My long term gasoline storage experiment

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  • shibumiseeker

    Grandmaster
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    Nov 11, 2009
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    near Bedford on a whole lot of land.
    A few of you know that I homestead and am off-grid and have been since the early 90s on a large piece of land in the back beyond. For those of you just tuning in, opsec dictates that's all you're getting...

    I have always stored gasoline, diesel, and kerosene, keeping 6 months to two years supply on hand in 55 gallon drums, buying a little more when it is cheaper and buying less when it goes up, keeping my rotating stock within those supply parameters.

    A few years ago I wanted to experiment to see how long I can store gas under those conditions so I sealed a handful of drums and set them back. They are in an open shed in deep shade stored off the ground.

    I opened one at two years, three, and now four. Gas when stored was whatever I bought (winter or summer) and no stabilizer was added. The drums were filled to within a couple of inches and sealed.

    Just cracked one from four years ago yesterday and it looked and smelled like the day I put it in. Put 3 gallons in a generator and it fired right up, no issues. Given my experience with years two and three I was unsurprised.

    I have two more sealed from then, so the experiment continues.

    I also have one that was left with the bung off from two years ago. Every now and then I siphon off a gallon or so and inspect it. It's starting to turn a little darker and smell a little different, but the generator still runs it fine.
     

    Cameramonkey

    www.thechosen.tv
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    A few of you know that I homestead and am off-grid and have been since the early 90s on a large piece of land in the back beyond. For those of you just tuning in, opsec dictates that's all you're getting...

    I have always stored gasoline, diesel, and kerosene, keeping 6 months to two years supply on hand in 55 gallon drums, buying a little more when it is cheaper and buying less when it goes up, keeping my rotating stock within those supply parameters.

    A few years ago I wanted to experiment to see how long I can store gas under those conditions so I sealed a handful of drums and set them back. They are in an open shed in deep shade stored off the ground.

    I opened one at two years, three, and now four. Gas when stored was whatever I bought (winter or summer) and no stabilizer was added. The drums were filled to within a couple of inches and sealed.

    Just cracked one from four years ago yesterday and it looked and smelled like the day I put it in. Put 3 gallons in a generator and it fired right up, no issues. Given my experience with years two and three I was unsurprised.

    I have two more sealed from then, so the experiment continues.

    I also have one that was left with the bung off from two years ago. Every now and then I siphon off a gallon or so and inspect it. It's starting to turn a little darker and smell a little different, but the generator still runs it fine.

    YMMV, based on the carb. I'm going to assume that genny has a good engine with a quality carb. Ive got several low end carbs that flat out will NOT handle old gas. One was my snow blower. First year I had it I took gas purchased in August and poured it into the tank in late January. Wouldnt run. Even using electric start I couldnt get it to take. I could hit it with a shot of ether but once that was gone it would slowly wind down and die with no real power produced.

    I called for maintenance (on site warranty) and the tech drained the carb bell, smelled it and said "Bad gas. Off the record, these cheap carbs dont like stale gas. Stand by..." and he drained the rest of the tank. He added a cup or so of fresh gas from his can and it fired up on the second pull and ran great. I poured the rest of my can into my car's tank and refilled it with fresh. Sure enough, ran great.
     

    shibumiseeker

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    near Bedford on a whole lot of land.
    YMMV, based on the carb. I'm going to assume that genny has a good engine with a quality carb. Ive got several low end carbs that flat out will NOT handle old gas. One was my snow blower. First year I had it I took gas purchased in August and poured it into the tank in late January. Wouldnt run. Even using electric start I couldnt get it to take. I could hit it with a shot of ether but once that was gone it would slowly wind down and die with no real power produced.

    I called for maintenance (on site warranty) and the tech drained the carb bell, smelled it and said "Bad gas. Off the record, these cheap carbs dont like stale gas. Stand by..." and he drained the rest of the tank. He added a cup or so of fresh gas from his can and it fired up on the second pull and ran great. I poured the rest of my can into my car's tank and refilled it with fresh. Sure enough, ran great.

    While this is true with gas that has gotten stale, the point of this experiment with the sealed drums was to see if/how much it deteriorates over time and the gas gets used in a variety of equipment. Most of us have experienced gas that has sat in a 1 or 5 gallon can that has gone bad in a few months. Larger quantities of gas take longer in unsealed containers based on how much of a percentage of the surface area compared to the volume is exposed to oxygen, and how much of the lighter fractions have evaporated off. My original hypothesis was that in sealed metal containers the storage life is essentially longer than I will ever need to store it and the data appears to support this.
     

    churchmouse

    I still care....Really
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    Dec 7, 2011
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    YMMV, based on the carb. I'm going to assume that genny has a good engine with a quality carb. Ive got several low end carbs that flat out will NOT handle old gas. One was my snow blower. First year I had it I took gas purchased in August and poured it into the tank in late January. Wouldnt run. Even using electric start I couldnt get it to take. I could hit it with a shot of ether but once that was gone it would slowly wind down and die with no real power produced.

