Any prepper knows the importance of stocking up on essential provisions and supplies. It’s not necessary for me to inform you that after the collapse of society, you will be unable to go to the shop and buy what you require.
You probably have the basics on hand, including food, water and medical supplies. But gasoline is also important. Without that magical liquid, so many machines we depend on for survival in the event of an apocalypse will simply not work.
Imagine being in a survival situation for a prolonged period of time without fuel or gas to run your car, generator or power tools. The sinking sensation in your stomach is a sign that life has just gotten a lot more difficult.
Your assessment is correct that internal combustion engines are a vital part of any preparedness plan. However, their dependence on gasoline can be complicated because gasoline loses combustibility as it ages.
Gas in drums, cans and other containers has a much shorter shelf-life than you might think. Gas can last for three months or even six months if it is stored outside.
It could be said that it has died. It would be an unpleasant surprise to find yourself in this situation when trying to get fuel to get to work or get away. You can’t prepare for an event that will last a short time if you want to avoid rotating the gasoline.
Keep that in mind, prepper: In this article, I’ll share with you a method to recondition old, worn out gasoline on your own, without special equipment or training. You don’t trust me? You don’t believe me? Well, you can try it yourself. Light the fires and kick the tires.
The Shelf Life and Decomposition of Gasoline
You’ll be disappointed to find out that Go-Juice won’t just wait patiently until you want to use it. It is true that it loses its properties over time. Depending on the blend and type of gasoline, this could happen in an incredibly short period. This is the first you’ve heard of this problem.
There is no reason to feel ashamed; many people drive their vehicles so frequently and fill up so often that the gasoline in them never has time to spoil!
What exactly is the problem? We need to know a bit about the type of gas that you use in order to understand what the problem is.
The most popular gasoline in the United States today is not gasoline, but a blend of ethanol and gasoline. The fuel you purchase will have a specific number.
The big letter “E” indicates ethanol. It is then followed by a numerical value that indicates the proportion of said ethanol to gasoline. E15 means 15% ethanol and E10 10%.
The most important points of our discussion will be covered, but I won’t go into detail about the why, how and when. Firstly, it’s a bad idea to use ethanol gasoline because it can be extremely corrosive. It also turns sour much faster than regular gas, making it difficult to store.
How much quicker? The shelf-life of most ethanol-blended gasses is only three months. The shelf life of most ethanol-blended gasolines is only 3 months. The shelf life of E15 and E20 is shorter than E10 . It can be as short as one month.
Compare this to pure gasoline, which is reliable and has a shelf-life of about 6 months. Unfortunately, pure gasoline has become increasingly difficult to locate at gas stations.
No matter how much you store or sort your gas, it will inevitably go bad sooner than you thought.
This is an important part of the conversation. In the next part, I will tell you more about this.
What is the Difference between Old and Bad?
You must first understand that there is a difference between old gas and bad gas. This can be due to chemical reactions beyond your control or contamination.
Reconditioning older gas is possible, but it will not bring back the life of truly bad gasoline. You’ll waste fuel, time and run the risk of damaging any engine that you use this in.
You can tell if you’ve got bad or old gas by a few things:
- The most common cause of gasoline going bad is ethanol-blended gas. Over time, the ethanol can separate from the gasoline and attract water, which contaminates the mixture. Separated ethanol is not reconditionable, regardless of its contamination with water.
- Reconditioning is only possible for pure gasoline which has lost its combustion properties over time.
- Draw a small sample of gasoline in a glass vial and compare it to gasoline in another vial that is fresh and new. It should be a similar color to the fresh gas if it is old and pure gasoline.
- If you see layers of gasoline that look like oil on the surface of water, then it’s ethanol blended gas. Avoid. Gas that has an odd color, cloudy appearance or visible particles in it is contaminated.
- Short:
- Clare, uniform color (but darker), uniform consistency, good for reconditioning
- No good for reconditioning if there are obvious layers, an uneven color or a cloudy, gritty finish.
Do not even attempt to restore gasoline with any negative attributes above. You will be the only one to blame if it ends in a disaster.
Gas Reconditioning: How to Recondition the Old Gas
The fun begins. It is easy to recondition old gasoline. You may recall that the gas lost its power because over time the fuel’s combustion components dissolved and evaporated. The gasoline becomes less volatile and its octane number drops.
You will have gasoline which has chemically separated itself into lighter and heavier components. You don’t need a long science lesson, just know that there is a simple trick you can use to make the gasoline usable.
You can mix 50% old gas and 50% new gas or at least gas that’s usable. Just give it a shake. It’s really that simple. No fuss, no muss.
This works because it reconstitutes the gasoline by adding new combustive components. The resulting mixture will have a lower rating of octane due to the addition of fresh gas.
Do not get caught up in math. It will still work even if your engine does run smoothly or idles poorly.
It is vital that your supplies are not wasted due to age or short shelf life. You will need to decide if you are in a dire situation to use this gas.
This is something I’ve done myself many times and there are no negative effects in the short term, even though I do not feed my engines only with reconditioned gas.
You can recoup some money by mixing old gasoline with new gas.
Note: this trick works only on uncontaminated, pure gasoline. Not ethanol-blends!
Prepare for the worst by using “storage gas” to store your stash
This is an old tip that many vintage car enthusiasts have been using for years. You can search for a long-lasting gasoline, also known as “storage fuel”, that has a shelf life far beyond the common types.
Storage gas can last anywhere between one and two years. This is compared to ethanol blended gas, which has a shelf-life of three to six months. This is unbeatable.
Storage gas may seem expensive or expensive when compared with the fuel that you would normally buy in your area. However, if you think about it as a part of your contingency plan to help you through a SHTF scenario, this small cost is worth paying.
Consider how valuable your time is. This will prevent you from wasting money by wasting hours on the gas pump.
Preparing Pro-Tip # 2: Store conventional gas in long-life fuel stabilizers
One of your uncles, or maybe your father was aware of another way to store fuel. It is by adding special fuel stabilizers. These can extend the shelf life of gasoline.
is one of the more popular and common products. works. It works as advertised, although you need to purchase a particular formulation, depending on whether your gas is ethanol blend or pure gasoline.
Just mix into your gas as soon as possible after buying it and expect an additional shelf-life of anywhere between three months and one year. This is an amazing price for such a small bottle.
There are a few caveats. The diesel fuel additives are directly proportional to the freshness of gasoline. It will not add any life to gas that has reached its end. You can get the maximum shelf life by adding Sta-Bil as soon as it is delivered at the gas station.
Contrary to popular belief, adding this to old gas will not bring it to life. This won’t bring back contaminated gasoline or gasoline that is genuinely bad. It will work only on good gas!
The conclusion of the article is:
It is not necessary to throw away old gasoline. As long as the gasoline has not deteriorated, or isn’t contaminated with foreign materials, you can rejuvenate it by mixing equal amounts of it with newer gas. Even if the mixture runs rougher or unevenly, it will still work for most engines.
It’s a clever way to avoid wasting your gas or to get the most out of gas you would otherwise throw away.