[Shop-talk] diesel fuel question

[Jeff Scarbrough]

We have two 500kW generators at work.  Each has a 1400 gallon tank; we go
through about 500-800 gallons per year.  I expect that, despite the fact
that these generators are having their 21st birthday this year, there is
still some portion of fuel in the tank that is 21 years old.  This bothers
me a little bit, but it keeps working.  We did throw a jug of biocide in
one year with the fresh fuel.

Having said that, we have a service guy come in twice a year to check
fluids and change filters, and they get exercised 30 minutes a week just to
make sure they will run when we need them.

Do like the others have said:  check filters, check a fuel sample from the
tank, and let us know what you find.

There exist people who do fuel polishing - they come to your large ship or
tank farm and run an extra fuel cleaning and refreshing for your stored
diesel fuel.  Might be a bit of overkill on the farm.

Jeff Scarbrough
Corrosion Acres, Ga.

On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 7:46 AM eric--- via Shop-talk <
shop-talk at autox.team.net> wrote:

> Does anyone know of a way to tell if diesel fuel has gone bad?
>
> Here is my situation.  I have a large diesel fuel tank for my tractors on
> my property (so I don't have to buy 'over the road' diesel.)  The fuel in
> there has been there a few years.
>
> My newest tractor (a small 25hp subcompact) started acting funny.  At full
> throttle, it seems to sputter a little.
>
> Could be a fuel problem, but I would love to test the diesel somehow. Or
> is there a way of looking at the filter on the tractor? Or another test to
> do?
>
> Related follow up, if the fuel is bad, and I have about 50 gals in a 250
> tank.  Can I just add fresh fuel to it, or do I need to drain out all the
> bad first?  What would be a good bad/good ratio to dilute the bad fuel?
>
> Thanks!
>
>
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