norbertflyer Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Never seen this previously. Mixed the usual 2% TTS with (2 month old) unleaded in the jerry can on site and started to fill the motor. The fuel looked 'opaque'. Fed it through the fuel filter confirming it was a bit murky. Started the engine - OK, rev'd fine, no misfires, flew for 75 minutes, landed, packed up. I've subsequently put the remaining 10 litres of mixed fuel in a seperate container for the moment. Is it water in the fuel?, If so, where could it come from? (jerry can seals are air tight), will the water eventually seperate out? Is it a concern?, will the fuel damage the engine?, should I dump the fuel?, should I use the fuel in the garden power equipment instead? Thoughts please. Thanks in advance, Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon_dunn Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 2 month old fuel? That's just asking for trouble.... put it in your lawnmower next time....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbertflyer Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 2 month old fuel? That's just asking for trouble.... put it in your lawnmower next time....... The other can is also 2 months old and clear ............... ????? confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauldeakin Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 2 month old fuel? That's just asking for trouble.... put it in your lawnmower next time....... The other can is also 2 months old and clear ............... ????? confused. Separation of additives and degradation can occur sooner if the mix is stored in an area that experiences temperature extremes, its better not to mix the oil until you need to. Paul D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbertflyer Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 I don't mix until I reach the flying site. I've also had no issues running on 6+ month old fuel in the past after a stay in hospital. Cant find much on the interweb about cloudy fuel. Richard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendmeroundthehedge Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Fuel with a high alcohol content will absorbe water from the air. Some good info here. http://www.fueltestkit.com/expiration_o ... l_gas.html http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/014252.html kev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Hummmm... I dont know why your petrol was cloudy.... but, I can say that my Parajet ran very well indeed on Mauritanian Petrol (which is mostly made up of Kerro and oil) It is BLACK you could not see though a test tube full. SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyfreefly Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I had 25 liters of cloudy fuel (white) = (water and oil mix) from our local petrol station ......it was only noticed when I started to pour it into my microlight (via a water trap funnel thing).......it turned out the petrol station had 1hr before had a delivery of petrol and it stirred up the rest of the storage tank......apparently it takes a few hours to settle again .....not a big problem in a car ....a big problem in the air ....they refused to replace the petrol....saying it was not ment for aviation use.....Ive not been there since....what else can you do ? the moral of the story...... use a water trap funnel when you fill up if you can and dont use the same petrol station I did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon_dunn Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Interesting Gary- I've also found the cause of an issue that i noticed everytime i went to clean out my carb- the fine gauze on the internal filter was always clogged with small fibres, like hair.... couldn't figure out where these were coming from. I thought it was being sucked in via the air intake, but it seems that the fuel pumps at the forecourt have now been fitted with a tertiary fine element filter- small elements of this filter can be dislodged and end up in the tank... Again not an issue in road vehicles, but in smaller engines they can be an issue. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjenni12 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Gordon, the fuel in Spain tends to have those little fibers floating in it too. My internal carb filter was blocked after no more than 3 hrs! I only get the odd bit in the UK after 10hrs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendmeroundthehedge Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 New fuel tank, Is another thing that clogges up the fine gauze filter.they are ok when thay have been refilled a few times, But cause a lot of problem's,sometimes major, when new. kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbertflyer Posted September 7, 2009 Author Share Posted September 7, 2009 Update on this fuel problem:- I left 5 litres of this cloudy fuel in a transparent container for a week or so, to see if it would seperate out. And it did ....into 3 parts .... 1 mixed Fuel - nice and clear for the garden strimmer (decanted off). 2 'globlets' of what looked like water on the bottom of the container. & 3 a white powdery stuff which also sat on the bottom of the container - what is this? Very strange and a shame I couldn't remember where I last filled up. Richard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendmeroundthehedge Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Here's a paragraph from one of the links I posted prior to this, regarding high alcohol content in fuel. "The problem is due to the mixing of oil with the fuel for lubrication of the engine. When oil is added to a fuel which has separated into gasoline and water-alcohol layers, the oil only goes into solution with the gasoline. If engine is using a pre-mixed fuel supply, this means all the lubrication is in the gasoline, and none is in the water-alcohol solution. When the engine draws the water-alcohol fuel off the bottom of the tank, not only is it getting a rotten fuel, it is also getting no oil at all. No oil means no lubrication. This increases the potential for damage." On new machines/fuel tanks I have found you get a grey sludge like gunge which, I believe, may have something to do with the processes used in the manufacture of the tank which reacts the first few times with the fuel. Once the tank has been seasoned this no longer happens. To help mimimise any potential problems, remove any unused fuel from the tank and filter the fuel (with the type of filter that also removes water) when refilling. You can buy these filters cheaper from a Chandlers. Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbertflyer Posted September 8, 2009 Author Share Posted September 8, 2009 Here's a paragraph from one of the links I posted prior to this, regarding high alcohol content in fuel."The problem is due to the mixing of oil with the fuel for lubrication of the engine. When oil is added to a fuel which has separated into gasoline and water-alcohol layers, the oil only goes into solution with the gasoline. If engine is using a pre-mixed fuel supply, this means all the lubrication is in the gasoline, and none is in the water-alcohol solution. When the engine draws the water-alcohol fuel off the bottom of the tank, not only is it getting a rotten fuel, it is also getting no oil at all. No oil means no lubrication. This increases the potential for damage." On new machines/fuel tanks I have found you get a grey sludge like gunge which, I believe, may have something to do with the processes used in the manufacture of the tank which reacts the first few times with the fuel. Once the tank has been seasoned this no longer happens. To help mimimise any potential problems, remove any unused fuel from the tank and filter the fuel (with the type of filter that also removes water) when refilling. You can buy these filters cheaper from a Chandlers. Kev Thanks, that's very informative. I've had my paramotor and both 'gerry' cans for 12+ years and 500+hrs, so I'll only be able to put it down to a poor fill at the garage (which ever one that was). I will buy one of these water filters. RP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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