red diesel

[Arge]

Hi all

A question, does red diesel still thiken up when it gets cold in winter, i know this was a problem way back, is it still ?

Vik n Arge.

[Bob18]

All diesel thickens, how much depends on the feedstock as much as its colour. One could assume that in days gone by red diesel used a less expensive feedstock than white. But these days the majority comes from the same big tanks with the colour and other markers being added when the delivery tanker is loaded.

[The Bagdad Boatman (waits)]

Called waxing, All diesel was prone to it usually coupled with water that froze in the fuel feed pipes. I have not had a problem with a lorry since 1990 so the suppliers must use a winter mix for road transport. As for cheap low usage fuel?

[Chalky]

For road use there are summer and winter blends of diesel, the winter being designed to prevent waxing. It is however less energetic and will produce less power. You can tell when the season changes and they swap over because the car feels like a dragster (relative!) or a slug until you get used to it.

[jonathanA]

I can remember seeing wagon drivers lighting fires (small) under their diesel tanks in winter to warm it up when I was an apprentice a couple of years ago (ahem decades ago!) and I know petrol used to be mixed in during winter to help stop waxing, when I first got a diesel road car some years ago a mechanaic told me the winter diesel had additives in to stop waxing (i guess thats why all those peugeot taxis keep running through the winter)

 

I don't know about Red diesel and suspect the previous poster is right it all comes from the same couple of big refineries and gets the 'additives' added either in the tanker or when its being delivered. since the farmers near me all seem to b able to keep their big tractors going through the winter I assume its not a big problem for red diesel these days either. (i'll have to ask them when they stop counting their EU subsidies )

[Bob18]

"Winter" diesel is ordinary diesel with anti-freeze added. Depending on the supplier this is either done at their end or by adding at the time of delivery. The amount added is very small, but highly effective at stopping diesel from gelling when it gets down to brass-monkeys cold. Those that use fuel-set will know how little they add per tank.

[cotswoldsman]

I can remember seeing wagon drivers lighting fires (small) under their diesel tanks in winter to warm it up when I was an apprentice a couple of years ago (ahem decades ago!) and I know petrol used to be mixed in during winter to help stop waxing, when I first got a diesel road car some years ago a mechanaic told me the winter diesel had additives in to stop waxing (i guess thats why all those peugeot taxis keep running through the winter)

 

 

 

When I was running trucks in Russia we issued all the drives with very large gas stoves to use in diesel tanks, but they were instructed when out on the road to never turn the engine off and sometimes if they were going up into Siberia they could be away for up to 1 month.

When I lived in Montreal we used to plug our cars in at night to keep the engine warm but never heard of fuel freezing and it used to get down to about -40c with the chill factor even colder.

[IDS]

If I remember correctly you can expect fuel waxing problems with temperatures around -15 C. Some treatments will lower this figure.

For vehicles operating in consistently lower temperatures we used Avtur (aviation paraffin) as the fuel, which required that fuel pumps were exchanged for units with direct lubrication, as Avtur had insufficient lubrication properties.

[davidc]

All diesel thickens, how much depends on the feedstock as much as its colour. One could assume that in days gone by red diesel used a less expensive feedstock than white. But these days the majority comes from the same big tanks with the colour and other markers being added when the delivery tanker is loaded.

 

 

Bob18 is correct it’s all the same diesel.

 

Several years ago you could remove the dye by passing it through fuller’s earth but nowadays there is a chemical marker placed in red diesel along with the dye which can be detected in the exhaust gases

[Arge]

Morning all

It was just after i started this thread that i suddenly realised that the Lancaster canal will be well frozen well before

i have any diesel problems, however i am still wanting to cruise aroun in winter so as to see all the things we have missed due to

all the trees being in bloom. Vik n Arge.