Diesel fuels

#1 diesel, #2 diesel, winter diesel oh my! :-\
This is my first diesel anything!
Thx, Jeff

When filling at your average truck stop or service station you can rest assured they have switched to winter diesel as soon as the cooler temps required it. I bet lots of today's diesel users don't even realize there is a difference.

Alpena Jeff said:

#1 diesel, #2 diesel, winter diesel oh my! :-\
This is my first diesel anything!
Thx, Jeff

Click to expand...

And then they advertise "Clean Diesel". What does that mean? Does it mean that someplaces sell Dirty diesel?

I should have added....Coach will be in a storage facility yet to be determined until we leave for warm weather in February. Will likely be cold storage.

Alpena Jeff said:

I should have added....Coach will be in a storage facility yet to be determined until we leave for warm weather in February. Will likely be cold storage.

Click to expand...

When you fill up before putting the coach in storage I would add a heavy dose of This additive. I run the summer version all year.
http://powerservice.com/psp_product/diesel-fuel-supplement-cetane-boost/
Do you have access to shore power where you are storing your coach? If you do turn on your block heater the night before you go to pre heat your engine. If you don't have shore  power I would  start the generator and use it for power to pre heat your engine for at least a couple of hours, depending on how cold it is.
Bill

If you buy fuel in the cold months in a far northern climate the station will have filled its tanks with a winter blend, one that has a lower viscosity (either #1 diesel or simply one with some anti-coagulant additive). Regions that don't get severe cold don't do that, though their winter fuel is still probably blended a bit different at the refinery.

Chances are you will fill your motorhome tank before the fuel stations get winter blend though. RVers usually quite well before sub-freezing weather!  Before storing for the winter season, add anti-gel additive to your tank and also an anti-algae additive and fill the tank. It will be fine.

Rene T said:

And then they advertise "Clean Diesel". What does that mean? Does it mean that someplaces sell Dirty diesel?

Click to expand...

Actually, yes. Only "ultra low sulfur" diesel is approved for highway use. In some areas, there is also "non-highway" diesel available. It is a lot cheaper, though mostly because the highway the highway taxes are not applied. The primary use is in farm equipment.

It has red dye added to it, and the fine, if you get caught using it on the highway, is huge.

Joel

We have one truck stop up where we store that has so many nozzles I just close my eyes and pump   Diesel (green), off road diesel (red), DEF (blue), E85 (yellow), gas (black), and maybe a few more.  They also have CNG, LP, electric charge up stations, and they may even have liquid hydrogen, I can't remember.

Gary RV_Wizard said:

If you buy fuel in the cold months in a far northern climate the station will have filled its tanks with a winter blend, one that has a lower viscosity (either #1 diesel or simply one with some anti-coagulant additive). Regions that don't get severe cold don't do that, though their winter fuel is still probably blended a bit different at the refinery.

Chances are you will fill your motorhome tank before the fuel stations get winter blend though. RVers usually quite well before sub-freezing weather!  Before storing for the winter season, add anti-gel additive to your tank and also an anti-algae additive and fill the tank. It will be fine.

Click to expand...

Gary, anti gel as in Howe? Yea, chatted with a trucker today. 8)

Howe is one of several brands available. Many of them make [mostly unsupported] claims about performance and wear improvements as well, but don't pay extra for a product like that. Just find an inexpensive one that has "anti-gelling" or similar wording on its label.  Lucas makes one that is strictly anti-gelling. So does Peak.


https://lucasoil.com/products/fuel-treatments/lucas-anti-gel-cold-weather-diesel-treatment
https://www.peakhd.com/product/diesel-fuel-additives/cold-weather-diesel-anti-gel/

If you don't expect to start the engine or diesel genset at temps below about 32 F., you probably don't need any anti-gel, but if you need to start the genset for exercise or maybe need to move the coach during the really cold months, it's nice to have fuel that flows adequately.

