Fuel expiry date

[DanielGelinas]

Hello all,

Sorry for what may seem like a dumb question. I checked with search option and found nothing.
I have a surplus of fuel bought in 2011, which I won't be able to use until next flying season 2012.
How long is fuel good for, in general?
How do you know when its bad?
How should I store it?

Fuel is 5%nitro 29% castor
and 10%nitro 11%castor 11%syn

Thanks,

-Dan

[Randy Powell]

Depends. If it's a sealed can, should be fine. Any previously opened cans will degrade depending on temperatures and humidity. I usually figure an opened can is good for 2-4 months depending on these factors. But if the can is sealed, should be good for quite awhile. I just opened the last can of 2 cases I bought over 2 years ago. It's fine.

[FLOYD CARTER]

On the other hand..... Tried to fly yesterday, but needle valve clogged up with some "floating white stuff" in my fuel jug.  It's some SIG in gallon plastic bottle.  It's about 1 year old.  I can see the sediment in the bottom.

I'll try to flter it out, but still wondering what causes this.

Floyd

[Randy Powell]

castor.

[Brett Buck]

Hello all,

Sorry for what may seem like a dumb question. I checked with search option and found nothing.
I have a surplus of fuel bought in 2011, which I won't be able to use until next flying season 2012.
How long is fuel good for, in general?
How do you know when its bad?
How should I store it?

     I have never found a problem with older fuel. The fuel I used at the NATs this year was from cans opened in 2006 and 7, but I have used 30-year-old fuel in other cases with no problems that I could find. As long as it is in sealed opaque containers I think the storage life is nearly infinite.

    Brett

[Jim Thomerson]

I agree with Brett. I'm presently flying with Sig Champion fuel that is more than three years old.  I read someplace that castor oil fuel improves with age and temperature cycling. I don't see anything in the jug, but my filter on the syringe will get clogged.  I have a metal take apart filter to act like a clunk.  It will get clogged with fine fuzzy material, like the lint on a dryer filter.  It come right off. None of it makes it to the crap trap upstream.  When it gets hard to suck fuel, I know to take the filter apart and clean it. 

[Steve Helmick]

I used a partial gallon plastic jug of fuel that had my "ketchup pump*" in it for about 5 years, with no problem. No problem with the fuel or the pump. Apparently my filtering system works better than Floyd's. Lots of poor fuel handling techniques are available for your use. Good ones are also available, but more rarely seen. I've seen the flotsam in the SIG fuel, but setting the jug in the hot sun should help, esp. with a good shaking.   Steve

* Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Condiment, or Epoxy Pump

[Brian Massey]

I used a partial gallon plastic jug of fuel that had my "ketchup pump"  . . . 

Ketchup Pump? KETCHUP PUMP???  What's wrong with your Mustard Pump?

Brian

[John Stiles]

I used a partial gallon plastic jug of fuel that had my "ketchup pump" in it for about 5 years, with no problem. No problem with the fuel or the pump. Apparently my filtering system works better than Floyd's. Lots of poor fuel handling techniques are available for your use. Good ones are also available, but more rarely seen. I've seen the flotsam in the SIG fuel, but setting the jug in the hot sun should help, esp. with a good shaking.  Steve

I found a half gallon of fuel I forgot I had, from about 2 years ago.....clear plastic jug....put it in my old fox .35....fired right up....had about a half gallon I bought last spring, so I added them together....still running it. Never had a problem in plastic jugs. I did have some rust once in a metal can....filtered it into a plastic jug and ran it out.

[john e. holliday]

Was told years ago if I had a partial jug of fuel that had not been used during the winter down time, to mix it with fresh fuel.   This was only if the engine started acting up as far as settings.  I finished off a jug of fuel I had bought at VSC over a year ago.   Also don't store fuel on cement floors without a peice of wood under it.   Another hint I was told by the person I used to get my fuel from before I dixcovered Excaliber Fuels.

[Randy Powell]

Well, sealing is the trick. I've had partially used cans of fuel that sat over the winter and ended up useless. Probably due to sucking up water because they were improperly sealed.

[Jim Thomerson]

In the past there has been a problem with Sig jugs leaking at the bottom.  I had one of these which had set undetected for a long time, at least a year.  The fuel level in the jug was down a little, and there was a vacuum in the jug. Clearly, it was no longer leaking. I am not sure what went on, but some how the leak got stopped, little fuel was lost, and it has given no problems. 

[Brett Buck]

In the past there has been a problem with Sig jugs leaking at the bottom.  I had one of these which had set undetected for a long time, at least a year.  The fuel level in the jug was down a little, and there was a vacuum in the jug. Clearly, it was no longer leaking. I am not sure what went on, but some how the leak got stopped, little fuel was lost, and it has given no problems. 

   That's one of the reasons I use Powermaster - it comes in cans and at least so far I haven't had a leaker. I also think keeping *light* off the fuel it important, if nothing else, the UV gets to plastic after a while and makes it brittle.
   
     But otherwise, as long as air doesn't get in and out of the can, the storage conditions don't seem to matter much, either. My fuel sits in the back of the van, outside, for sometimes years, cycling up and down from the 40's to the 130s, and I have never had any issues.

     I think a lot of problems are blamed on "bad fuel" when it's really something else. Fuel doesn't seem at all sensitive to storage conditions and if it came from the factory right, it doesn't seem to ever go over the hill unless you do something silly.

    Brett

[Allen Brickhaus]

I am flying 2005 fuel.  Kept in dark cool storage.

Allena Brickhaus

[Jim Kraft]

I was given an old can of Testors McCoy fuel about 10 years ago, and I think it was probably 20 years old then. My old Wasp .049 was not running to well on my caugh syrup stunt fuel, so I tried the Testors. It ran great. It is in an old quart can.

[Chris McMillin]

I just used four gallons of Taffinder fuel from 1993. Plastic jugs, filled to the top.
I have also bought old Cox Racing Fuel in the little red cans just to use the fuel, but I save the cans too. Runs great.
Chris...