# freezing point of kerosene?



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Just winterizing the boat for the winter in Massachusetts. I left the stove fuel tank on board with it about 2/3 full of kerosene. 

Does anyone know what the freezing point of it is, and do I need to be concerned about leaving it onboard?


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## GordMay (Dec 19, 2002)

Aircraft fuel is kerosene - suspect it''s not much of a freeze hazard.
Gord


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

No worries about kerosene - it won''t gel until it''s below minus 40F. It''s often added to diesel to keep it flowing in really cold areas.


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## maxcontax (Jan 30, 2002)

Kerosene and heating oil have problems at about -50C flowing (personal experience) but the other factor is that often these fuels have water in them. The water freezes and falls to the bottom. Most problems I have had with kerosene were related to ice blocking the sump style drain or the filters in a rotary pump. I really really doubt if any of this applies to you, but I got a bit nostalgic with your post.


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## scurvydog01 (Oct 28, 2003)

I am a pilot and have flown biz jets for years. Jetfuel is a pure cut of kerosene. Kerosene doesn''t freeze till it is in the -35''to-45''f range. There will be some crystalization of any water content in the fuel, but since you probably won''t be operating your stove in those temps, it won''t effect you.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Anyway, even if it did freeze it wouldn''t hurt anything because kerosene doesn''t expand when it freezes like water does. Water is one of the few few things that does this. That''s why ice floats. I think ammonia does it too, not much else does.


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## GordMay (Dec 19, 2002)

EXCELLENT point AJS! (most things contract when they freeze).


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## TechEditor (Jan 27, 2017)

Clear Kero is good for -52F. The pink stuff, the color additive drops out of suspension and turns to vaseline at about -38F and clogs filters.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

Tech...welcome to sailnet but look at the dates of the very old posts you are replying too! good luck!


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## TechEditor (Jan 27, 2017)

This the 2nd post complaining about replying to an old post. I was adding information to a Post that is still searchable.
If you guys are so touchy about replying to old posts, then you can keep your old incorrect information and I will go back to the Kerosene Forums where we appreciate correct information, no matter what the age or when it is corrected. 
I will be cancelling my membership and you will never hear from me again.


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## wymbly1971 (Nov 26, 2015)

Tech..

I never notice the dates either; I don't really care.

I appreciate the information that you provided. Thank you.

Trevor


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## MastUndSchotbruch (Nov 26, 2010)

TechEditor said:


> This the 2nd post complaining about replying to an old post. I was adding information to a Post that is still searchable.
> If you guys are so touchy about replying to old posts, then you can keep your old incorrect information and I will go back to the Kerosene Forums where we appreciate correct information, no matter what the age or when it is corrected.
> I will be cancelling my membership and you will never hear from me again.


Please don't. I had not seen this one but I have replied to the person who scolded you in the other thread.

I entirely agree with you, there is no expiration date on useful and relevant information which is what you are providing here.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

Guess you missed the welcome to sailnet. Goodbye


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## Rocky Mountain Breeze (Mar 30, 2015)

Posting "welcome to sailnet" does not cancel out the A-holes who are always eager to point out when someone adds to an old post. Those actions make a statement about the character of the person who complains more than it does about the person who responds to an older post. If you do not want folks to be able to respond to a post after a month or two then automatically lock it after whatever time frame the brain trust that runs this place decides. I am not complaining about those who give of their time to moderate, I am commenting on the attitude of some of the members and some of the moderators. You may choose to be offended or you may choose to accept the reality of these actions.


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

Quityabitchin and go to Sailnet's GoFundMe page. Once they raise $150,000 in donations, they can hire a programmer to fix the lousy VBulletin forum software that is so popularly used by web forums. The patch will include automatically changing the text on old forum threads, so that it goes from black (with last 90 days) to 10% gray (thread hasn't been added to in 18 months) and the forum background and borders start to become overrun with crawling vines, cobwebs, and thorns.
Just to make sure no one has to do that damned MATH cognition on forum threads.

Come on now, ante up. Just $150,000 US and they can hire the programmer to fix this.


