How blue is 100LL?

I usually pump my own, but today I called ahead and had the FBO fill it
for me (only 53 cents more/gal!). I wasn't even present for the fueling
so I was extra paranoid during preflight, and I swear the 100LL was not
as "blue" as it usually is. It smelled like gas, and when I finally got
a big enough sample you could see a slight blue tint, but on a dip tube
I would have sworn it was clear.

So how blue is it supposed to be? Is there another simple test I could
have done to reassure myself (besides burning 30gal of it and having it
work fine)?

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

The blue color in the gas is actually from a dye, not a property of the fuel
itself; so if the blue color you see is not quite what you're used to, it
does not necessarially mean that there is a problem with the fuel. It could
just be a different or more dispersed dye.

With that having been said, Sporty's sells a fuel tester that has a float to
determine the fuel type regardless of color. It works just like any other
tester, except for the ball float; if the ball sinks to the bottom, it's
avgas or auto gas, if it's in suspension, its contaminated or mixed fuel,
and if it floats, its jet fuel or water.

http://www.sportys.com/acb/showdetl....roduct_id=1276



"Ben Jackson" wrote in message
news:%91jc.37417$_L6.2182786@attbi_s53...
I usually pump my own, but today I called ahead and had the FBO fill it
for me (only 53 cents more/gal!). I wasn't even present for the fueling
so I was extra paranoid during preflight, and I swear the 100LL was not
as "blue" as it usually is. It smelled like gas, and when I finally got
a big enough sample you could see a slight blue tint, but on a dip tube
I would have sworn it was clear.

So how blue is it supposed to be? Is there another simple test I could
have done to reassure myself (besides burning 30gal of it and having it
work fine)?

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 05:32:43 GMT, (Ben Jackson) wrote:

I usually pump my own, but today I called ahead and had the FBO fill it
for me (only 53 cents more/gal!). I wasn't even present for the fueling
so I was extra paranoid during preflight, and I swear the 100LL was not
as "blue" as it usually is. It smelled like gas, and when I finally got
a big enough sample you could see a slight blue tint, but on a dip tube
I would have sworn it was clear.

IIRC, mixed octane avgas blends (resulting from mixing different
grades together) result in a clear or undyed apparance.

As 80 octane was phasing out over the past five years, it got so pale
in the end (locally, anyhow) that you couldn't tell it from kerosene
save by the smell.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! blog www.vivabush.org

"Ben Jackson" wrote in message news:%91jc.37417

So how blue is it supposed to be? Is there another simple test I could
have done to reassure myself (besides burning 30gal of it and having it
work fine)?

Does your FBO also sell 80 or 115 octane? Is there routinely an autogas
truck working around the airport?

"John Gaquin" wrote in message
...

Does your FBO also sell 80 or 115 octane?


Does anybody make 115 octane anymore?

(Ben Jackson) wrote in news:%91jc.37417$_L6.2182786@attbi_s53:

So how blue is it supposed to be? Is there another simple test I could
have done to reassure myself (besides burning 30gal of it and having it
work fine)?

I've seen it all over the place. From almost navy blue (at an airport that
doesn't get much traffic, to no discernable color at all). At the old
Austin Executive (3R3) it never had ANY color that you could prove wasn't
in your imagination. I asked a line boy about it once, and his reply was a
puzzled "Is it supposed to have a color?"


--
-----------------------------------------------
James M. Knox
TriSoft ph 512-385-0316
1109-A Shady Lane fax 512-366-4331
Austin, Tx 78721
-----------------------------------------------

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message

Does anybody make 115 octane anymore?

I don't know. My point is that on most med to small airports, if it smells
like gas, it's going to be 100LL.

"John Gaquin" wrote in message
...

My point is that on most med to small airports, if it smells
like gas, it's going to be 100LL.


If that was so there'd be little reason to add dyes to avgas. There's
reason for concern if the fuel is not the proper color.

Dribble a little fuel onto a piece of white paper...if it evaporates and
leaves behind a tint, it is avgas; if it spreads out, soaking into the
paper, it is jet fuel.

Bob Gardner

"Ben Jackson" wrote in message
news:%91jc.37417$_L6.2182786@attbi_s53...
I usually pump my own, but today I called ahead and had the FBO fill it
for me (only 53 cents more/gal!). I wasn't even present for the fueling
so I was extra paranoid during preflight, and I swear the 100LL was not
as "blue" as it usually is. It smelled like gas, and when I finally got
a big enough sample you could see a slight blue tint, but on a dip tube
I would have sworn it was clear.

So how blue is it supposed to be? Is there another simple test I could
have done to reassure myself (besides burning 30gal of it and having it
work fine)?

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/