I am beginning to stock up on gasoline. Do I need to add anything to it to make it “more storeable”?
There is a fuel stabilizer for long term storage of fuel … I’m not sure what it is called.
Just as a side note, the lawn mower we bought last year came with a cap that had a built in fuel stabilizer. Haven’t a clue how it works but my understanding is it helps to evaporate any water that tries to build up in the fuel but also helps prevent it from getting “jellyfied” as in napalm … and which would clog up a combustion system.
Check out some of the larger survival product online catalogs or maybe give your local tractor or lawn equipment company for some suggestions.
Search on Google for PRI-G and STA-BIL fuel stabilizers. Both are excellent products for improving long term storage of gasoline. PRI-D works for diesel fuel.
Centex - The product you want to use is STABIL. it is available at most automotive and hardware stores. I recently purchased a whole bunch from a Sears Hardware which had a gondola display out of it. (That struck me as odd, as I usually have to ask for it and then describe it in detail with illustrations and with circles and arrows on the back of the illustration explaining what I am talking about).
Anyhow, If you read the label, it will give you the recommended amounts to use for gas storage. I double those and can keep gas viable for about a year. The bottle of STABIL has a built in measuring apparatus that makes it really easy to dispense just the amount you want.
One tip about gasoline storage that I learend over time. Winter blend gas has a higher “vapor pressure” than summer blended gas. That means, in practical terms that if you store winter gas during the summer, your gas cans will tend to try to inflate like balloons, and you will be losing the most volatile components of the gas through evaporation much more-so than if you stored summer blend gas.
Of course, summer blend gas, stored or not, runs much harsher in winter and is harder to start than winter beldn gas.
Eccles, I thought the circles and arrows thing only was only used in court on 8×10 color glossies.
Used to be the case. But these younger folks just don’t know about things like that.
I was going to put this under weekly prep but this seems as good as place as any. Today, I filled up my existing fuel cans (they were all empty - shame on me) and picked up two more at the auto parts store ($7 for 5 gallon plastic) and filled those up too. I’m thinking of buying a bunch more and leaving them empty for now so that if we get a hurricane or pandemic, I can rush and fill them up.
I also picked up: Stabil - enough for 75 gallons (I only needed half that but good to have extra), 1 gallon of oil for my genny, 2 oil filters for my genny (I’ll run out of fuel before I need to use 2 - but incase 1 is bad), a manual fuel pump (this was $10 and will pump fuel, water, air - I’m probably going to pickup another since it is cheap and would be a great barter item).
Also, I keep two fire extinguishers, one where I store the fuel and one with the genny. My fuel is stored in a cement shed with no power and good ventilation, it is atleast 50′ from all bedrooms. And most importantly, it has a big door with a good lock!
Eccles, would it be useful to add something to summer gas in winter, at the time you want to use it? Like some kind of alcohol?
Jane - I wouldn’t. The best approach is to rotate your gas seasonally, just like your food preps. In my case, whenever I think the gas is getting too old (not a problem with 5 acres of grass to mow), I just dump it into one of the cars. I store it in 5 gallon cans, so there is always room in some car for it. then I just go and get fresh gas, treat it, and put it in the back of the line of cans.
nopower - Don’t forget spare plugs for the genny. I saved myself a very unpleasant winter sotrm by having some spares when the one in the genny fouled and the machine quit.
Thanks, Eccles, didn’t think of that.
Closed to increase Forum speed.