What to do with old fuel?

[Hartley18]

Reading "Atomic 4 shut down problem" got me thinking..

My 25-litre portable tank has over-wintered about 1/3 full of 2-stroke (50:1) unleaded mix sitting on the floor of the cockpit, outside but under the boat cover. Maybe I'm paranoid but I'm a bit worried about condensation - it's been a wet and chilly winter!!

1. What's the best way to find out if it's still okay to use and won't shove a slug of water through the engine whilst becalmed in the middle of the bay? (Not A Good Thing, I suppose)

2. If the recommendation is to buy fresh fuel, what do I do with the old?? (I've a fairly modern car and a 4-stroke lawnmower..)

Suggestions, anyone?

[danjarch]

If the local land fill dosn't have a disposal area for gas. I'd pour it out on your drive way. Gas is photo volic and will evaporate and the remaining film will be degraded in about two to three days. Your drive way will smell like gas for about the same amount of time.

[Fstbttms]

Originally Posted by danjarch

If the local land fill dosn't have a disposal area for gas. I'd pour it out on your drive way. Gas is photo volic and will evaporate and the remaining film will be degraded in about two to three days. Your drive way will smell like gas for about the same amount of time.

Sure. Whatever doesn't run down the driveway into the gutter, storm drain and into the local waterway, polluting it, will simply evaporate.
I don't believe I have ever heard a more retarded idea for disposing of household chemicals.

[sailaway21]

Pouring it on the ground is not a good idea. If evaporation appears your only option, leaving it in an open container with a rain shield would work. Gas contains additives that bond to water molecules and are then carried into the aquifer eventually-not good.

I'd advocate burning it in your lawnmower or automobile. The oil, at 50:1, is not going to harm either's combustion process.

[Quickstep192]

I used to use my old 50:1 gas in my snowblower. It seemed logical. Once summer was over, take the gas off the boat, dilute it a lot and use in in the snowblower. Problem was that when the snowblower sat during a mild winter and over the next summer, that gas turned to varnish and clogged the carb so bad I had to re-build it. I have put a few gallons in my truck and diluted it with 10 gallons of straight gas with no detrimental results.

[groundhog]

What about the service station?
Don't they have to dispose of old oil from the public?
gh

[mdbee]

Reminds me of somthing a few years ago. In my business, we sometime have to deal with 2 - 5 gals, of "bad" fuel. I wondered what the "correct" way was to dispose of the gas.

I contacted a state agency and inquired about disposal of old gas. They said if I had 500 gals or more, there was a procedure but since I was talking about only a few gallons, they weren't sure. I was transfered to another agency. At the end of the day, I had talked to four state agencies without an answer.

The last person I talked to, suggested I just pour the fuel out on the parking lot.

[danjarch]

Fstbttms, EDITED BY CD If you can't figure out how to pour gas onto your driveway with out it running into the gutter or the street your just an idiot. I don't think anyone intelligent enough to sail is so stupid as to be unable to pour out some gas on a hard surface with out trouble. Gas is photovolic. For the uniformed, photovolic fluid are so called because they breakdown in sunlight. Evaporating gas from a container is a good way to spill it, or to forget it and have it flooded with water in the next storm. A gallon of gas in a paint can would take days if not weeks to evaporate. When spread out on a flat surface like a concrete slab, it can evaporate in a few hours, the remaining residue will break down in a few days. If it rains the next day, the water will slick and run off with out taking much petroleum with it. This is not the way to dispose of twenty gallons but if you have one or two gallon to get rid of, it's a safe way to dispose of it.

[Hartley18]

Thanks guys for the suggestions. It seems that the general concensus is that (a) it's too risky to use the fuel, (b) there's no way to check it and (c) I should get rid of it and buy fresh.

The problem with just throwing it out is that fuel is so blooming expensive these days (what with Iraq and all) that I'd rather use it somewhere. Someone mentioned I could use it in the lawnmower, but varnishing the cylinders doesn't sound too good.

Throwing it on the driveway might be an interesting idea (so long as no-one within coo-ee lit up at the time!!) but the oil mix would make a mess that might last weeks and be extremely difficult to clean. No??

[sailaway21]

You're not going to varnish the cylinders-you're going to combust the stuff!