There a few myths perpetuated about red diesel. First thing is it in not actually diesel, its 35sec gas oil. What is certainly not a myth is that if caught using it for any sort of commercial use, ie a van or a wagon then you will almost certainly go to jail. Private use attracts hefty fines.
Since I left school I have worked in the agricultural industry in various roles, including a spell as a fitter. The main myth is about gas oil staining. The dye doesn't really stain anything, even paper filters don't come out pink unless they've been left in for years. I've stripped down tractors and machines over 20 years old and the hoses and fittings haven't stained a bit. I've covered myself in the stuff on more than one occasion, it doesn't stain skin and clothing so I can't see it colouring a rubber hose. The quantity of dye present is so small the dosage rate on fuel system components isn't enough to stain them anyway.
The dye in gas oil is of little consequence nowadays anyway, its really only there so the stuff can be easily discerned by joe public, Customs can test for an irremovable chemical tracer with their equipment, but a simple test with a hydrometer will show it up if it had the dye removed.
As for the stuff hanging around, it does but about 100 litres of clean fuel through the system and it will be at a level undetectable by C+E.
Costs (for the benefit of Anders)
Diesel at the pumps is about 74-78p a litre at the moment,
Red Diesel (Gas Oil) is 18.5p a litre + VAT (21p a litre) when bought in quantity, if you're using it for business you can get the VAT back.
As you can see, it is quite a saving.
Vegi Oil
Moderator: RichardW
I posted this on the Q&A Forum also, but is it possible to drive into an oil wholesaler & buy a 50 gallon of red diesel pay cash & drive out and not have to leave name & address details.
A friend of mine runs a 205 diesel (has farm connections) he removed the diesel tag on the rear of the car & replaced it with a petrol badge, although the cars still sounds like a hackney cab he reckons that if you are cruising down the main road & the cops pass at least you have one thing they are not looking for. Only guy I have heard of getting caught was a counter culture authority hating guy who ran a beat-up 505, went to Glastonbury & suprise suprise got pulled over they dipped the tank & off went his car. But he was taking a big risk going to a well known anti-establishment venue like that where the cops are on the lookout for that sort of thing.
I mean how likely is a suburban runaround in good nick likley to get done? We all do our own servicing & most of the back street garages I go to for odd difficult jobs wouldn't be the types to tell you to get out.
Alan P
A friend of mine runs a 205 diesel (has farm connections) he removed the diesel tag on the rear of the car & replaced it with a petrol badge, although the cars still sounds like a hackney cab he reckons that if you are cruising down the main road & the cops pass at least you have one thing they are not looking for. Only guy I have heard of getting caught was a counter culture authority hating guy who ran a beat-up 505, went to Glastonbury & suprise suprise got pulled over they dipped the tank & off went his car. But he was taking a big risk going to a well known anti-establishment venue like that where the cops are on the lookout for that sort of thing.
I mean how likely is a suburban runaround in good nick likley to get done? We all do our own servicing & most of the back street garages I go to for odd difficult jobs wouldn't be the types to tell you to get out.
Alan P
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blueboy2001
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You now cannot buy red diesel (or other controlled oils, eg kerosine/parafin) without giving your details to the supplier, and if you collect it, your vehicle reg. number. Previously the stuff was virtually unregulated and once it got to the wholesaler it was untraceable. This made it very easy to procure thousands of gallons of the stuff and start bleaching the dye out and selling it on as derv.
Now each supply has to be documented by the supplier and a return sent to C+E. The rules are now so pedantic it requires a person/firm to be registered as a controlled oils dealer and send returns if you hire equipment out with fuel in the tank.
There was a garage round here selling it from a pump, just had a sticker saying "Not for use as Road Fuel" and "Containers Only" and that was previously quite legitimate. It was also quite lucrative for him because he couldn't shift enough of the stuff at 50p a litre! The queues of taxi drivers filling up all manner of strange containers (Wheelie bins were common) was rather amusing.
Now each supply has to be documented by the supplier and a return sent to C+E. The rules are now so pedantic it requires a person/firm to be registered as a controlled oils dealer and send returns if you hire equipment out with fuel in the tank.
There was a garage round here selling it from a pump, just had a sticker saying "Not for use as Road Fuel" and "Containers Only" and that was previously quite legitimate. It was also quite lucrative for him because he couldn't shift enough of the stuff at 50p a litre! The queues of taxi drivers filling up all manner of strange containers (Wheelie bins were common) was rather amusing.
I have three td xantias I run as taxis , i have found it is a regular occurrance for the police with the vehicle inspectorate to carry out purges in my area ,over the space of two weeks they pull in approx 1 car per hour petrol and diesel they then proceed the check over the car and always sample the fuel as part of this examination . You might get away with red diesel in a private car and not get stopped but if you are a business you are a prime target to get stopped and an easy target for the resultant fine. If you use veg oil it is not as easy to spot and the police and vehicle inspectorate are not as up to speed with the regulations about using veg oil as fuel .