How do I make fuel store longer?  
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All Forums >> Glow Engines, Gas Engines, Fuel & Mfg Support Forums >> RC Fuels >> How do I make fuel store longer?
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How do I make fuel store longer? - 4/9/2006 12:55:49 AM   
whoover619


 

Posts: 73
Joined: 10/19/2004
From: Chula Vista, CA, USA
Status: offline 		Ok this happens to about everyone... You buy a gallon of gas and open it and pull the seal. Once you pull the seal you know it has to be used up within a couple of weeks. Even if you put the cap on as tight as possible and store it in a cooled environment, it goes bad.

What is the bet way to store fuel after the seal has been popped?
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RE: How do I make fuel store longer? - 4/9/2006 2:00:43 AM   
Hobbsy



Posts: 10563
Joined: 12/2/2001
From: Colonial Beach, VA, USA
Status: offline 		I am using a gallon of Fox 15% with 20% castor that is 11 years old and about one quart used out of it in 1993 or 94. It is as fresh as when bought. It has been its original shipping box on a wooden floor. Fuel does not go bad that easily unless exposed to sunlight.

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RE: How do I make fuel store longer? - 4/9/2006 4:28:46 AM   
whoover619


 

Posts: 73
Joined: 10/19/2004
From: Chula Vista, CA, USA
Status: offline 		so basically mabey it is the sunlight and it needs absolute darkness, ok thanks, now to put it to the test, new can of gas... flying tomorrow!

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RE: How do I make fuel store longer? - 4/9/2006 5:41:09 AM   
XJet


 

Posts: 3354
Joined: 3/31/2003
From: Tokoroa, NEW ZEALAND
Status: offline 		I've got a can of methanol here (Mobil) that was going on for 16 years old. I made up some fuel with it the other day and it works just fine -- so I don't think methanol is the weak link.

Perhaps the oil breaks down over time (especially when in solution) or there's some other reaction (perhaps with the nitro) -- or maybe fuel just doesn't go off if you store it properly.

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RE: How do I make fuel store longer? - 4/9/2006 6:18:58 AM   
RaceCity



Posts: 1842
Joined: 7/10/2002
From: NotUpNorth, USA
Status: offline 		I guess I just don't understand why this is rocket science to some. It's really a simple matter of CLOSING the lid and storing the fuel someplace where it's not exposed to sunlight or temperature extremes. The latter is a subject of some debate, but....I digress.

If you're not going to fly for a few months, simply put the plastic stopper in the fuel jug, tighten down the lid and store it in a closet...store it in a box....store it someplace darkish...store it in the bottom of the clothes hamper (my wife would never find it there)
That's all there is to it.

If you're not going to fly for an extended period. (maybe you just got handed 25 to Life?) ...just take the stuff to the field and give it to somebody. Done deal. There's always some kid who'd love you to death for that. Then too...every club seems to have a "R/C welfare case" who drains the tanks of crashed planes so he can fly his. Whatever....

One thing is for sure....glow fuel isn't wine. Long term storage isn't the idea. Use it.





< Message edited by RaceCity -- 4/9/2006 6:22:07 AM >

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RE: How do I make fuel store longer? - 4/10/2006 12:36:05 AM   
loughbd


 

Posts: 2111
Joined: 11/29/2003
From: Bremerton, WA, USA
Status: offline 		Mine doesn't. As long as the top is on tightly and the container is reasonably full the stuff will last a Looooonnnng time. I use CANS too. Nitromethane is affected by sunlight.

< Message edited by loughbd -- 4/10/2006 12:39:42 AM >

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RE: How do I make fuel store longer? - 4/13/2006 3:40:41 AM   
Fuelman


 

Posts: 1017
Joined: 12/31/2001
From: Jordan, NY, USA
Status: offline
quote:

Ok this happens to about everyone... You buy a gallon of gas and open it and pull the seal. Once you pull the seal you know it has to be used up within a couple of weeks. Even if you put the cap on as tight as possible and store it in a cooled environment, it goes bad.

What is the bet way to store fuel after the seal has been popped?


No, this does not happen to everyone.
Put the cap back on and give the bottle a good squeeze. If you can hear air coming out of the bottle at the cap seal, then there is not a good cap seal, take it off and try again. Sometimes you can tighten a cap so much that it deforms and seals worse, so keep that in mind.

