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Can petrol go off due to heat?

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 8:38 pm
by TheOtherLeft
I was wondering if petrol can go off due to high weather temp?

With 40+ degree days of late can petrol go off and lose it's energy content? I imagine sitting in a big container the petrol might vaporise a lot more???

Re: Can petrol go off due to heat?

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:19 pm
by Big_DP
TheOtherLeft wrote:I was wondering if petrol can go off due to high weather temp?

With 40+ degree days of late can petrol go off and lose it's energy content? I imagine sitting in a big container the petrol might vaporise a lot more???
Can't help technically at all but I'd be more worried about the expansion properties of the vapour :?:

Re: Can petrol go off due to heat?

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 6:54 am
by MightyMouse
Yes - petrol does have a "shelf life". Its very obvious with some engines - they will ping quite badly.

Re: Can petrol go off due to heat?

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:16 am
by poppywhite
It may not go off but is more explosive due to higher vaperisation and the drums get a bit of beer gut fairly quick. Evaporation loss is rapid in hot weather.
Petrol has short shelf life before deteriating cause of lose of high volitile components, Petrol contailing ethanol is fast at separating and self destructs faster due to setttle out of ethanol.
shelf life of petrol is about 2- 3 months ethanol blend is about 1 month in drum

Re: Can petrol go off due to heat?

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 3:53 pm
by Zuri92
yes petrol goes off, if it is stored in a steel drum in the shade it will last a fair while, but in a plastic jerry the octane leaks out and thats bad. when i was racing bikes the general idea was that you did not keep fuel in a plastic jerry longer than 2 weeks as it lost too much octane, and yes you can easily tell the difference. really, petrol is not that expensive. if you are going to not use it then dont buy as much, if you dont use it and it is not in the vehicle, get rid of it and buy new stuff.

Re: Can petrol go off due to heat?

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:10 pm
by KiwiBacon
The main problem is the lighter compounds evaporate out. The more the petrol is ventilated, the worse it will be.
Just one more plus for diesel IMO. ;)