Update on diesel gel

IA Roy

Well-known Member
I took off without changing anything. Filter canister was mostly full
of fuel. Today hardly any in it. 1000 miles temp above 20 monday 50
today in ohio and indiana and illinois gell must have liquified
 
I'm not a diesel fuel expert, but like I said in the 70's my #1 heating oil made ice crystals at -25. So when we say diesel is gelling is it forming ice crystals or gel? If so is this just the nature of diesel fuel when it gets cold and #2 makes ice at a higher temp?
 
Neither should form actual ice crystals, that would be a water contamination issue.

In Minnesota we have bio blended diesel fuel, up to 20% in summer typically 10% but depends on relative costs they can blend to 20%. In winter they like to keep it at 5%.

So in addition to choosing #2 or #1, you want to be sure to get fuel from after October to get the lower bio blend.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very pro bio diesel blend it helps replace some sulfur, just have to be smart about it, when it is below zero you want a lower blend.

We had a real humid wet fall into December here, hovering at 30 degrees, then suddenly hit the deep freeze fast as it shot below zero.

Both my diesel tractors gelled up, I didn't get the additive mixed in fast enough.

What happens is the fatty bits (which are in #2 and in the bio portion both) turn into a waxy glob. It might start out as a thickening below 30 degrees, but at 20 or so it becomes little fatty globs that don't want to pass through the filter so well, and by 5 degrees they are larger fatty globs that will pack up a filter.

#1 diesel is thinner, less btus, far less of the fatty type materials, doesn't live the fuel system nearly as well. But those fatty globs don't form until about 60 below F.

So if it gets near 20 degrees F, you want either a blend of #1 diesel mixed in with your #2 and/ or some fuel additive like Power Service, Howes, or so forth. These additives mix with the fatty type stuff in the diesel and keep it from forming globs, keep it all liquid.

The colder it gets, the more of this blending or additive you need. But also, too much additive goes the wrong way, and messes up the fuel too. and the trick is, the additive or the blended fuel likes to work before it is so terrible cold; they tend to stay separated if you try to mix them in the tank after we already hit the below zero temps.....

When both my tractors gelled up this winter, they still were running but only at idle speed, no power - a bare trickle of fuel was getting through the filters. I was in the yard, so I got an ice cream bucket of hot water from the house, poured it on the fuel filter very slowly, and heated up the fuel filter. Let the heat soak in for 5-10 minutes. This dissolved the fatty lumps again, altho it kinda concentrates the fatty stuff and makes the engine have to deal with that thicker fuel all at once.... It will reliquify and go through the filter if you get it warm enough. I also added more fuel treatment.

Got the tractor running again that way, and drove to the shed, let it run inside (door open) to keep the wind away, so the engine heat got out to the filter area and kept things warmer. The Diesel engine pumps more fuel than it uses and returns it to the fuel tank, and over time it heats the fuel and blends it to put the additive in the whole tank.

After this both engines have worked fine now on #2 diesel, without changing filters, yesterday it was 7 degrees when I ran them.

You just need the proper treatment to keep the fatty bits normally found in diesel fuel liquified, either by blending #1, or using an additive, or keeping the fuel filter warm.

Again, if you see actual ice crystals in the fuel, you have a contamination issue and need to get the water out of your tank and fuel supply, that is not the common gelling issue that you have, it is a contamination issue? Water in a Diesel engine is not a good thing, small amounts can be absorbed and flushed through with an additive but Diesel engines are real sensitive to water in the fuel; you don't want that in any amount really.

Older farm diesels from the 1990s and earlier can deal with a lot on all this. The new modern engines with EPA emissions run at a whole different level, and you have to be careful what you do with them, very high pressure, far less forgiving. On the other hand they tend to heat the fuel more as they pump it through and if you don't gel thrm right away, they keep the fatty clumps away on their own.

In any case, a new fuel filter before the first real cold snap is a good idea, it allows better fuel flow and more room for a few loose fatty gel clumps to not mess up your day. As Warner fuel and additive blends pass by they can re liquefy those fatty clumps and keep problems away.

It is a balancing act on keeping a good clean fuel supply, and keeping enough lubricity in your fuel to keep the fuel system lubricated (that is what the fatty lumps do for you as long as they haven't globbed together too much...) but keep the fuel flowing in all kinds of weather.

