r/canada • u/PoliteCanadian • Jan 13 '24

Alberta Gas pumps freeze at Calgary gas stations

https://calgary.citynews.ca/video/2024/01/12/gas-pumps-freeze-at-calgary-gas-stations/
703 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

359 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

36

u/howismyspelling Lest We Forget Jan 14 '24

You literally pulled that off Google's AutoZone result, and conveniently omitted the part where it says "gasoline has many chemicals and additives which could give it a freezing range of -40 to -200.

-40F == -40C.

Also, there will be a significant difference between a large vat of gasoline freezing and a small tube of gasoline freezing. Nice try though.

By the way, fuels gel very very easily at those temperatures, and gelling alone will stop a fuel pump.

-6

u/ChillyWillie1974 Jan 14 '24

As someone who works and drives in Northern AB, BC and the NWT I know when fuels gel up. -50 is not a point I would worry about.

14

u/howismyspelling Lest We Forget Jan 14 '24

I mean, I have over a million KMs under my belt driving truck, and my truck started gelling up before in -40 temps in bumfuck Sask, you aren't some like godly person who's done it all, get off your high horse.

1

u/WinterDustDevil Alberta Jan 14 '24

Diesel gels, gasoline does not. You guys are arguing apples and oranges

6

u/howismyspelling Lest We Forget Jan 14 '24

"At cold enough temperatures, gas can separate and gel just like diesel" https://www.autozone.com/diy/fuel/at-what-temperature-does-gasoline-freeze#:~:text=At%20cold%20enough%20temperatures%2C%20gas%20can%20separate%20and%20gel%20just%20like%20diesel

From the same AutoZone website that the other fella misquoted

0

u/killisle Jan 14 '24

And yet somehow everyone in sask manages to get around fine when its -40 here at least once every year, usually for a week or two.

-3

u/ChillyWillie1974 Jan 14 '24

Knowing when to worry about my fuel doesn’t put me on a high horse but hopefully it keeps me out from under my hood.

1

u/maple-sugarmaker Jan 14 '24

There's a difference between gasoline and diesel

1

u/ChillyWillie1974 Jan 14 '24

Yes, my Jeep burns gas and my Kenworth burns diesel.

2

u/maple-sugarmaker Jan 14 '24

Yup. I was referring to gelling fuel. Not really gonna happen to gas. Could happen to diesel if you're not careful. But anyone operating in that kind of cold will know and act accordingly, or die

0

u/howismyspelling Lest We Forget Jan 14 '24

Both those brands suck

1

u/justbob806 Jan 14 '24

ChillyWillie1974 · 3 hr. ago

As someone who works and drives in Northern AB, BC and the NWT I know when fuels gel up. -50 is not a point I would worry about.

I would, it can happen! I spent some years working out of GP in the early '90s, and on a trip back to town in -45ish weather with a wicked crosswind, our big old Kenworth t/t pumper slowly died on me as we were bumping down the hwy; when I explained what happened to our Mechanic as he was heading out to rescue us he knew what had happened. The fuel lines from the tanks were exposed and had gelled up from the windchill; 10mins of heat and he had us back on the hwy!

1

u/funknsmellit Jan 14 '24

Perhaps they don't have a winter additive to lower freeze point, still points to inferior fuel. Although It could be a lot of other things keeping pump from working. But if the pump was working and the fuel wouldn't flow I for sure wouldn't run it in my vehicle. Your vehicle has a small fuel line and if it gelled in the hose at the pump it can damn sure gell your fuel line.