Diesel Fuel Gel test - Pwr Srvc, Howe's, Schaeffer
#31
02-01-2010, 06:10 AM
Fleet Owner
Interesting stuff.
Do you have some #1 diesel to try that out with?
.
Also, I'm seeing a mod possibility for those of you that have to live in those frigid conditions.
It would involve some real engineering, but if one could work out a way to have the pickup floating on the end of a lever similar in fashion to the fuel pickup, you could make sure that the only fuel getting to the engine no matter what temperature it is, is clear.
EDIT.
Maybe a wasted effort.
Once the truck is moving it would stir up all those wax crystals and mix it into the top half of the fuel anyway.
Do you have some #1 diesel to try that out with?
.
Also, I'm seeing a mod possibility for those of you that have to live in those frigid conditions.
It would involve some real engineering, but if one could work out a way to have the pickup floating on the end of a lever similar in fashion to the fuel pickup, you could make sure that the only fuel getting to the engine no matter what temperature it is, is clear.
EDIT.
Maybe a wasted effort.
Once the truck is moving it would stir up all those wax crystals and mix it into the top half of the fuel anyway.
#32
02-01-2010, 07:13 AM
#33
02-01-2010, 09:05 AM
Rich, rep police have me locked up for now. Excellent work and great visual info. This should be very helpful for lots of folks.
Yep... and like Rich said earlier, the agitation of moving also reduces the potential for wax crystal formation and helps redissolve those which are forming or have formed.
That would be good for startup conditions, but since diesel is more flammable than oil (especially synthetic oils), I would be seriously concerned about three issues:
1. creating a flammable condition,
3. managing a leak-proof penetration through the OEM double-wall polymer tanks.
2. potentially comprising the polymer tank's structural integrity with an external tank wrap, even though an external wrap would be safer from a flammability standpoint.
Metal tanks wold create a better potential, but once you're past the starup condition, you also already have the warmed fuel re-entering the tank through the fuel return line in addition to the agitation from the truck's movement.
Just a few thoughts.
1. creating a flammable condition,
3. managing a leak-proof penetration through the OEM double-wall polymer tanks.
2. potentially comprising the polymer tank's structural integrity with an external tank wrap, even though an external wrap would be safer from a flammability standpoint.
Metal tanks wold create a better potential, but once you're past the starup condition, you also already have the warmed fuel re-entering the tank through the fuel return line in addition to the agitation from the truck's movement.
Just a few thoughts.
#35
02-01-2010, 09:34 AM
That would be good for startup conditions, but since diesel is more flammable than oil (especially synthetic oils), I would be seriously concerned about three issues:
1. creating a flammable condition,
3. managing a leak-proof penetration through the OEM double-wall polymer tanks.
2. potentially comprising the polymer tank's structural integrity with an external tank wrap, even though an external wrap would be safer from a flammability standpoint.
Metal tanks wold create a better potential, but once you're past the starup condition, you also already have the warmed fuel re-entering the tank through the fuel return line in addition to the agitation from the truck's movement.
Just a few thoughts.
1. creating a flammable condition,
3. managing a leak-proof penetration through the OEM double-wall polymer tanks.
2. potentially comprising the polymer tank's structural integrity with an external tank wrap, even though an external wrap would be safer from a flammability standpoint.
Metal tanks wold create a better potential, but once you're past the starup condition, you also already have the warmed fuel re-entering the tank through the fuel return line in addition to the agitation from the truck's movement.
Just a few thoughts.
but anyways.
I never thought about the return fuel being warm. Hmm. Guess you dont think of simple things sometimes.
And as far as I know, heat wont ignite diesel fuel unless your sticking a red cherry in there. EEP!
Otherwise the OBS fuel bowl heater would turn the fuel bowl into a fire bowl.
I belive the SD's have a bit different setup. My heater is removed. I actually dont have any issues with startup either. Specially in this cold weather we have been having.
#36
02-01-2010, 11:21 AM
You're right, but I wasn't thinking about the temperature from the heater being the ignition source. However, if there was ever any corrosion-induced electrical short, then that could lead to a different story.
Still, I'll admit that the chances of that are probably virtually non-existent, but I can't help but consider all the remote possibilities due to my safety training days in highly hazardous manufacturing processes where the freaky, odd, and even "impossible" situations do sometimes occur, and the potential impact of those situations can easily be of the magnitude of what happened in Bopal, India.
Still, I'll admit that the chances of that are probably virtually non-existent, but I can't help but consider all the remote possibilities due to my safety training days in highly hazardous manufacturing processes where the freaky, odd, and even "impossible" situations do sometimes occur, and the potential impact of those situations can easily be of the magnitude of what happened in Bopal, India.
#37
02-01-2010, 11:25 AM
#38
02-01-2010, 01:07 PM
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I just put one of these in my semi, since it's cold blooded and I can't seem to get additive to work as well as I want. So far it seems to work, but I should probably put one in the other tank so they are both heated. Don't know if they make them for pickups. But I've never had a problem with my pickup gelling, knock on wood...
#40
02-01-2010, 01:50 PM
#41
02-01-2010, 02:07 PM
Probably why I have been so fortunate myself this winter.
#42
02-01-2010, 02:15 PM
#43
02-01-2010, 02:26 PM
That makes sense as long as you're running, but how would simple plumbing affect the gel point in your tank once the truck is shut down and not running at all for hours on end? Or are you suggesting that with the RR, you can get a circulating effect by using your block heater in winter and having that little bit of warmth transfer all the way through the bolck to the fuel rails and cause a circulation flow through the fuel system (a flow that would have to be strong enough to push up the suction leg of the pump suction line, through a filter, through pump internals, and then upwards from the truck frame rails through the fuel rails and fuel pressure regulator)?
#44
02-01-2010, 02:28 PM
That makes sense as long as you're running, but how would simple plumbing affect the gel point in your tank once the truck is shut down and not running at all for hours on end? Or are you suggesting that with the RR, you can get a circulating effect by using your block heater in winter and having that little bit of warmth transfer all the way through the bolck to the fuel rails and cause a circulation flow through the fuel system?
#45
02-01-2010, 02:46 PM
That makes sense, but I did the same thing when I used the ITP in-tank/pre-pump filter kit.
Still, though, that only works while you're running because it only addresses the benefit of circulating agitation within the tank as a whole instead of only at the pump suction foot. Once you're truck is down for the night, you still should use something else to maintain fuel fluidity so that it will flow on startup in the morning.
Still, though, that only works while you're running because it only addresses the benefit of circulating agitation within the tank as a whole instead of only at the pump suction foot. Once you're truck is down for the night, you still should use something else to maintain fuel fluidity so that it will flow on startup in the morning.