Here's an interesting one. I'd always thought petrol to have a shelflife of 3 maybe 4 years max. I have an old jerry can with someunleaded from 1996 (chalk mark) which I usually use for cleaning stuphwith.Well (erm) I accidentally filled my Honda EU10i Genny with thecontents...Runs a treat! Certainly no noticable difference from the 'new' lotfilled a month or so ago.So, what determines the shelf life of petrol, anyone?As an additional interesting aside, the jerry can it was in was themost rancid one I have, previously filled with all sorts, includingRed Deisel for mi boat at one point. The only thing about that canthat was 'new' was the rubber seal around the cap.

Two things limit the shelf life of petrol1. Evaporation of the light ends - this can be stopped completely by havingit tightly sealed, and if this is the case this factor does not limit thelife.2. Bacterial attack. The time taken for this varies enormously, and dependson :- humidity/water contamination, temperature, agitation, and to a minorextent access to air. It can be completely prevented if the petrol andcontainer are not infected, but although there are probably some aroundthat aren't, it is probably safest to assume that it is infected. Bestprecautions you can take are to keep it absolutely dry, and add one of theantibacterial additives - or do what most of us do, and don't store it formore than a month or two.JD

Life of Petrol?

Mar 14, 2005 25 Replies

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John Halliwell 21 years ago

In article , Tom Woods writes

The 4 star in my 109 is about 10 years old. Haven't run it since then, it now smells more like paraffin than petrol. I'm guessing I'll have to drain it before trying to start it?

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Colonel Tupperware 21 years ago

We will have fuel for CI engines for as long as we can grow oil bearing plants.

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Austin Shackles 21 years ago

On or around Sat, 19 Mar 2005 16:12:57 +0000, Colonel Tupperware enlightened us thusly:

assuming, of course, you can spare enough plant-growing land from food production to grow enough of 'em.

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David G. Bell 21 years ago

And for petrol engines, alcohol is a possibility, as well as gas from fermented s*it.

At least, so people were saying in the 1970s.

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Austin Shackles 21 years ago

On or around Sun, 20 Mar 2005 13:04:53 +0000 (GMT), snipped-for-privacy@zhochaka.demon.co.uk ("David G. Bell") enlightened us thusly:

well, we could start by harnessing the output of the house of commons...

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Neil 21 years ago

That doesn't surprise me at all! I've started and run a Seagull engine on an emulsion of petroil with, probably in excess of 25% water, after a complete submersion of said engine in the Avon at Stratford.

Neil

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