Yesterday I filled up from some of the remaining containers I had in the garage. Since the pickup last month, I've had the bulk of the biodiesel stored in a steel drum, with some smaller quantities in smaller plastic containers.
I have a hand pump, which I left sitting in the drum for about 4 days.
There are 2 things that concern me:
1. As the drums were storing oil before, I did expect some of the old oil to get mixed in the fuel. It is actually not really such a great concern, but I've noticed that one of the plastic containers that I has biodiesel stored in got a nice black residue on the bottom. There was also a small amount of grit and stuff that I guess the fuel fitler will take care of. The plastic container was 100% clean before filling, so it came from the steel drum it was pumped from. It may be worth thinking about this, as your fuel filters may get blocked a bit quicker from this.
2. What did concern me was the sludge that started to grow on the pipe of my hand pump. Is the biodiesel reacting/oxidising with it? Would I be well advised to add some biocide now? I did not seal the drum, while the pump was still in it, so it has been getting fresh air for a few days. Has anyone seen this sort of stuff before? It was a little bit gelatinous and gooey. You can see the line on the pipe where the level of biodiesel was up to inside the drum. I also ran my finger along the pipe and picked some up.
As this is all quite new to me, I'm not sure if this is normal or not, so I just thought I'd share it here and see what everyone else thought.
I have a hand pump, which I left sitting in the drum for about 4 days.
There are 2 things that concern me:
1. As the drums were storing oil before, I did expect some of the old oil to get mixed in the fuel. It is actually not really such a great concern, but I've noticed that one of the plastic containers that I has biodiesel stored in got a nice black residue on the bottom. There was also a small amount of grit and stuff that I guess the fuel fitler will take care of. The plastic container was 100% clean before filling, so it came from the steel drum it was pumped from. It may be worth thinking about this, as your fuel filters may get blocked a bit quicker from this.
2. What did concern me was the sludge that started to grow on the pipe of my hand pump. Is the biodiesel reacting/oxidising with it? Would I be well advised to add some biocide now? I did not seal the drum, while the pump was still in it, so it has been getting fresh air for a few days. Has anyone seen this sort of stuff before? It was a little bit gelatinous and gooey. You can see the line on the pipe where the level of biodiesel was up to inside the drum. I also ran my finger along the pipe and picked some up.
As this is all quite new to me, I'm not sure if this is normal or not, so I just thought I'd share it here and see what everyone else thought.
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