher filtration pump rig" to recycle the fuel through if storing longer term?

I live in a wet winter climate with dry summers. I can "reliably" store diesel fuel for my generators for 2 years & could probably go longer if I get around to building a fuel polishing rig. Usually, I try to use the older aging fuel in my diesel tractor & mower as it reaches 2+ years stored age.
 
DieselAddict

DieselAddict

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One thing to consider is equipment that has been sitting for 10 years has fuel in it made to a different standard than fuel you buy today. Todays fuel has to meet a myriad of newer EPA requirements and does not age as well as fuel made from older formulations. I've started diesel equipment that has sat for more than a decade with old fuel in it. No way would I try that trick on anything I knew had ULSD fuel in it.

The things that accelerate degradation of fuel is moisture, temperature, sunlight, and oxygen. You want to minimize the fuels exposure to all of those. The better you do that job the longer the fuel will last in storage. Diesel will be viable longer than gasoline in storage. I would be sure to rotate any stock out and keep them no longer than 24 months.

One last note, if you are storing gasoline its in your best interest to use only alcohol free fuel for that purpose. I keep a little "engineered" gasoline on hand to run through any engines that will be out of service for more than a couple of months. That stuff while expensive to use as primary fuel makes a great fuel to get your equipment ready to store.
 
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kendelrio

kendelrio

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I know anecdote =/= fact, but when I bought my 5 ton it had been sitting in a field for at least two years.

Here's how it started on a 14° Louisiana day after putting fresh batteries in it.

(No ether shots or other types of starter fluid were used)

 
chucky

chucky

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On a little side note since theyre using ethanol in diesel now with E 10 and E 15 . It takes 1 acre of corn to make 328 gallons of ethanol being 26.1 pounds of corn per gallon and current administration pushing so hard to put the oil business out of business while having us all pay them to make farmers make and sell all corn to ethanol makers. We cut our own throats quickly wiping out our sources for U.S. grown food while paying 6 to 8 bucks a gallon for diesel before all this B,S, ends come 2024 like you flipped a light switch back to 2 dollar a gallon diesel . Except for the part that we will be in a full blown recession and 2008-10 begins all over again !
 
K

kayak1

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chucky said:
On a little side note since theyre using ethanol in diesel now with E 10 and E 15 . It takes 1 acre of corn to make 328 gallons of ethanol being 26.1 pounds of corn per gallon and current administration pushing so hard to put the oil business out of business while having us all pay them to make farmers make and sell all corn to ethanol makers. We cut our own throats quickly wiping out our sources for U.S. grown food while paying 6 to 8 bucks a gallon for diesel before all this B,S, ends come 2024 like you flipped a light switch back to 2 dollar a gallon diesel . Except for the part that we will be in a full blown recession and 2008-10 begins all over again !
Click to expand...
I think that your thinking of stagflation when a peanut farmer was in office his term was 1977 to 1981....
 
C

Chainbreaker

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simp5782

simp5782

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chucky

chucky

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From what im reading maybe the wording should be that non road use dyed red fuel has more sulfer in it than road use fuel and there is red dyed fuel that is low sulfer sg fuel so maybe its the area your in they dont seem to address that question on google that ive found .
 
chucky

chucky

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simp5782 said:
Yes. We can still get 500ppm Sulphur. Nothing like the old Alaska 3000ppm Sulphur that would make your eyes burn.
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Where in TN can you get high sulfer ag fuel i know 20 farmers with old tractors would buy it by the truck load ?
 
chucky

chucky

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Local oil co here where i live says that now there is no high sulfer fuel available . He said the on road off road red is the same low sulfer and the only place a high sulfer fuel can be used is outside U.S. waters by big ships its no where in the pipe line as of 5 minutes ago so now we know !
 
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