bcripe

How long will glow fuel last? I have 1/2 gallon of powermaster 15% from about a two years and 3/4 gallon of powermaster YS20-20 in metal can from about 1.5 years ago? Both tightly sealed on wood shelf in my garage. Maybe max temp of 90f and min of 50f. Think its still good? Or should I just go get some new fuel.

Thanks,
Bill Cripe

jaka

Hi!
many many years if in a sealed container! placed in a dark, 0-20 degrees centigrade basement/garage.
I have fuel that is 5-10 years old that is just working great.

Regards!
Jan K
Sweden

bcripe

Thanks, even if it has been opened already? No extended period of time with the lid off. Basically I fuel plane and reseal lid tightly.

JWN

My Feedback: (42)

Give it a try. The worse that will happen is your engine will run very poorly. If everything seems to behave properly, you're golden. If not, you'll need to buy fresh fuel.

I've attempted to use old fuel, more than 6 years old, on two occasions, and it simply didn't run well. Both times, the engines, OS 48 Surpass and Enya 53, acted like they were lean and the needle was extremely broad. Neither would idle smoothly and both loaded up no matter what I did to the bottom end. Once I put fresh fuel in the tank, both engines ran like a top. The first time I did this was with Cool Power 10% 4-stroke the second time was with Magnum #1. In both cases, the jugs were unopened and in a fuel case box which was never set on the bare concrete in my garage.

John

ramcharger

There may be other ways fuel can degrade other than water (humidity) being absorbed by the alcohol. I think large variations in temperature can destabilize the soluabilty of the nitro in the lube/methanol and over a period of time it will precipitate out as sediment and will not go back into solution. I don't know what harm sunlight would do unless you had an all caster oil lube fuel. Light will alter some of the fatty acids that make up castor oil but not sure if thats a problem.

xlr82v2

My Feedback: (1)

I just finished up the last of my 2 gallons of 7+ year old fuel this evening. It ran just fine.

Just try to run your old fuel. Pay particualr attention to the idle characteristics on your engine(s).

If it won't idle well, then throw it away and get some fresh fuel.

If it does idle well, use it!

That's what I would (did) do.