Adding oil to fuel

[Tom Keevil]

Stoddard solvent is just a petroleum distillate. It's like kerosene, except the hydrocarbon molecules are a bit smaller (C6-C12, vs C9-C15 for kerosene), and thus it has a slightly lower boiling point range.

I think the dry cleaning advantage of perchloroethylene was that your business didn't occasionally explode since it is nonflammable. Of course it turns out to be carcinogenic, but nothings perfect

[Tom Keevil]

Two years ago year we started mixing 20% biodiesel with our fuel. We had already updated the fuel lines. Before heading out on a long trip we stuck a semiflexible plastic tube down to the low point of the tank and pumped out a few quarts that was filled with orange crud. We then let it settle a week and repeated. After a few times it looked pretty good, and we haven't had any problems. We did install an oversize Racor 500FG filter to give us more capacity to absorb the crud.

[Joe Myerson]

Checking our hoses, replacing our fuel filters and pumping the crud out of our tanks don't add up to much of a trade-off, IMHO, for reducing the amount of sulfur in fuel and even reducing consumption of petroleum a bit.

I'd be surprised if these are the biggest sacrifices we'll have to make as oil supplies diminish and efforts to limit carbon emissions increase.

And after all, we're sailors. Our engines are important, but they're not the main reason we venture onto the water.

--Joe

[Carter Brey]

Carter, the hoses and clamps you mentioned, do you have a preferred source for these items?

Chase,

Delphine and I are devoted fans of Jamestown Distributors:

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/main.do

Carter Brey
Sabre 28 MkII #532 "Delphine"
City Island, NY

[John Vigor]

An afterthought. John V. Hmmm, I wonder what might happen with mixing a touch of two stroke oil to Diesel?

Whatever,
Think spring.
O J

OJ, I don't think anything bad would happen if it's added in reasonable quantities. It would merely add lubrication, as it does in a two-stroke engine, and maybe a tad more smoke.

In fact, I've got to wondering about Marvel Mystery Oil, if it's 74 percent Stoddard solvent. That stuff is the kissing cousin of paint thinner (mineral spirits) if not exactly the same thing. It is obviously very good at dissolving and flushing the build-up of gunk that can occur in engines over time, but it's the exact opposite of what I'm looking for.

I don't want to add a solvent that will strip working parts of their protecting lubricating film. I want something that will make up for the lack of lubrication in the ultra low sulfur diesel fuel, that is, the lubrication that was previously supplied by sulfur.

Short of adding powdered pencil lead to the ultra-low stuff, the easiest way to add lubrication is to add oil to the fuel, just as in two-strokes. Ordinary SAE 30 oil will do it. Marvel Mystery Oil is rated at SAE 5. Even if it didn't strip the protective oil film from the moving parts, it wouldn't be much help at that level of lubrication in a diesel.

Of course, I realize that my own selfish need is to to protect my engine at the expense of the environment. Adding oil to my fuel defeats the object of reducing sulfur. But look at it this way: how much more damage will occur to the environment if somebody has to build a new engine for me? How much more engergy will be expended? How many pounds of noxious emissions does manufacturing a new Westerbeke 13 produce?

Incidentally, a PBS report stated tonight that the country as a whole has just experienced its coldest February in 20 years. Even in coastal Washington state we had another 5 inches of global warming a couple of weeks back, the third attack this winter.

Nothing like Oswego, I know, but it gives us furiously to think.

Stay warm,

John V.

[Mark Yashinsky]

as in ground up pencil "lead". You know pencil "lead" is primarily graphite, which is carbon. So you want to add carbon and either clay (wood pencils) or plastic (mechanical pencils), which are the binders in the "lead", to your fuel. Why?

[bottomscraper]

The contents of Marvel Mystery Oil are 74 percent mineral oil, 25 percent stoddard solvent, and 1 percent lard.

Ted

Well doesn't the lard make it a form of BIO fuel?

[bill2]

John

Not to take anything away from MMO ( which I enjoy in cans - er bottles almost as much as Simple Green ) . . .

I bought a 2001 TDI Jetta two years ago that I've been experimenting with fuels for. Since new ( to me ) I have been faithfully using RedLine Diesel additive with each load of fuel. They say it provides lubrication, bumps cetane up, absorbs a little water and " slices, dices, minces, and clinches . . . ". I suspect any reputable truck stop or auto store will have comparables for a small ( relative to todays prices ) amount.

I concur with the carry an extra fuel filter - better yet two - esp if you throw in some bio.

Good Luck

[John Vigor]

as in ground up pencil "lead". You know pencil "lead" is primarily graphite, which is carbon. So you want to add carbon and either clay (wood pencils) or plastic (mechanical pencils), which are the binders in the "lead", to your fuel. Why?

Mark, I'm sure you know that graphite is an excellent lubricant. TL-109 multigrade oil contains graphite in colloidal suspension and is designed for high-performance diesels.

My ancient Westerbeke isn't exactly high-performance, but I figure scraping a few pencil leads into the tank might return some of the lubricity now missing in ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel.

I'll wait for you to try it first, if that's OK.

Cheers,

John V.

[Tom in Cambria]

>>The contents of Marvel Mystery Oil are 74 percent mineral oil, 25 percent stoddard solvent, and 1 percent lard.<<

If Marvel Mystery Oil is 74% mineral oil and you're worried about the Stoddard solvent it seems like you could just add mineral oil for lubrication and skip the Stoddard oil for dissolving things. But you're only adding 2 tablespoons per five gallons of fuel so the amount of Stoddard solvent is going to be on the order of one and a half teaspoons. I can't imagine that's going to do much harm. On the other hand I can't imagine that 4.5 teaspoons of mineral oil is going to do much lubricating either. Diesel fuel itself is a pretty good solvent. Some people put rusty tools in a can of diesel fuel to remove the rust and Diesel fuel is pretty oily by itself. I don't imagine that mineral oil or Stoddard solvent is much different than Diesel oil since they are both petroleum by products of the cracking process -- aren't they? I'm not a chemist -- I only play one on TV.