Keep the fuel in a dark place if it has high amounts of nitro in it, otherwise, it does not matter. Nitro reacts with natural direct sunlight and is degraded in its pure form and much less so when it is diluted like it is in fuel.

Temprature extremes do not bother fuel, just like it does not bother the gasoline in your cars gas tank. As long as it is tightly caped, you're good.

If it gets real cold and the castor oil falls out of suspension or looks like some little snowflakes are in there, shake it real good and let it warm up to room temprature and you are back to normal.

Model glow fuel is actually a long shelf life item if the proper measures are taken. Tight cap, away from natural light.


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RE: How do I make fuel store longer? - 4/17/2006 8:56:09 AM   
griz11


 

Posts: 136
Joined: 8/22/2005
From: Granite Shoals, TX, USA
Status: offline 		Methanol grabs water and spoils the fuel. You have to make sure there are no temp extremes so that condensation doesn't occur in the jug. Sunlight reacts with methanol and nitromethane and decomposes oils also. I run a nitro top fuel dragster with a 1.25 oz tank. A gallon lasts me months so I've had to learn to keep it fresh. Here is what I do. When I first get a gallon I pour it into two half gallon dry jugs plug them and put the caps on. I put them in a small refrigerator so they are not exposed to sunlight or temperature changes. I keep it a hot/cold box powered by 12v when I take it out of storage to the track. The thing I'm looking for is something I used to see used in chemistry research labs to keep things from grabbing water out of the air. They are stoppers with glasstubes that flare out and have a section you can put some dessicant into. They are open to the liquid but not to the outside air. You heat them up in an oven to charge up the dessicant then stopper the bottle with them. Any water will be drawn up into the dessicant and become trapped. One lab I worked in had an anhydrous methanol still going all the time. The experiment required extremely dry methanol. You couldn't even let it sit for a day or it would grab up enough water to make it useless. You could check the specific gravity of the new fuel and use that as a standard to compare to. Say you measure the fuel a few months out and the SG has gone up. You can bet there is water in there from exposure to the atmosphere or improper storage.

Griz

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RE: How do I make fuel store longer? - 4/17/2006 1:44:20 PM   
Sport_Pilot



Posts: 7652
Joined: 1/21/2002
From: Acworth, GA, USA
Status: offline
quote:

Methanol grabs water and spoils the fuel. You have to make sure there are no temp extremes so that condensation doesn't occur in the jug.


Any moisture in the air in the jug is going to be absorbed in the fuel, it does not need to condensate to do so. The condensation you see in fuel jugs is mostly methanol not water. In fact you distill methanol by heating a vat of brew to below the waters boiling, but well above that of methanol, the vapors run through tubes where it cools and the methanol condenses and runs out the end of the tube. Works just like a mooshine still.

Opps that should have been moonshine. The former is a still used for milk from very happy cows.

< Message edited by Sport_Pilot -- 4/17/2006 1:46:47 PM >

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RE: How do I make fuel store longer? - 4/17/2006 1:56:48 PM   
Fuelman


 

Posts: 1017
Joined: 12/31/2001
From: Jordan, NY, USA
Status: offline
quote:

Methanol grabs water and spoils the fuel

yes, this is true, keep it tightly caped and it will not.

quote:

You have to make sure there are no temp extremes so that condensation doesn't occur in the jug

Temp extremes will not cause water condesation if the cap is on tightly. If it is tightly caped, the condensates you see inside the jug are methanol droplets, not water.

quote:

Sunlight reacts with methanol and nitromethane and decomposes oils also

Natural Sunlight reacts with nitromethane where it will degrade. If high amounts of nitro are in the fuel, this is more likely to happen than low amounts. Keep in mind that you must expose even 30% fuel to a lot of light to get this to happen. Sunlight does nothing to methanol. Sunlight will not decompose castor oil or any synthetic I know of. What you are probably noticing is the sunlight reacting with a dye in the oil or fuel to change the color (usually lightens the color). If clear fuel turns fairly dark after exposure to sunlight, then it is likely that a turbine oil is used in the fuel and uncontrolled reactions are occuring between the nitro / methanol / oil due to the sunlight. Turbine oil is not good for model engine use.


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