Storing fuel - gasoline and such

[C-dub]

And with all that ethanol in there it probably still sucks. We don't even have the option here in Texas. Some other states do.

[ShootDontTalk]

Are you expecting a gas shortage? I don't really care for the idea of storing 10 gallons of accelerant in a closed space, like my garage. It is not the liquid form of gasoline that is dangerous, but the fumes.

I would much rather have 10 gallons of potable water stored.

[eureka40]

I usually go to the local small airport (Austin Executive Airport) here in Pflugerville. I can fill up my cans with 100 octane low lead av gas. It has no ethanol and just a splash of the old school lead!! The stuff lasts a long time and runs fine in my generator or lawn mower. The draw back is it costs 5 to 5.5 bucks per gallon.

Check around the local general aviation airports.

[Richbirdhunter]

I store 10 gallons of gas at all times for my quad/chainsaw/ generator. Once a quarter I put the "old" gas in one of the cars or trucks and then go get fresh gas. I've done it this way for years.

[troglodyte]

Are you expecting a gas shortage? I don't really care for the idea of storing 10 gallons of accelerant in a closed space, like my garage. It is not the liquid form of gasoline that is dangerous, but the fumes.

I would much rather have 10 gallons of potable water stored.

Gas shortages are not that far away at any time. Hurricane Katrina gave us a glimpse of that and if the grid goes down due to a local disaster then gas pumps and card readers won't work. If the TOTWAWKI happens a few gallons of stored fuel won't do much good but it is nice to have some stored away for localized, temporary interruptions. No different than food and water.

Living out in the country changes your perspective. I try to keep a min. of approx. 30 gallons of gasoline and 10 gallons of diesel on hand at all times. This allows me to rotate out cans as I fill up the tractor or mowers. While I try to fill up the vehicles at a quarter of a tank sometimes it doesn't happen so I can also refuel the vehicles in the event we get home on an empty tank.

When I lived in the city I always had 10 gallons stored. As dry as it usually is here I never had problems if I let it go a year or more. I stabilize all of my stored fuel now.

Living on a well I keep much more than 10 gallons of stored water.

Stabil and Seafoam are my go-to.

[cheezit]

If you can run a grounding strap to each can to a common ground to provent any type of static build up. Gas will norally hold well for a year with out a lot of help. It always runs in my mower anyway.

[cheezit]

Also if you have things like oxygen tanks in your garage do not store them next to the fuels.

[puma guy]

I wouldn't store gasoline longer than 6 months, even with stabilizers such as Stabil. The heavy crudes that are refined these days for economic reasons have very little naptha (gasoline) material in them, so it's necessary to reform other constituents to enhance octane and also requires cracking heavy gas oils to produce gasoline. These products are then blended together to get a certain octane, vapor pressure, etc, but it must also meet many other criteria for environmental purposes There are several additives that are added to gasoline and one of them is an oxygen stabilizer. The longer it sits the less stable it becomes and it gets gummy. Ethanol also attracts water and is water soluable; just what we need in a gas tank. LOL Be sure to store the filled cans in a relatively temperature stable environment to minimize condensation in the cans which leads to rust in the metal cans. Some metal gasoline storage containers have aluminized or coated linings to help avoid rust.
Edit: I just remembered that ethanol actually corrodes soft metals ie aluminum. zinc, brass, etc. and can degrade some materials used for gas storage and transmission, ie rubber, plastics. polymers, some resins used in fiberglass tanks.

[EEllis]

One of the issues with stored gas is it loses octane as it ages making it less and less acceptable for modern engines. Super will last a bit longer and depending on the ethanol content gas treated with stabil should last about 2 years without a problem tho yearly is the normal interval for fuel rotation. I have heard that the winter fuel, they change the additives used for the seasons, stores a bit better. Now there is also a company pri that makes a product that they claim was developed and used for refinery storage tanks. Supposedly it can keep gas usable for up to 10 years and even make bad gas usable again. Of course you have to treat your gas every 6 months to a year with it.

[Jim Beaux]

I worked several years in a refinery and am a certified "safety nazi". Ive also trained for, and fought refinery fires.

Gasoline is really bad stuff to have around. It is designed to combust explosively and can ignite from a source up to 20 feet away with the force of several sticks of dynamite.

During the heat of the day the gas container will build up pressure and if the seals are not tight, vent out. If the humidity is high and the container huffs & puffs, the water in the incoming air can condense, fall to the bottom, and may cause corrosion in a metal container. The water will be the first liquid out when fueling your equipment, so watch for it. Also, if the seals are tight, the container can eventually fatigue due to thermal expansion and contraction.

I keep a max of 3 gals (heavy gauge plastic) in a shed, 70' from the nearest source of ignition.

[Setxjeff]

Hurricane Rita proved my hoarder instinct correct. We had 120 gals water 20 gals diesel and 40 gals gas. We were 28 days without electricity. Had to do some welding for myself and neighbors. I normally keep 20 to 40 gallons gas and 20 gallons diesel double treated on hand. A local gas station has no ethanol gas so that is what I store. Plus a 250 gallon propane tank. The gas and diesel in in a shed 400 feet from the house.

[RPBrown]

I use Sea Foam as a stabilizer in my mower, motorcycle, and all other gasoline powered engines that store over the winter. Never had an issue.

[puma guy]

One of the issues with stored gas is it loses octane as it ages making it less and less acceptable for modern engines. Super will last a bit longer and depending on the ethanol content gas treated with stabil should last about 2 years without a problem tho yearly is the normal interval for fuel rotation. I have heard that the winter fuel, they change the additives used for the seasons, stores a bit better. Now there is also a company pri that makes a product that they claim was developed and used for refinery storage tanks. Supposedly it can keep gas usable for up to 10 years and even make bad gas usable again. Of course you have to treat your gas every 6 months to a year with it.

Winter gasoline has more butane and sometimes pentane in it to meet the RVP requirement and other tests such as V/L. Winter gas will create more pressure at warmer temperatures when stored in sealed containers. When you open your gas cap on a warm day you can hear the pressure being relieved. I am not aware of any additive for gasoline blending that will maintain quality for 10 years. I supervised the gasoline blender for several years at the refinery where I was employed, blending 125,0000 B/D. There may be something as you said, but in my 35 years in a refinery in many capacities I never heard of it. We produced jet fuel that sometimes had to meet military specs which were a little different from commercial Jp4, but we had stopped blending gasoline and aviation gas for the military before I was in the refinery so maybe there was something used for military grade gasoline to extend the life. We did still have some of the dye tanks though.
Back when light crudes were the norm and the straight gasoline cut was much greater it would not get gummy as rapidly as today's blends. The additives used nowadays are for specific tests, to mitigate the issues of heavy crude gasoline production, environmental specs, pipeline specs, O2 stability, rust, gum, as well as proprietary detergents and additives that branded clients require. Pipeline and storage terminals are very picky about what goes into their tanks and lines so the product has to meet their standards as well.

Just to add a little note. If you are using the gasoline in an outboard motor be very careful about using stored gasoline. Per my mechanic the idle jets on them are tiny and get plugged easily by gummy gas.