smallfly wrote:Does it freeze at such a high temp? I don't think so, never had a problem in my car, even at -7.5C the other morning it started on first turn. Diesel is an oil after all so freezing should not be a problem.
Jet A1 would be cheaper if you could source it easily.
Fly safe,
Rudi
If the car sleeps in a garage it makes all the difference, and most modern diesels have a pre heating system with the diesel line running through the heater pipe for about 15cm.[/quote]
No, it sleeps outside (aircraft in the garage!) and the temp was the car's outside temp. If diesel froze that easily surely it would freeze all the way back to the tank?
The way I understand it that there could be water in the diesel, more than in A1 and that is what freezes. Oil does not freeze..... I will put some diesel in the freezer and check
Edit:
Ok, from Wiki:
"Like most fuels, diesel is a mix of hydrocarbons, and the components have different freezing points. For Number 2 diesel, as the ambient temperatures drop toward 32 degrees F (0 degrees C), it begins to cloud, due to the paraffin in the fuel solidifying. As the temperatures drop below 32 F, the molecules combine into solids, large enough to be stopped by the filter. This is known as the gel point, and generally occurs about 15 degrees F (-9.5 degrees C) below the cloud point.
This wax then forms a coating on the filter which results in a loss of engine power. The same thing happens on starting an engine when the temperature is below freezing. The filter becomes almost instantly coated with wax - usually, enough fuel gets through to allow the engine to idle, but not attain operating RPM. There are two common ways to overcome this: one is a diesel additive, the other is a fuel heater.
In Alaska and other colder climates, lorries are running regularly at minus 51 degrees or lower so as you see it depends on additives and heating but to freeze as in turning solid you would need laboratory conditions as nature cannot go cold enough to freeze to a low enough temperature."
So the problem is waxing not freezing, I suppose heating the filter might solve this.
