Stale fuel? Explain

[F5 Dave]

Sssshhh, but last time I delivered a tanker load of AvGas to a facility that decants from 35,000 litres into more consumer friendly sized containers

And that would have been- where?

Getting harder to find Av in wgtn as Aero club will no longer sell it as some dick head was storing large qtys of it for some dumb reason.

[caspernz]

And that would have been- where?

Getting harder to find Av in wgtn as Aero club will no longer sell it as some dick head was storing large qtys of it for some dumb reason.

Chempro in Seaview. They decant for various suppliers. No sales from their place as far as I know. Basically a bottling facility.

[ac3_snow]

Ahh, the sun comes out & the truth is read. Sure it wasn't that crappy old oil you were using?

There is nothing wrong with castrol tts! Haha and at 25:1 there is a very slim chance of failure (haven't even fouled a plug yet).

What I did learn tho is about the heat ratings on spark plugs and how they work. turns out i wanted a B9ES not a B6ES, combined with running a little lean on the main = disaster

[Flip]

Firstly very little of the fuel in this country is still in spec by the time it is sold. It might be fine when it leaves the refinery but by the time it is shipped, had the water removed, blended with the slops from the terminal, transported by road tanker and dropped into the retail tanks and again had the water removed it usually fails on either water or total contamination.

It would be easy to filter the fuel at the point of sale but the 7 sisters, firstly don't want to admit that the fuel is rubbish and also don't want to incur the costs of having to do so many filter changes.

Why do they filter aviation fuel just before they fill airplanes? Because it picks up contamination being shipped and stored. Where do you think the dirt that collects in your glass fuel filter comes from and its only a 100 micron strainer? It doesent grow magically in your fuel tank.

Oh stale fuel, the wee small volatile easy to ignite molecules evaporate and whats left won't ignite with your crappy ignition system. After ages and ages the fuel oxidises and turns to varnish, espcially in carbs.

[caspernz]

Firstly very little of the fuel in this country is still in spec by the time it is sold. It might be fine when it leaves the refinery but by the time it is shipped, had the water removed, blended with the slops from the terminal, transported by road tanker and dropped into the retail tanks and again had the water removed it usually fails on either water or total contamination.

It would be easy to filter the fuel at the point of sale but the 7 sisters, firstly don't want to admit that the fuel is rubbish and also don't want to incur the costs of having to do so many filter changes.

Why do they filter aviation fuel just before they fill airplanes? Because it picks up contamination being shipped and stored. Where do you think the dirt that collects in your glass fuel filter comes from and its only a 100 micron strainer? It doesent grow magically in your fuel tank.

Oh stale fuel, the wee small volatile easy to ignite molecules evaporate and whats left won't ignite with your crappy ignition system. After ages and ages the fuel oxidises and turns to varnish, espcially in carbs.

Sssshhhh!! You're giving away the insider info again

Not arguing with your info as it's correct, even if it is a worst case scenario.

In practical terms, if you're up to date with your maintenance on your bike it doesn't matter that much where you buy your fuel from...although personally I avoid the one horse towns simply on the notion that their throughput is small.

Aviation fuel is filtered at point of fuelling the jet yes. BUT, keep in mind that this is partly because of the huge amount of fuel consumed, thus any contamination at all will rapidly have the plane looking for the breakdown lane...typically a cornfield at ground level... So a jet will consume something like 150,000 to 200,000 litres of JetA1 from Auckland to London, so that filter best be up to the job. Now I like to clock a few kays, but I've not had a bike that's consumed that much in its lifetime, let alone in 24 hours...

[pouakai]

I once had a tank hanging on the wall for maybe 3 or so years with a little fuel in it. When it came time use it again I was cleaning it out and unfortunately dowsed my hands in the stale petrol. It had turned very brown and smelt very bad. While normally I suffer no ill effects petrol exposure on my hands (not recommended nevertheless) after this quick splash I was sick for a week !!
I don't know what go stale about it but something had very much changed! Taught me about solvent exposure though! (that and the death of my painter's son from solvents!)

:|
P

Depends on the volume, if you have a full tank, it'll last for months with no change (I do this with pre-mix for my dirtbike and 3 months is good). Only a few liters in the tank and a month or two could see it turn to shit. The carb fuel goes off quicker, but you get fresh stuff through quickly so no bother, and it'll take ages to turn to varnish.

I'm sure there is some chemical explanation, but the practical one is enough for me.

I've never had stale fuel in a 4T, but my 4Ts are generally used weekly, had it on my 2T dirtbike, felt like it was 'hunting' for the powerband but couldn't quite find it.