Avgas question..

[RS13]

Hi guys,

I've found myself with access to a fair bit of fresh avgas, however, I have nothing to use it in.. what I want to know, is how long can I store it before it goes "stale"? I asked the guy I'm getting it off, he reckons 3-4 days, but the local servo says it should be good for a couple of weeks before it starts losing octane.. has anyone had any experience with this?

Cheers!

[KinLoud]

Any fuel will lose some octane over time.
I would think that it would be more like months than days or weeks.
Main consideration... keep the container tightly sealed and keep it in a cool area (not in the sun).

Ken
Ham
021 408 863

[atmosports]

As above but also keep it up off the ground especially if it's in steel containers/drums just helps to keep the moisture out a bit longer & generally stops the bottom of the drum/container from rusting out. If it come from a sealed container or an airport that has a high usage of avgas then I'd say you'd get about a month before it started to go off, as to if you'd notice or not, you probably won't unless your running really close with regards to detonation etc or have a weak ignition etc.

[malc]

yea, definately not days
planes sit around for a fair while with gas in the tanks sometimes.
but like has been said after months it wont be too good

[Adamal]

Bro au, jus use it in yo kar an' carry a rag round to clean ur exhaust pipe au!

[Akane]

yeah but planes have drain holes in their fuel tanks to drain and check for moisture tho, part of the plane check exercise before you take off if your plane has been sitting for more than 1 hr.

[Mr Revhead]

thats not so much because of the fuel going off, rather more of a general safety thing

[Crucible]

Just as a matter of interest, whats ratio avgas to pump gas do you guys use? as avgas has a high lead content from what Ive been told and as we all know isnt the best for O2 sensors. Ive been told 50/50 pump/av is fairly safe?

[Akane]

Don't use avgas, unless your car is a fulltime race car.

[moses]

in my experience of running and storing av gas its good for about a month and a half if stored correctly if your putting it in a car and it aint a race car i wouldnt recomend it but thats just me

[RS13]

Na, it isn't going in a car, well, whatever I don't use in the dirtbikes will probably make its' way into the old mans' AE82!

[Flunk]

it doesn't matter how long you keep it aye, can take forever to lose octane, i use avgas in the fuel mixture for RC aeroplane engines, like 40% per litre is avgas, and i buy 40 gallon drums of it, can take me 6 months to go thru a drum, and its still fine.

[crispy'86]

best ya sell it to me so i can use it in my fx

[drift-monkey]

can u mix avgas with normal 98 octane like 50/50 and be alright for ur engine?

[AceSniper]

its not the engine that its not alright for... its the o2 sensor the lead clogs it runing some normal fuel in the mix just means theres less lead on the o2 and it will last a little longer.
No point throwing it in ur car unless you tune for it.

[RS13]

Yeah, what we didn't use in the dirtbikes we put in a mid-80s carb'd Honda, had to fiddle with the idle to get it right, played with the timing and regapped the plugs, but it made quite a difference! Much happier to rev out topend, to the point where it blew out the front main seal, lol!

But yeah, if you're gonna throw it as is into anything injected, you'd need to have a supply of oxy sensors, as well as the timing and tune to get the most out of it.