What I learned about diesel gelling

I asked the question about a week ago about diesel gelling. Thanks for all the responses it was a lot of info. I asked because I knew it was gonna get cold here in western colorado and I knew we would have problems with equipment at work. We did, and what I learned is in negative 10 degree weather, I have not seen one official " gell up". I have changed a lot of filters. Not sure exactly why they get clogged but I suspect it is because water in the system turning to ice. ThAts my opinion and thanks again for all the info.

Your filters will plug with the wax out of the diesel fuel just before they gell. I would bet that you had more than just water issues in the filters/fuel.

Our summer diesel or furnace oil is good to about 0 degrees F or -18 degrees C. Under that it starts to turn to slush/gel/wax and stops flowing....Ron

I just posted above about this. Had I read your post first, I could have saved myself and everyone else the trouble. You should have called me and said, "Hey Mark, if you're thinking about, don't bother".

Mark

I"ve never had a case of diesel fuel gelling(yet) but I have had ice in water separators and filters from contaminated fuel.

(quoted from post at 23:29:50 12/12/13) I"ve never had a case of diesel fuel gelling(yet) but I have had ice in water separators and filters from contaminated fuel.

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Just for the sake of argument I went out the other day and checked the summer diesel fuel in my storage tank when the outdoor temp was -20F. It flowed just fine but appeared cloudy in a glass jar. The cloudy stuff (wax) is what plugs the filters. No water in that fuel as obviously it would have been frozen solid in the bottom of the tank at those temperatures.
Lucky I was burning gas that day.
http://youtu.be/n44VuPRE2xg

Take one of the filters that has come off a gelled up engine and cut it apart before it warms up. That will show you what we mean buy "gelled up" could be ice crystels or the wax in the fuel.

Could "algae" be a part of this problem??
Led

(quoted from post at 05:35:47 12/13/13) Could "algae" be a part of this problem??
Led

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The gel is probably the problem. Diesel is measured in terms of a Pour Pont and a Cloud point. If the pour pt is at -15 degrees F, teh cloud pt will be about 0 degrees. The cloud point is when the wax first begins to fall out of the fuel. We used to heat our fuel filters with a propane torch on really cold mornings.

Fuelsandlubestechnologies.org

Went through that saturday. The fuel would flow out of the line, but it was really cloudy and slow flowing. Pump could not supply enough fuel to keep running.

Here is what a waxed up filter looks like. The fuel was cloudy but still flowing. Like others have said the cloudy stage is the beginning of the wax starting to separate which in turn clogs the filters. In my experience the vehicles will still run, just not much if any past idle as fuel flow is restricted by the plugged filter. When the fuel actually gels the vehicle won't run at all.

Casey in SD

Tvertiz,I will throw in my 2cents,being an Ontario boy,who used to run diesels at the farm to blow snow and drop big rounds.
Some of the other posters have given good advice and I just want to add a few things.
IF YOU HAVE WATER..YOU HAVE ALGAE!! Period,no question about it. Alfae grows in the water in the bottom of the tank,it can actually form small clots of algae that look like clear jelly,this will clog lines/filters,cause head aches. The winter/versus summer diesel is a factor,but I would have some stove oil put in my summer diesel so I could use it in the winter. I also added a bottle of deicer to every tank of fuel in the tractor and a quart of automatic transmission fluid. (Now some may wonder about this..but a friend of mine was an Allis Chalmers dealer for 45 years and he recommended the ATF. He claims it lubes the pump and it will help remove moisture because ATF has an affinity for water,meaning it will absorb it/mix with it) So with deicer,ATF I never had a problem,never had a filter freeze up,never had the fuel gel. There is also a product on the market called 3 in 1 Diesel conditioner,it removes water,lubes the pump and prevents gelling...that's my two cents worth

ALGAE? In the bottom of a fuel tank? WRONGO. Unless you have a clear glass tank. Algae needs sunlight. Period. You might have some other thing growing in there, but IT AIN'T ALGAE! Speaking of algae, Exxon spent about 600 million$ trying to develop a fuel made from algae. They threw in the towel.

Actually Bill, algae is a big problem in today's modern diesel fuel, mainly bio blends. It may not be algae in the sense your thinking but it is true.

Casey in SD

Alrighty, nevermind.... I stand corrected!
Untitled URL Link

Tvertiz: Everything you need to know about diesel fuel can be found in the URL Link provided by caseyc below. Forget everything else.

I run diesel's everyday in all kinds of weather and never have a problem

I was in South Dakota last week when the temps were from -24 to -3 in the afternoon. Dodge 6.7 Cummins using 1 ounce of Howes Fuel Conditioner per 3 gallons non-winter blend fuel and had zero problems at all speeds. No gelling or waxing. Any colder than this and I wouldn't even want to go out to the truck or risk a flat tire.

I have a 6.7 cummmins too. I run straight #2 year
round and treat with Howes in the winter. The -10
to -25 temps the last few weeks haven't bothered it
one bit.

Casey in SD