stanadyne frozen

[Kurt Henzler]

i took my stanadyne perfermance formula out of my tool box to put some in at the station and each bottom was frozen solid. how does this stuff work if it freezes in the bottle?

 

[LSteiner]

Hmmm... .



Good question. How cold did it get and what does it say on the bottle?



Thanks

 

[BrentKaiser]

I've read somewhere that it is a chemical thing with Stanadyne. That when it mixes with the fuel it does something chemically to lower its freezing point even further. Not sure though. I use Howes and it works great. I left the bottle in the back of my truck a few weeks ago during -45F degrees and it was as smooth as the day I bought it in the store. I have noticed that Stanadyne isn't as easy to find here in Alaska, so maybe the fact that it freezes up has something to do with that.

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

There is another thread going about this already Stanadyne thread Of course a quick search provides gobs of information on Stanadyne.



Stanadyne Search



Brent is correct, while I am not a chemist and can't explain the specifics I do know that most of the additives that freeze up are "polymers" and they don't appear that they would work when left in the cold by themselves. I use a different brand and had the same thing happen so I talked to one of the engineers at lenght quite a while ago after I had 4 ounces of additive mixed with a gallon of fuel and it gelled. He explain how high concentrations like I had in the bottle (1 gallon) would gell but that a proper mix of 4 ounces to 25 gallons or even 8 ounces to 25 gallons would prevent gelling down to like -40 or something. The whole key is that the additive and the fuel need to both be gell free when mixed. Therefore keep your Stanadyne warm prior to use and as long as you're pulling fuel from an underground tank you'll be fine. Some of the additives that don't freeze up are almost pure kerosene or naptha which doesn't help lubricity issues. It's kind of like Tin/Lead solder:Tin melts at around 232°C and lead at about 327°C in the combination 62Sn 38Pb the resulting alloy melts at 183°C.

 

[Kurt Henzler]

sounds like good answer. the temp was about 5 F

 

[Ftuttle]

Basic Chemistry

While I am not a chemist, I do teach it on a daily basis...



A "pure" substance (the diesel fuel or the additive) has a given freezing point. Add two substances together, and the freezing point drops (pure water freezes at 0 degrees Celcius, add salt in a 4:1 ratio, and the freezing point drops to -11 degrees Celcius). Same is true for boiling points, except that they are raised (adding salt to water for making pasta - the pasta cooks quicker because the boiling point is higher).



- frank

 

[robertyoke]

antifreeze will do the same thing, the lowest freeze point is 70/30 mix not 100%

 

[LightmanE300]

My bottle of redline stays in the truck and is still fullly liquid after all night at 0F. That being said, stanadyne is known for gelling by itself. Keep it in the house until you are going to fuel - once it's mixed with the fuel it will do it's intended job.

 

[Ftuttle]

Short answer: No.



And the teacher in me wants to explain (so quit reading if you don't want a long-winded explanation - no homework, enjoy your weekend... )



Long answer: salt won't dissolve in diesel fuel do to the salt being a polar molecule (the electrons are pulled to one end of the molecule) and diesel fuel is non-polar. Water is also a polar molecule, so salt dissolves in water. ("like dissolves like")



If you add salt to your tank, you would need an aweful lot of water in your tank for the salt to be dissolved and not sit as a sludge on the bottom of the tank. Either case is not something I want to try with my truck.



I realize you were probably trying to be funny... but by no means was I suggesting that you add salt to your tank.



-frank