Paul
 
Ice is moisture (water) . Be it from sweating, condensation, or poor quality fuel . Additive is made that will mix with water: keep it from freezing: and burn it off in the engine. Before the high tech engine: we just added some alcohol instead of buying the high price additive. Wouldn't want to do that on today's engine.
 
#2 diesel has the right amount of lubricity (slippery stuff for the fuel pump) to make a long lasting Diesel engine. Those lubricity bits also contain energy in them when they burn, adding btu - more energy - to each gallon of fuel.

However when you get too cold - typically below 20-25 degrees - those bits like to clump together and form little bits that we think of as wax. They are normally a good, needed part of your fuel, but when too cold you need to do something to keep them from clumping together.

The colder it gets, the more you need to do. Keep the fuel heated,, or use an additive that keeps them liquified as they get cold. When it gets warm again, it's better to use the straight #2 fuel so your engine doesn't overheat, get poor mileage, etc.

It is a balancing act of adjusting the right fuel qualities for the temperature conditions..

Actual water ice crystals in your fuel would be a bad thing, different than the fuel gelling......

Paul
 
We used to get Ice crystals from condensation in our #1 heating fuel tank. A couple cans of HEET would clear it right up.
 
I am glad I don't have gelling issues. I am in Manitoba and when I drove school bus there was 1 service station, if you filled up there you HAD to add 911 to the fuel. There tank fill hole was in a low spot in the yard and water would get in the tank. By law they were allowed 1 ft(if I remember right) of water at the bottom of the tank. every time the refilled the tanks it would mix and slowly separate again. This was a CO-OP station. All other CO-OP stations we had no trouble. that station has since moved to above ground tanks. No more problems. My brothers all have trouble with tractors gelling and I keep telling them to install filters on their farm tanks, as they get water in them from condensation. I have a filter on my tank and have NEVER had issues. My Dad has filtered his tank finally and has no issues since. I assume the fuel dealers mix enough conditioner in when it gets cold that I shouldn't have to and never have. Nothing worse than getting a semi froze up at -30 on the side of the highway and freezing your hands off while trying to heat up your fuel lines. So yes you can buy fuel with water in it and have ice plugging your filters
 
Geo It is not actually wax but that is the term commonly used so we will let that lie. #2 fuel is heavier than #1. #1 is refined far more than #2 as a result it will pass thru the filter system easier than #2. Most tractors and skid loaders, etc have 10 micron fuel filters on them. Some have 5 micron filters on them and that creates a bigger problem in the winter as a 5 micron filter has a finer filtering eliment in it, thus causing more "Gelling". I run 10 micron filters on my equipment year around, thus saving myself some of the problems. The only way to prevent diesel jelling problems in the winter is to use #1 fuel. You Can use some of these additives, but don't depend on them. I have been out along the road too many times filling tractors and trucks with #1 and the guys saying "I got the additives in it so it wont jell".
 
Oh? In my part of the world when you order #2 fuel delivered to the bulk farm tank, that is what you get, no extra conditioners.

So you need to add your own. Or you can order a blend, 1/3 or 1/2 winter and the rest summer diesel. But you need to ask for such special, and thry draw it off their truck from the different compartments, splash blend it in your bulk tank.

The gas station island dispensers indeed often offer blended / consigned fuel as you describe. Since winterized fuel costs more, they tend to be a little slow to get it deep freeze proofed tho.......

But if you buy bulk 'here' you get what you order, if you order #2 that is what you get. Most of us farmers lay in a bulk tank full of diesel in late October or early November and lasts most of the winter, so we are running whatever was delivered then.

I never considered some of you get something different delivered when you buy bulk fuel?

Paul
 
Gelling and Iceing are two different things. I have seen them both ways bad fuel with Ice crystals in it and fuel that looks like jello. Most of the time it just looks like elephant snot. Heat is the only sure way to cure it. most of today's diesels have common rail injection and return heated fuel to the tanks. In the old days we had tank heaters heated fuel filters just to run in cold weather. There are a lot of fuel filters that are heated even today. I always had them on my trucks, as long as they were plugged in you were ok.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top