Anyone with a garage full of 44s?

Stale fuel

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part3/preamble.html

8.6 What is "stale" fuel, and should I use it?

"Stale" fuel is caused by improper storage, and usually smells sour. The
gasoline has been allowed to get warm, thus catalysing olefin decomposition
reactions, and perhaps also losing volatile material in unsealed
containers.
Such fuel will tend to rapidly form gums, and will usually have a
significant
reduction in octane rating. The fuel can be used by blending with twice the
volume of new gasoline, but the blended fuel should be used immediately,
otherwise teh old fuel will catalyse rapid decomposition of the new,
resulting in even larger quantities of stale fuel. Some stale fuels can
drop
several octane numbers, so be generous with the dilution.

 

Fuel stored in ordinary 5 litre cans, for example, goes off after about
9-12 weeks, depending on the container and environmental conditions (hot
weather shortens its life). Which is why, if you're about to put your
lawnmower away for the winter, you should drain the tank now and dispose
of any fuel along with that still in the can. Refill both with fresh
fuel in spring. If you're going to be storing your bike or car for such
a period, run the tank down to a third or less, don't refill the tank
before storing, and top up with fresh fuel before putting it back into
service. This means carrying a couple of 5-litre cans back to the bike
(more for a car)before starting it.

 

So why does it go off?

All you have typed here is about some weird named chemicals that mean
nothing to anyone.

Hammo

 

How do I know if the can is ordinary? Is there some sort of extra-ordinary
storage can?

If you don¹t fill the tank up before storing the bike, wont the tank rust?

Hammo

 

It's a bloody furphy, I tells ya.

---
Cheers

PeterC [aka MildThing]
'81 Suzuki GS450-s
'87 BMW K100RT

www.dmcsc.org.au

 

It's complex chemical stuff, hard to explain simply, sorry. That's why I
just said it "goes off". In simple words, if the fuel is exposed to air,
it starts to evaporate very quickly, and if it is allowed to get warm
it starts to become chemically unstable, breaking down into gummy
substances that clog up your fuel system.

 

You know what an ordinary 5 litre can is. You buy 'em at any petrol
station and they have a screw lid. Less ordinary is a jerry can, which I
think has some kind of feature to help stop evaporation.

I don't know if the tank will rust if you don't fill it. I do know that
if it's filled with stale fuel it won't start, or may start but won't
run very well or for very long. I know this from experience with my
lawnmower.

 

So what happens if you leave your car in the sun over a weekend, or like if
you go away and leave it at an airport, what happens?

How long does it take to get unstable? Wont my bike or car blow up?

Hammo

 

Oh. My lawn mower has a plastic fuel tank and I have never had the problem
you describe. Why are the 5 litre cans worse at holding petrol than jerry
cans? How does the petrol get past the seal in the 5 litre can? Sounds
like you bought a dud and should take it back.

Hammo

 

(BT Humble) wrote in

I don't think this counts as "news" any longer. Theo and Goaty probably
remember the "oil shocks" of the 70s; that was political (and a thorough
fuckup as I recall, a worldwide recession that went on for a decade or
more), this is geological.

Yeah, well, one more reason why George Warmonger Bush and John Winston
Stalin have to go in the rubbish bin. On the other, pessimistic, hand, it
could be WAY too late already...

Don't forget the vege garden and the chicken run

Elected Howard. Not elected Bush. We'll all be rooned!

Gary

--
Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice

The Seven Deadly Sins of M.K. Gandhi

 

Well thanks dude, but I'm not talking about Iraqi POWs or the hundreds of
millions of victims of US meddling and violence all over the world over
the last two centuries[1]... this time I'm talking about the end of
motorcycling, or in other words, TEOTWAWKI.

According to my half-arsed approach to Google, peak oil hasn't come up in
aus.moto before now, so, I did it.

Gary (mea culpa)

[1] sorry, couldn't resist[2]
[2] http://www.adbusters.org/jams/history/flash.html
--
Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice

The Seven Deadly Sins of M.K. Gandhi

 

No problem, I'm not going to slam you for posting it, I just won't join
in on the discussion.

'course if _BT_ had posted it, I'd have been obliged to make a booth
joke in response to it

big

 

Interesting little Flash page, but when really early I read a piece
that was false and based on a rumour (
http://www.snopes.com/language/colors/whithous.htm ) I didn't bother
reading the rest of it, even if I agree with the sentiment in general.

Cheers

 

Not explosive unstable, it just breaks down into stuff that doesn't fire
and gums up your works.

Petrol stored where it can get warm or evaporate goes off in about 9-12
weeks.

 

No. The lawnmower has worked perfectly since I took precautions against
stale fuel. The guy who put me wise was the mower mechanice, who says he
sees it all the time. Mowers are more vulnerable because carb jets are
smaller and easier to clog.

Seal? My 5 litre can has a screw top and filler tube, that's it.

Sounds like you think this is all bullshit, but I wouldn't say it unless
I had had the experience and checked for myself.

 

How does the gum get in there? I mean it starts off as a liquid doesn't
it? Ahh, so the gum comes from the fuel can! Anyway, how can petrol not be
petrol?

Hammo

 

Are you pulling my chain? Is the mower you are talking about really a small
motorcycle and that¹s why petrol is so important? Is that why optimax is
better than unleaded?

My petrol can has a seal under the cap. Its like some sort or seal type
thing. Maybe its a cover for something. Should I throw it away?

I don¹t know if its bullshit, you keep telling me its too hard to explain
which makes me think something is sus. You know, one of those stories that
a a mates mate heard?

If you were to tell me more, I might be able to follow what you mean. I
keep petrol in drums all the time and I never have a problem. I'm still
getting fuel outta a big underground tank. It seems to be doing ok.

Hammo

 

<snip a shitload of boring stupid stuff so that there's room for my boring
stupid stuff>

I kept some petrol in drums once but after a few weeks the skins went off.

 

boom boom

Nev..
'03 ZX12R

 

Thanks for a nice little trip up the garden path.

Made me smile.