Boy, I Dunno Fellas

All this talk about the diesel fuel and the home heating oil has me scratchin' my head.

If #2 diesel was used for furnace oil around these parts it'd sure get kinda cold in the wintertime.

#2 diesel will start to gel at about 20 degrees above or so. Out here in Nebraska #1 diesel and home heating oil are the same thing.

Oh, and while I'm bitchin' :>), can someone please explain to me how takin' the sulfur out of diesel oil can possibly, in any way, hurt an injection pump? Sure would like to know the reasoning behind this tall tale. :>)

Allan

The content included in the link supports your thinking on the issue. Sulfer can and will combine with many other elements. Inluding H2O and hydrogen for sulfuric acid. The link does not indicate that sulfer is a wear preventing factor. It is not mentioned in the lubricity topic either. Jim
Engine Manufacturers Association Guidlines

Back when I was on an oil truck the winter mix for diesel and HHO was to add 25% #1 to the #2. How cold does Nebraska get in the winter???

We get about -20° for the coldest with 0° to -10° being more normal.

My understanding from talking to an oil distributor was that the process to remove sulpher caused removal of lubricating properties from the oil not that sulpher was a lube by itself. The ULS fuels also seemed to gel up quicker.

I here most of these issues have been solved. I ran it in my tractor all last winter with no issues.

I hope someone has some real proof of what goes on with these issues!!!!

Not to be contentious but I pulled this from Wikipedia.

Sulfur is not a lubricant in of itself, but it can combine with the nickel content in many metal alloys to form a low melting point eutectic alloy that can increase lubricity. The process used to reduce the sulfur also reduces the fuel's lubricating properties. Lubricity is a measure of the fuel's ability to lubricate and protect the various parts of the engine's fuel injection system from wear. The processing required to reduce sulfur to 15 ppm also removes naturally-occurring lubricity agents in diesel fuel. To manage this change ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials) adopted the lubricity specification defined in ASTM D975[8] for all diesel fuels and this standard went into effect January 1, 2005.[9] The D975 standard defines two USLD standards, Grade No. 2-D S15 (regular ULSD) and Grade No. 1-D S15 (a higher volatility fuel with a lower gelling temperature than regular ULSD).
The refining process that removes the sulfur also reduces the aromatic content and density of the fuel, resulting in a minor decrease in the energy content, by about 1%. This decrease in energy content may result in slightly reduced peak power and fuel economy.

(quoted from post at 12:07:08 10/25/10) All this talk about the diesel fuel and the home heating oil has me scratchin' my head.

If #2 diesel was used for furnace oil around these parts it'd sure get kinda cold in the wintertime.

#2 diesel will start to gel at about 20 degrees above or so. Out here in Nebraska #1 diesel and home heating oil are the same thing.

Oh, and while I'm bitchin' :&gt, can someone please explain to me how takin' the sulfur out of diesel oil can possibly, in any way, hurt an injection pump? Sure would like to know the reasoning behind this tall tale. :&gt

Allan

Click to expand...

Yabbut when the tank for the furnace is in the basement of the house, the temperature and gellin' up thing just sorta becomes irrelevant, and usually, when the tank is inside, #2 is what you fill it with.

I dunno Allen, I'm burning Wyoming coal (electricity) more and more. It saves on natural gas but it does make my city utility bill higher.

For sure, and I'm not trying to be argumentative neither.

However, diesel fuel in and of itself is a hair-breaths width away from being pure engine oil anyway.

Only difference is the lower flash point and the viscosity of the diesel.

I think that this whole entire debate is nothing more that a market-strategist “scare” tactic aimed at selling the oil mix-in BS.

Allan

For sure, and I'm not trying to be argumentative neither.

However, diesel fuel in and of itself is a hair-breaths width away from being pure engine oil anyway.

Only difference is the lower flash point and the viscosity of the diesel.

I think that this whole entire debate is nothing more that a market-strategist “scare” tactic aimed at selling the oil mix-in BS.

Allan

Nobody really knows the FACTS.

Here in northern NY people buy #2 heating oil for indoor tanks and kerosene for outdoor tanks. We buy kero for our indoor tank because we rarely go through more than 10-20 gallons a year and we can get it at the gas station in a 5 gallon can. Never had a diesel so I don't know a thing about that.

All I know about it is that even since I've been playing this game diesel seems to have become a lot thinner than it used to be. That and I'll be putting whatever comes cheapest into my old diesels, maybe with a splash of oil for luck. It rarely gets cold enough round here these days to gel fuel so I won't worry about. If the tractor won't go it's too cold to be outside anyway Sam

i don"t know what facts you are looking for but thirty years ago i ran a farm and home delivery truck for sohio and the #2 fuel oil and #2 diesel fuel were in the same half million gallon tank. when it was cold here in ohio we mixed about 20% kerosine with the #2 for outside tanks to keep from jelling. but most people had their tank in the basement so no problems.

I am about 20 miles south of Kankakee, Il. My exprence with low sulfur fuel is that every time they changed the sulfur content of diesel fuel my injector pumps started having external leaks no matter if it was the 282d engine on the 560D IH farmall tractor or the semi- tractors no matter whether it was a cummins or cat engine. Also we had problems with the HHO . One house has outside tank and one house has tank in basement. Oil supplier said the problem was with the fuel they were getting off the pipeline. Had to use a lot of additives and still had gelling problems with the 3406 Cat engine in the Peterbilt. Fixed the fuel pump leaks in the pete in Nov. of 2008 but not sure of the gelling problem. Going to install a water seperator this fall and see if I can dry out and clean the fuel tank. Had one other truck that I had to drain and clean/dry out the fuel tank about 10- 15 years ago. Armand

Im with you on that one Allan. Jim

LOL....we have to be outside and use our tractors for feeding and snow removal at temps down to -30 and colder.....


Rick

Geez, you Nebraskans are WIMPY! Here in northern ND burner fuel is #2 unless #1 is specifically requested.

Yep, that's the formula.

20% kerosene or a 10% gasoline mix puts 'er right back up there at #1.

That reminds me, I've got 3 diesel feed tractors that need to have gasoline poured in 'em before winter sets in.

Ya just haven't lived until you've had a diesel gel up........ :>)

Allan

I live in the southwest corner of Canada, where fuel gelling is not a problem, and most people haven't used HHO in 25 or more years.

What i do know is when I add a lubricator to the diesel fuel I put in a '97 F-350 Powerstroke, I can drive 100 to 150 kilometers farther on a tank of fuel.