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Sources and supply chains Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Thu, 15 May 2008 05:30:25
In Reply to: Re: OK to use bad fuel?, Jeremy R., Tue, 13 May 2008 07:12:15 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
It's not all the same. When the refinery makes the fuel, it makes it to the specification of the buyer. At least in large batches that's the way. There are ways to refine fuel that saves a few pennies, but the quality of the fuel (mostly, what's left IN) can suffer.
There is also a middle-man network of fuel wholesalers that broker fuel. Again, the quality of the fuel can be either suspect or compromised to save money. They sell batches of fuel. Maybe some has been sitting in an old tank for a while, and age is no friend to gasoline. How well maintained are the tanks, and how often are they cleaned? How careful are they about keeping water out? After all, water is cheap and it takes up space. What kind of other things have been added to take up space but add no energy?
My concerns with off-brand or no-brand fuel is that it is probably a mix of whatever was available at the time. Yes, some is good stuff with a good pedigree. Other may be good stuff, just old. Old isn't good. Yet more may be, well, who knows? Who is signing up to say there aren't extras in the fuel that don't help or can harm? Who is signing up to say the octane rating really is 87?
I remember back in the 70's fuel crisis when the off-brand stations were quite popular. Those days most engine still used carburetors. I remember runs of cars that wouldn't start or ran like crap because the jets clogged and the throats varnished up. In those days you were lucky to get 70K miles on a set of valves, so valves dying 10K miles sooner was hard to tell.
Newer cars with FI can actually adjust for the fuel better, but the engines still suffer. And FI can be more easily damaged by bad gas and is harder to fix.
Bottom line - cheaper fuel is usually cheaper for a reason. It's not like the off-brand company is happy to charge less than Exxon-Mobil because they're good guys.
When I go to the Dollar store and they're selling Cwest toothpaste for $0.79 (yes, I spelled it that way on purpose), I don't assume it will clean my teeth as well. OK, I expect it will clean my teeth, right through the enamel, and probably destroy my kindeys as an extra added bonus. I also don't expect the socket set I get at the dollar store to hold up like the Blackhawk or Craftsman set. Sometime a cheap toothpaste to clean the bottom of a pot, or a cheap hammer is OK. But if I'm going to risk my body parts or something valuable like a car engine, I'm going to reduce my risk by getting something with a known good track record.
posted by 192.249....
, Thu, 15 May 2008 05:30:25 <-- Viewing This Message
, Sun, 11 May 2008 20:04:28, Sun, 11 May 2008 19:16:48
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