Old diesel - use or bin?

whiteoaks7

whiteoaks7

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Joined
29 Nov 2002
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570
Location
South Wales, UK
www.seasolutions.co.uk
I've 'discovered' 20 ltr of four year old diesel hiding in the depths of my cockpit locker. Should I bin it or will it be safe to use? Thinking diesel bug, chemical separation etc etc.

Point (2) where do you actually dispose of diesel anyway?
 
If you wanted to dispose of it, I think the "waste oil" bin at your local tip (aka "household waste recycling centre", aka "Recycle @ Rubbish Revived!" in my case :confused:) would be an appropriate place. But personally I'd be happy to use it, tipping in through a filtering funnel to catch any large accumulations of bug debris. Avoiding any water in the bottom would be preferable too, though I can't think how to easily do that in an opaque can.

Pete
 
Our boat has been ashore since August 2010 and I think the majority of diesel in the tank was bought in 2009. The tank was about 3/4 full.
We launched recently and I did try and suck out any contamination or water from the bottom of the tank but the diesel ran clear.
We motored for about 60 hours in the calm high pressure of a couple of weeks ago and the engine ran just fine.
 
prv said:
If you wanted to dispose of it, I think the "waste oil" bin at your local tip (aka "household waste recycling centre", aka "Recycle @ Rubbish Revived!" in my case :confused:) would be an appropriate place. But personally I'd be happy to use it, tipping in through a filtering funnel to catch any large accumulations of bug debris. Avoiding any water in the bottom would be preferable too, though I can't think how to easily do that in an opaque can.

Pete
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according to the mensa members at our local dumpit, ''diesel isnt oil, mate''
 
I put all or any **** diesel into my central heating system- that seems to cope with all sorts of S@@T.

I had a look into the bottom of the oil tank recently, there must be 2cm of crud in the bottom, thankfully all below the take-off- I know one day........ but at least I won't be 10 miles off the coast when the thing stops working( Or more likely 10 metres off a lee shore) !!
 
Searush said:
Definitely bin it, when would you like me to collect it?

Seriously tho, why not just add a little at a time to your existing tank (car or boat) between refills of fresh stuff? I would filter thro something like a couple of layers of kitchen roll to get the big lumps out tho.
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Errr - don't put it in your car if it's red. HMRC take a dim (and expensive) view of that sort of thing.
 
It sat several million years in its crude form so a few years tucked away in your locker isn't going to harm, just watch out for the crud layer at the bottom.
 
On a slightly associated vein, I have just found a 20 ltr gerry can which has been forgotten about for the last 10 years (house move imminent). It has dregs of petrol in it and since we are about to embark on the annual Hebridian cruise, I'd like to tank it up with diesel.
Should it be ok simply to tip out the dregs and tank up?
 
I recently decided to refill my emergency 3x20 litre cans, which have been stowed below since 1992. I did take the precaution of straining it through a pair of tights into the boat tank, and to be fair its only 60 litres in 1000, but it looked fine and was probably pre-bug. Now should I worry that the emergency cans may have bug in them? Hope fuel set will deal with it.
 
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