Well just for the record Gary, Diesel Kleen is recommended by Cummins.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170510005497/en/Cummins-Officially-Recommends-Power-Service%C2%AE-Diesel-Kleen
Making it the first fuel additive products that Cummins Inc. has ever officially recommended in the marketplace.
http://powerservice.com/psp_product/diesel-fuel-supplement-cetane-boost/
Bill

I've been using the POWER SERVICE (Walmart) fuel treatment products for years & years. Grey jug in the Spring & Summer for a Cetane boost , White jug in the fall & winter for it's anti-gel properties. Never a Cold Weather No Start. Comes in various jug sizes, depending on tank capacity ?

BIG JOE said:

I've been using the POWER SERVICE (Walmart) fuel treatment products for years & years. Grey jug in the Spring & Summer for a Cetane boost , White jug in the fall & winter for it's anti-gel properties. Never a Cold Weather No Start. Comes in various jug sizes, depending on tank capacity ?

Click to expand...

I didn't know what Cetane was so I Googled it. For those who don't know:

Cetane number (or CN) is an inverse function of a fuel's ignition delay, and the time period between the start of injection and the first identifiable pressure increase during combustion of the fuel. In a particular diesel engine, higher cetane fuels will have shorter ignition delay periods than lower Cetane fuels.

Well just for the record Gary, Diesel Kleen is recommended by Cummins

Click to expand...

Yeap. And Cummins also says fuel additives are not necessary for proper operation. Take your pick.

Gary RV_Wizard said:

Yeap. And Cummins also says fuel additives are not necessary for proper operation. Take your pick.

Click to expand...

Yes Gary, once apon a time that was true. but this article is dated  May 10, 2017 08:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time. So apparently they have changed their mind.
Bill

Years ago my grandad had an elevated fuel tank (gasoline) and it was also dyed red because he could buy fuel without highway useage taxes for his tractors,  which was a little cheaper. I remember once an inspector came by his house and tested the fuel in his personal car to make sure he wasnt using off-Road fuel in his car. Grandad said he would never do it because the penalties were very severe. Along came diesel fuel, which had sulfur in it and was a great lubricant. As time went on, they found out that after burning it would create sulfur dioxide, a big contributor to smog, acid rain, and health problems. Eventually, oil companies were required to remove as much sulfur as they could from the fuel, but then they had to add back lubricants to the fuel to replace the sulfur. What used to be a cheap by-product then had to thru more steps to refine it, plus adding lubricating products, which jacked up the price For awhile, they still produced diesel that still had high sulfur content for tractors, etc. They don?t do that any more. It?s all the same exact diesel, except in some areas in the country they add some renewable oils, like soybean oil, and call it biodiesel. My truck runs ok on it, but it seems like my mileage drops a little, but Ive never taken the time to prove it. The only difference now between the red diesel and the road diesel is the dye and lack of road taxes. The algae prevention Gary mentioned is a big deal. One of my tractors this year all of a sudden had problems with it for some reason. It looks a little like shredded cork, and I can?t tell you how many times I?ve had to purge all the fuel lines, replace filters, bleed the air from the injectors, etc. It?s not easy to get rid of because it originates in the fuel tank and continuously recontaminates the fuel lines, strainers, and other systems. Pulling and cleaning the fuel tank out is probably what I?m going to have to end up doing. Not that big of deal for me because I have more than one tractor and I can do the work myself, but I can?t imagine being in an RV on the road and have to deal with it. I?ve had diesel trucks and tractors for years and never experienced algae, but when it happens, no fun.

Thank you all for the help! Much appreciated.
Bought diesel for the first time today. Also bought a jug of anti gel and will add with my final fill up before storage. They didnt have anti algae but will pick that up as well.
Jeff

My preferred method of "Winterizing" is to be in the south in the Winter.

Some day Bill. Just can't leave Judys 90 year old mom for that long.
Hope your well..

Alpena Jeff said:

Some day Bill. Just can't leave Judys 90 year old mom for that long.
Hope your well..

Click to expand...

I was wondering why you weren't leaving till February.
Winter will be on the downhill slide by the end of that month.