E85 tank has been slimed

bcliquidforce · Post by **bcliquidforce** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 8:57 am

Any ideas what it is, what causes it, and how to get rid of it?

Thanks,
Brian

http://s667.photobucket.com/user/bcliqu ... 2659882809

http://s667.photobucket.com/user/bcliqu ... 9218664725

Post by **ZMiller** » Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:48 pm

There is no excuse for this grade of fuel showing up at a retail or commercial fueling point.

I know exactly what it is.
I know exactly how it ended up in your tank.
I suggest you stop dispensing fuel for the time being.
I know exactly who you call to resolve the issue.
Let me tell you who you call is not going to be happy.

Where is the tank located?
Who is the distributer and what terminal did this fuel come from?

Let me know if you didn't get my E-mail on this issue. Or call me at 770-780-2700.

Kennyl · Post by **Kennyl** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 6:23 am

Zmiller

Can you give the rest of us a basic rundown of what is going on?

bcliquidforce · Post by **bcliquidforce** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 6:42 am

Got your email, Zane and sent one back. Trying to find answers to your questions.

Thanks,
Brian

Herbertunfop · Post by **Herbertunfop** » Tue Dec 25, 2018 3:29 pm

It took 7 days for God to create this world...
So how long will it take for me to create the perfect tank???

789

justinforman · Post by **justinforman** » Thu Jan 03, 2019 9:29 am

So whats the story to go along with these pictures? Ive got a site with a new, just under a year old, E-85 tank that the turbine stopped. It had a sticky substance on it and FE Petro denied the warranty because of it.

Post by **ZMiller** » Fri Jan 04, 2019 7:10 am

The sticky substance is a remnant of a drag reducing agent (DRA) used by pipeline companies of which there are two kinds (one is black and one is brown) both soluble in straight gasoline but not compatible with higher blends of ethanol.

At some time this tank received fuel miss blended to E-85/E-70 using 10% (E-10) ethanol oxygenated gasoline. The DRA is stable and stays in solution in the E-10 but not when mixed with additional volumes of ethanol. Normally pure ethanol (food grade) is denatured to E-97 (so as one could not drink or export to Russia) to make E-85/E-70 would be blended with 12/27% straight natural (no DRA) gasoline.

If you have a tank that lets say has the Gummies clogging things up the issue is quality control upstream of the tank in question. Just having a sticky substance on the outside of a if ethanol rated AG STP motor returned under warranty would not be sufficient grounds to deny a warrantied replacement.

It is difficult to know exactly what batch of fuel was miss blended causing the problem. What ever the case the DRA is soluble with straight gasoline and for all E-85 commercial fueling facilities it is advised to add straight no ethanol gasoline once or twice a year to tank and avoid the gummies all together.

Now if you would like to get your or the customers money back for servicing equipment from the terminal or blending source for the problem(s) caused please e-mail me and I'll get you the form to fill out.

In all of saying this understand the problem is created by Idiots, incompetence and cheapskates upstream of the customers tank. If the problem site is blending to E-85 on site and problems are seen upstream of the pump (dispenser meters, filters and control valves) it's a whole other set of circumstances quite causing the problem by another different group of uninformed Idiots.

Post by **ZMiller** » Fri Jan 04, 2019 7:18 am

Unless the motor warranty returned had shorted out because of heat and over drag it would be best to let it sit for an hour in a tub of regular gasoline and the rubber cementing DRA will dissolve back into solution and WaLa, the motor being only a year or two old will be as good as new.

justinforman · Post by **justinforman** » Fri Jan 04, 2019 6:17 pm

Thanks for the input. The motor was returned to us from Franklin taken apart and when I looked at the internal parts they were all gummy as well. When this happens again I will try soaking it in gas to save the customer some money.

FlankerSu27 · Post by **FlankerSu27** » Fri Oct 18, 2019 9:45 am

And is there a way to make sure the ethanol based fuel you're buying is free of it, or are all E85 fuels "tainted" and will fill your tank with that gunk? I have to admit it's the main issue that prevents me from jumping the gun and starting using ethanol...

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