Storing diesel fuel

[BrowserCat]

Angeryamerican was relating how he found a good deal on an 85 Suburban diesel and it got me to thinking - how does one store diesel? Does it have the same limited lifespan that regular gasoline does? Can you put it into a 'gas' can, or do you need something different?

Not asking because we have anything diesel, but I bet Angeryamerican and anybody with a diesel something-or-other would like to know.

[Hick Industries]

Diesel does not degrade the same as gasoline. However, it does support microbe growth if contaminated with moisture. mix in a diesel additive and it will keep for many years.

[AlaskanTaterTot]

+10 to what hick said. there are a few good products on the market to stabalize for long term storage. at my old job we used a product called diesal 911 they had it in stabalizer form and then they had the "oh **** the fuel line is froze" version.
also another popular one is Pri D

[aryaba]

Get a good underground/aboveground (but camoflauged) tank and use the additives, Diesel will store for 10+ years easy.

[SIXPACK]

Though there will be variances due to the means in which they are stored, gasoline with stabilizers only keeps for about two years while diesel with stabilizers will keep for about ten.


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III

"Obama, the skid-mark in the underwear of American history." - J.R.L. -

[MikeK]

Diesel has a much longer storage life than gas. Same with kerosene. There are preservatives you can add to extend that life. The more common ones are Stabil and PRI. PRI outperforms Stabil by enough of a margin that I'm surprised more people don't use it. It also allows for retreatment. You can get 10 years or more easily with diesel using PRI-D.

The big downside to diesel is that it can absorb moisture and get bacteria growth. Minimizing exposure to air is probably the best way to prevent this. A bladder tank is good because it always rides the surface of the fuel, rather than just allowing more headspace in the tank as the fuel level goes down. There are additives to help prevent this also, but it's something to consider when planning out storage. Down here in the dry desert, I just use 55 gallon drums. I probably won't get as long of storage life as if I used a bladder, but it works for me.