Turning Red Diesel Back into Clear for Free

[professor39]

The other day I was doing a little experiment, I had a copper fitting sitting in a clear water bottle. It ended up getting left outside sitting on the back of a trailer for a couple of days in the sun and when I came back it was no longer Red. So I am wondering if it was just the sun bleaching the fuel? Was the copper fitting involved in the change? And I wonder if it actually changed the chemical properties of the fuel? The first bottle was just 20oz so not much I can do to see the truck still runs on it. I put 5 gal in a Jaz jug to see if it will do the same thing. So well see in a couple of days.



What do you guys think?

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

There may be more than just coloration involved - possible an accompanying chemical fingerprint that will still register, regardless of actual color?

 

[BigEasy]

there's no chemical fingerprint, and in ten years of working with the stuff, I've never seen it fade... but I damn sure hope you may have stumbled on to something!

 

[Curious Dave]

hmmmm... so how many of us are gonna try this neat little experiment?

 

[MMeier]

Geez, hasn't this been covered before. THE DYE REMAINS BEHIND NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK YOU SEE!!!!! The correct spectrometer test will verify this.

 

[Curious Dave]

Wellllll... . Had we known what the all mighty OZ had posted before it probably would not be being rementioned again. I guess this means it is put to bed. "Good night John boy".

 

[professor39]

Does anybody know what the highway patrol used to dip tanks and does it look at color or chemical makeup?

 

[DBohl]

I poured some red fuel into a mason jar and let it sit out in the sun for two weeks, it never changed color.

 

[Dieselnut59]

I poured some red fuel into a mason jar and let it sit out in the sun for two weeks, it never changed color.

I did the same thing and it went almost clear in just two days. Was sitting in the sun on my flatbed. Did not look at all like off road fuel. I know for a fact there is NO chemical difference in the fuel. The dye is added at the distributor. All the diesel comes to them as undyed and is dyed as needed for off road use. I am ONLY speaking of ULSD (15ppm) and not the LSD (500ppm) that some distributors still carry for ONLY off road use. The wholesale distributor I use only carries ULSD. It will all be required to be ULSD by 2010. He saves money by keeping it simple and using one kind of fuel, adding the dye as needed.

 

[JFaulkner]

I was going to try the same experiment with a filter used to clean the dye out of laundry dry cleaning fluid. We have a friend who services those machines and he said the cleaning solution will be all different colors (including red) and it will come out clean on the other end. Never did it because I'm assuming it would just filter out some of the good stuff out of the fuel and do more damage than the taxes would cost. This is all for informational purposes only, no one here would ever intentionally avoid taxes!

 

[CKelley1]

our 12,000 gallon tank has a sight glass on it to show tank level, the sun will take the red out in a few days but i do not see a practical way to do this on large scale

 

[Gene Arnold]

Why take it out? Seems that the rest of us pay our taxes, so why take this route to save a few cents per gallon?



I don't like taxes any more than the next guy, maybe less than some, but I don't believe I'm so special that I should be exempt while others pay the freight.



Flame away!:-laf

 

[Dieselnut59]

Why take it out? Seems that the rest of us pay our taxes, so why take this route to save a few cents per gallon?



I don't like taxes any more than the next guy, maybe less than some, but I don't believe I'm so special that I should be exempt while others pay the freight.



Flame away!:-laf

Exactly why I am SO damn against the illegals who are invading our country and getting a free ride! Until they have to pay their fair share (with something like the FairTax), I will continue to avoid any taxes I can. I get plenty with held from my salary, have to pay sales tax and ad-valorem tax, property tax and a slue of self employment tax. I will avoid fuel tax any way possible. That being said, I do not run red fuel, but i do make a little of my own and hope to begin making a lot more when I get my processor all set up. Screw the government! I am sick of funding the freeloaders!

 

[CochranD]

fed dye ,hopefully on its way out

Diesel Fuel Dye, Required by the I. R. S. , Poses a Risk to Jet Engines, Some Experts Say - New York Times

 

[Cattletrkr]

Does anybody know what the highway patrol used to dip tanks and does it look at color or chemical makeup?

They shove a straw in and put their finger on the end to hold the fuel in place. They simply look at the color, no chemical tests. That's in MN anyway. I've never heard of anything else being done.