Pronto
No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot.
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2002
- Messages
- 16,770
I've always been curious how pure the methanol I've been using is. A friend and I split a 55 gal drum of M1 (99.9 pure) distributed for service stations to mix up their own windshield washer fluid. It's about 4 years old now and the drum is half empty. I keep my alky tank full at all times, a 1 liter heavy duty chemical jug full (got from work) and a 5 gal metal drum (had bought M1 in it years ago) full. I saved the alky from the tank when I winterized last fall. I figured that was going to be the "worst" since the tank seal is ok but not as good as the other containers even though I've added to it several times to top it off. The test kit came from Utah Biodiesel Supply. It's simple enough to use. There's some measuring and math involved but it's not complicated.
I was very satisfied with the results. The alky from the tank came in at 98.6 pure. The jug came in at 98. 9 pure and the 5 gal drum came in at 99.3 pure. All had been filled early summer from the big drum. So for those that use alky, this might give you an idea how long a well sealed container will keep pure. I'm sure generally the same is true for E85 for those that buy that in bulk. The better the seal the longer it will stay uncontaminated by water. Areas that are more humid will probably end up with more contamination especially in a crappy container. I don't recommend the typical red plastic gas jugs. They don't seal good and are a royal pain to deal with the new spouts. I wouldn't use an old 1 gallon water jug either. Those caps are not tight either.
I was very satisfied with the results. The alky from the tank came in at 98.6 pure. The jug came in at 98. 9 pure and the 5 gal drum came in at 99.3 pure. All had been filled early summer from the big drum. So for those that use alky, this might give you an idea how long a well sealed container will keep pure. I'm sure generally the same is true for E85 for those that buy that in bulk. The better the seal the longer it will stay uncontaminated by water. Areas that are more humid will probably end up with more contamination especially in a crappy container. I don't recommend the typical red plastic gas jugs. They don't seal good and are a royal pain to deal with the new spouts. I wouldn't use an old 1 gallon water jug either. Those caps are not tight either.