Old white gas

[Dee Hall]

This summer while camping with Liz and Karen, they noted that my stove didn't seem as hot as Karen's. This past weekend, while lighting Jason's Peak 1, I almost lit my hat on fire. Later after refilling my Peak 1 with his fuel, the same thing happened.

It seems that the remains of that gallon can of fuel that neither Bob nor I can remember buying probably has some water in it. If a can is that old (or you are), it's probably time to burn it off and buy a new one.

-Dee

[ccarlson]

Yup, noticed that a few years ago. Seems white gas definitely does not age well. Good advice!

Carl C.

[Brian Nystrom]

I guess it depends on how it's stored. I've used white gas successfully that was over ten years old, but it was stored tightly and both the container and the fuel appeared clean. If there's water in the gas, it and the inside of the can (assuming it's in its original container) will typically appear rusty. If that's the case, throw it out, as it will be nothing but problems. If you must burn it, run it through a coffee filter first to remove particulates that may clog a stove. If the gas was stored in anything other than the original can or a sealed aluminum fuel bottle, I assume that it's contaminated and get rid of it.

FWIW, white gas is a good degreaser - as long as you use it safely - so old fuel can at least be used for something like cleaning bicycle chains.

[Dee Hall]

After some discussion, that can was well over 20 years old. It wasn't particularly rusty and the contents looked clean, but it's used up now except what's in the aluminum fuel bottle that we didn't take with us.

[alcoons]

I just got off the phone with a representative of the Coleman Company, manufactures of camping equipment that use white gas and sellers of white gas.

1) White gas in un-opened original containers have a 5 year self-life.

2) Opened white gas in the original container has a 2-3 year self-life. However, the less fuel (more air) in the container, the faster it degrades.

3) White gas kept in a camping equipment's gas tank degrades quickly. They suggest not even keeping it in the tank over the winter.

4) White gas degrades by becoming "lacquer-like", i.e. thicker and lumpier, although you may not be able to see this. It is NOT normally water that is the cause of "bad white gas."

Al Coons

Eddyline Nighthawk

Red/White

[bob budd]

In this case my bad white gas may have caused the stove to flame out.

[alcoons]

FYI -

There is a product called Stabil (and probably other equivalent brands) that stabilizes gasoline so you do not need to drain gas powered engines before storage.

see http://www.goldeagle.com/sta-bil/products.htm

I have had a little can for years and place a few drops in my lawn mower and some more in my gas container I use to refill the mower before I store them each winter. Stabil is one of those products that 1/2 the people have been using for decades and the other half wonder why no one told them about it (and the third half don't give a damn about it since they are smart enough not to have a lawn or snow blower).

I assume it should work for white gas (which I believe, when bought as a camping product, is just highly refined nolead gasoline).

Al

Al Coons

Eddyline Nighthawk

Red/White

[Brian Nystrom]

Typically, old gas causes clogging, an uneven flame and smoking/soot.

[bethany]

I started getting rid of mine regularly -- I'm under the impression that it smells skunkier when it's old; maybe it's my imagination.

--b

[Dee Hall]

Ours definitely got pretty sooty.

[Brian Nystrom]

Sooting can also be caused by not pre-heating the stove enough, depending on the type of stove in question. However, that only occurs during startup and it's not a problem once the stove heats up. If you're getting a yellow, sooty flame once the stove is hot, it indicates either clogging or a leak somewhere.