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## Skipper Jer (Aug 26, 2008)

hellosailor said:


> Come on now, ante up. Just $150,000 US and they can hire the programmer to fix this.


$150K??? I'll do it for $100k. US dollars.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

when I joined the site years ago I was receptive to the heads up when I posted on old threads. It's more cortesy then being a minimod imo.. but whatever. 

by the way. The forum runs on verticalscope


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## SVAuspicious (Oct 31, 2006)

hellosailor said:


> Quityabitchin and go to Sailnet's GoFundMe page. Once they raise $150,000 in donations, they can hire a programmer to fix the lousy VBulletin forum software that is so popularly used by web forums.


Based on how enduring some of the technical issues have been here, SailNet owner's VerticalScope technical staff (not the mods) cannot manage their way out of a paper bag if you shine a flashlight in the opening.

They can't even get a new skin right, so the prospect of coding changes just makes me laugh.



deniseO30 said:


> by the way. The forum runs on verticalscope


VerticalScope is the company that owns the SailNet forum. VBulletin is the software they (poorly) use.


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## albrazzi (Oct 15, 2014)

We seem to have drifted a bit but, if I could weigh in comments such as Techs are relevant IMO as the time frame doesn't bear on the information. Now if someone is looking for crew on a passage 7 years ago, then that might not connect but I will let someone else point this out. If we run off all the new posters this Forum will age out naturally. I might not notice buy the sport (pastime, whatever) needs all the promotion we can achieve.


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## longjonsilver (Oct 18, 2014)

(rant) Some of the posters seem to have nothing better to do than to reply to threads. It doesn't surprise me that they seem to think that an old thread is dead, because this forum seems to have become their social life. However, i read this forum as a source of information preparing me for sea. As such, a reply on the freezing point of kerosene is relevant no matter how old the thread is. Altho these posters believe that, thanks to the internet, we can have a conversation with total strangers continents away, they don't seem to think that the internet also allows us to have a conversation over great spans of time. Sad really, such little minds. (rant over)

jon


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

longjonsilver said:


> (rant) Some of the posters seem to have nothing better to do than to reply to threads. It doesn't surprise me that they seem to think that an old thread is dead, because this forum seems to have become their social life. However, i read this forum as a source of information preparing me for sea. As such, a reply on the freezing point of kerosene is relevant no matter how old the thread is. Altho these posters believe that, thanks to the internet, we can have a conversation with total strangers continents away, they don't seem to think that the internet also allows us to have a conversation over great spans of time. Sad really, such little minds. (rant over)
> 
> jon


Really? so why post a rant on an old thread where it's less likely to be seen?

Maybe you are new to the internet world.. dunno, don't care. With instant everything, subscriptions, all the many forums I'm on it takes a whopping 10 mins out of my day. Now facebook takes maybe 15 mins out of my day because I love all trump drama lately.

Now.. the topic at hand... I've been around fossil fuels all my life. freezing fuel has never been a concern. freezing of water in fuel is. MAAAAAAYBE for sailors in Antarctica viscosity is a concern.. and maybe some threads are just too silly/serious to ignore.


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## trevorharris (Oct 17, 2016)

-40C according to here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene

... and I didn't just edit it


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

Anyone that wants to add to an old thread isn't committing a crime. However, I'm certain that 99% of the time new members don't realize it, so giving them a heads up should be helpful. More often than not, they respond to cruise info requests or other queries that occurred years earlier and clearly they wouldn't have, if they noticed. In this case, the new post did add info to a thread discussion that provided context. Still, I did not think Denise's pointing it out was done with malice. Perhaps it could have said....just in case you're new and didn't notice.....or something like that. Anyone with a level head would appreciate it.

However, for the poster to react as strongly as they did would certainly suggest that an internet forum is going to be too much for their thin skin to handle. While I can't speak for "Kerosene Forums" (was that for real?), I participate in a pilot forum and motorcycle forum (much less frequently than here) and they make this place look like a convent. 

p.s. they make additives, if for some reason, one did needed to burn kerosene at very low temps. It seems, however, that the OP was just worried about storage.


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## TechEditor (Jan 27, 2017)

Here is the link to gel'd Kerosene: Kerosene Dye


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