    I called for maintenance (on site warranty) and the tech drained the carb bell, smelled it and said "Bad gas. Off the record, these cheap carbs dont like stale gas. Stand by..." and he drained the rest of the tank. He added a cup or so of fresh gas from his can and it fired up on the second pull and ran great. I poured the rest of my can into my car's tank and refilled it with fresh. Sure enough, ran great.

    Are these 2 cycle engines...???
     

    Lee11b

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    Apr 22, 2014
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    North Webster
    Hey your better off using WD40 to start an engine than ether. Ether is alcohol based and helps scar the cylinder walls at fire up. WD40 is petrol based - adds a little lubrication at fire up. I got to see first hand what it did to our old pump cylinder walls - they were scared.
     

    churchmouse

    I still care....Really
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    Hey your better off using WD40 to start an engine than ether. Ether is alcohol based and helps scar the cylinder walls at fire up. WD40 is petrol based - adds a little lubrication at fire up. I got to see first hand what it did to our old pump cylinder walls - they were scared.

    Been using this trick for a long time.
     

    GodFearinGunTotin

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    Mitchell
    Hey your better off using WD40 to start an engine than ether. Ether is alcohol based and helps scar the cylinder walls at fire up. WD40 is petrol based - adds a little lubrication at fire up. I got to see first hand what it did to our old pump cylinder walls - they were scared.

    Huh. I'll have to remember this. I always have WD40 around.
     

    WanderingSol07

    Sharpshooter
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    Aug 7, 2017
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    I would think if the container is sealed air tight and gas occupies all the volume it will never go bad. I do not think the caps on a 5 gallon container are air tight.
     
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    BigBoxaJunk

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    Feb 9, 2013
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    A few of you know that I homestead and am off-grid and have been since the early 90s on a large piece of land in the back beyond. For those of you just tuning in, opsec dictates that's all you're getting...

    I have always stored gasoline, diesel, and kerosene, keeping 6 months to two years supply on hand in 55 gallon drums, buying a little more when it is cheaper and buying less when it goes up, keeping my rotating stock within those supply parameters.

    A few years ago I wanted to experiment to see how long I can store gas under those conditions so I sealed a handful of drums and set them back. They are in an open shed in deep shade stored off the ground.

    I opened one at two years, three, and now four. Gas when stored was whatever I bought (winter or summer) and no stabilizer was added. The drums were filled to within a couple of inches and sealed.

    Just cracked one from four years ago yesterday and it looked and smelled like the day I put it in. Put 3 gallons in a generator and it fired right up, no issues. Given my experience with years two and three I was unsurprised.

    I have two more sealed from then, so the experiment continues.

    I also have one that was left with the bung off from two years ago. Every now and then I siphon off a gallon or so and inspect it. It's starting to turn a little darker and smell a little different, but the generator still runs it fine.


    I remember you mentioning your fuel storage thing a good while back, and that's one of the reasons that I picked up a couple of new steel drums for bulk kerosene storage.

    Kudos to you on a real-life test. You'll find a million-and-one opinions about stuff on the internet, mostly by folks who don't really know, but very darn few opinions based on actual testing of the idea. Please keep us informed as you learn more.

    I'm keeping my kerosene in my garage, but for obvious reasons I don't plan to keep a couple of hundred gallons of gasoline in there. When I get a stand-alone building on my place set up, I plan to start my own gasoline storage system, and I welcome the knowledge.
     

    russc2542

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    Oct 24, 2015
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    Yup, the better sealed and less air in the container the longer the gas will last. Bad gas from age is largely from the lighter components evaporating off. In a sealed container kept coolish, it'll evaporate until it reaches the vapor pressure then stop. There's a small amount of degradation from the larger molecules breaking down but a lot less than the light stuff evaporating. That also means if you open it to check it, you've reset the process.
     

    churchmouse

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    Depends on the can. I bought new spouts from Rural King and they are.

    I found that the 5 gallon Poly containers we used when we were racing are very air tight. The lids have a decent seal and the air vents are very tight as well.
    I have these stashed in several locations. Some for over a year possibly 2. This thread has me numbering them and starting a rotation log.
    When gas prices fall I will fill the trucks from the older stores and refill them.
     
    Last edited:

    GLOCKMAN23C

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    I found that the 5 gallon Roly containers we used when we were racing are very air tight. The lids have a decent seal and the air vents are very tight as well.
    I have these stashed in several locations. Some for over a year possibly 2. This thread has me numbering them and starting a rotation log.
    When gas prices fall I will fill the trucks from the older stores and refill them.

    Bingo.
    I'm looking at some Jerry cans. Found some used for $45ea/1 $40ea/4. The poly cans aren't fond of sunlight and I keep one in my truck as the fuel sender doesn't sit as low as it should.
     

    easy

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    Aug 11, 2010
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    Hey your better off using WD40 to start an engine than ether... WD40 is petrol based - adds a little lubrication at fire up...

    Sorry there Lee11b - WD40 is fish oil base, not petroleum. Still oily though.
     
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