Stabilized Gasoline

Just about everyone knows you have to use a stabilizer in gasoline before storing it. You might have heard claims that gasoline can last up to three years that way. It can . . . sorta.

Gasoline starts to degrade pretty much right off. Stabilizer slows it down but doesn’t stop it. Gasoline with ethnol breaks down faster than non-ethanol. The more volatile compounds disappear first. 

So what’s that like in the real world? Recently I decided to use a small amount of stabilized gasoline that’s been sitting for a year. My scooter had about a quarter tank of fuel. The addition of the old gas brought it to about half a tank. That’s about a 50/50 mix of old and new. The scooter is a 2014 Honda PCX 150 with electronic fuel injection. There was a noticeable drop in performance. The engine seems to hesitate somewhat and a couple miles per hour dropped off the top end. The next time I go riding I’m going to top off the tank with fresh gas and that should take care of the issues. 

The lack of those volatiles in old gas are really noticeable in small engines. Small engines like those in chainsaws are really hard starting. Frankly, those small engines can be hard enough to start under ideal conditions with fresh gas. 

There’s another issue most people don’t even think about. Stabilizer itself has a shelf life. An unopened container is good for about 5 years. 

The problems with keeping gasoline usable for long periods of time is one of the reasons I don’t store a lot of it. Rotation is the key. Normally gasoline doesn’t sit very long before it’s used. It was unusual for me to have even a little bit of one year old gasoline. 

Another thing to consider is that storing gasoline is dangerous. That’s a whole other blog post though. In short, I don’t store anything in the house, basement or outbuildings. It’s basically in a small storage container separate from the house that can be locked.

-Sixbears

Pesky bears

I thought I wasn't going to be bothered by bears this year. There had been no sign of them all spring.

They tend to come around my house because I use waste vegetable oil as a fuel for my van. Since they hadn't been around I've been leaving some jugs outside. The sun warms the oil and speeds up the settling process. Most of the waste food bits settle to the bottom of the jugs. Then I pour off the clean fuel.

Last night while I was sleeping a bear got into my jugs. Only three were damaged. Two weren't too bad off.

This is a photo of the worse one.



The bear dragged it into the middle of the lawn, bit holes in the jug, and lapped up a couple gallons of veggie.

All my jugs are now locked away in the basement. I'm going to have to make sure nothing is left out. Once a bear finds food somewhere it keeps coming back to check on the spot. I'll have to make sure he doesn't find anything.

-Sixbears

Heating oil purchase

The driveway has a huge pile of firewood -plenty for the winter. I did get the furnace serviced, but only to be used a backup. If I happed to go away for a few days, I won't have find someone to keep the home fires burning.

It doesn't take much heating oil for that. A minimum delivery would have been more than enough. Yet, I decided to completely fill the tank.

Here's my reasoning. I've got the money for it now. It's better to actually have something physical than money in the bank. Anything I don't use this year I can use next.

In an emergency, heating oil burns just fine in my truck's diesel engine. Sure, it's illegal. Road taxes haven't been paid on it. So what? I'm talking emergency conditions. If I need the fuel to take my wife to the hospital, I'm not going to worry about road taxes.

The heating oil tank safely stores a whole lot of fuel. Can you imagine storing a couple hundred gallons of diesel in 5 gallon jugs? I have a number of empty fuel containers that could be filled from the heating oil tank.

All I'd have to do is shut down the valve at the bottom of the fuel tank. Then carefully disconnect the copper pipe that feeds the furnace. My tank sits high enough off the ground that a fuel jug fits under it. I've actually tried this to see that it works. It's possible to make a real mess of things if you don't know what you are doing. The last thing you want is flammable heating oil all over your basement floor. Be safe.

I did hate to spend the money, but it's a good investment. It gives me options.

-Sixbears