Check out this link: http://dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=177728 I think I'll switch from Power Service to Biodiesel.

 

Thanks for the link. Very interesting! Although, I run quite a bit more Diesel Klean than they tested... I wonder if the wear numbers are linear.

 

If you can get B5 Bio-Diesel you do not need a lubricity additive. One thing I find concerning in this study are the products that tested worse than the regular fuel. I find that very hard to believe and question the quality of the testing.

 

The reason some of the products tested did not meet the minumum criteria is that the base fuel in the test was completely untreated ULSD; the ULSD you buy at the pumps has been treated at the refinery to achieve the minimum required lubricity. The testers chose a fuel with no treatment whatsoever to ensure the test was unbiased.

The critical data in this test is how much the lubricity improved, not how what the original starting point was.

 

04X,

Any fuel that scored worse than 636 (the untreated fuel) actually decreased the lubricity going against thier marketing and intent of the product.

 

Not linear, but more is better, but there are diminishing returns.

 

i use power service myself.

 

duffman77:

Without knowing the exact composition of the additives it is possible that they would reduce fuel lubricity especially if they have high levels of cetane improvers, which generally do not promote lubricity.

Also, it wouldn't be the first time a product was marketed that didn't do what is claimed. There's a whole list of oil additives that come to mind.

But in rereading the results I must concur with you that there may be some experimental error which negatively affected the results. One test parameter that was not addressed was how many times the test was repeated. A sample size of 1 for each product may not be a truly representative result. I would estimate that at least 10 runs per product (of different batch numbers if possible) would yield more accurate results.

 

I believe they said they ran each one twice and took the average of the two. I may have misunderstood though.

I personally run a double dose of Power Service, I wish they would have tried that too. I am skeptical of the biodesel and Opti-Lube XPD results though since they probably told the manufacturer what they were testing. It would have been very easy for the manufacturer to send them a "special blend" that would have done better in the test so their product looked better. I may have to look into this Opti-lube stuff though, because their two off the shelf products tested very well too. I've never seen it locally though.

 

Actually Beerstalker,

The lubricity of Bio-D is phenominal. Here is anouther link, probably with the old LSD that shows the effect of different concentrations.

http://www.biodiesel.org/pdf_files/f.../Lubricity.PDF

 

I'll have to do some more digging tonight, but I remember reading the lead-up to that test several months ago.

One of the things mentioned in some of the referenced minutae was that the test they wound up performing was NOT the test preferred by engine manufacturers. There are apparently two major tests; the one preferred by the engine manufacturers, and the one performed at the request of Mr. Spicer. The "preferred" test seems to reflect actual engine wear more accurately, but is several orders of magnitude harder to perform, and is significantly more expensive. Mr. Spicer's test is significantly cheaper, much more readily available, and is considered to be something on the order of about 80% of the accuracy of the "preferred" test.

Thus, this test may be more readily applicable as a "generality" versus a "down to the wire, dead-on accurate" kind of test.

The key for ANY test is it's repeatability, so that it can be vetted by others should they choose to do so. Mr. Spicer's methods are about as repeatable as could be reasonably expected given the limited resources he had to work with -- i.e. the cash in his own pocket.

Personally, I'd like to see a repeat of the test done with samples of readily available fuel purchased blindly from major truck stop chains, given that most of us purchase our fuel from major truck stops. My personal interest in this is someone who is all but categorically incapable of mail-order, but someone who buys fuel quantities on the order of 500-700 gallons per week. (as a relevant side note, it's no longer entirely surprising, the way the Detroit grumbles at ULSD...)

-blaine

 

[QUOTE=duffman77]Actually Beerstalker,

The lubricity of Bio-D is phenominal. Here is anouther link, probably with the old LSD that shows the effect of different concentrations.

http://www.biodiesel.org/pdf_files/fuelfactsheets/Lubricity.PDF[/QUOTE]

yes it's pretty much common knowledge that biodiesel has great lubrication properties.

 

hate to do this but read this thread in its entirety then come back here with your changed opinions


im never using diesel kleen again.

 

22 Pages!!!

How about a synopsis or at least point us to the key post numbers??

 

It's worth the read!! I think I'm done with powerservice also.