Born and raised in Florida and having lived most of my life in Fort Myers, I have seen my share of hurricanes. Out of the six I have lived through, last years was one I will never forget. Hurricane Ian made landfall as a category 5 hurricane with winds as high as 160 mph. Where I live, we were in the eye wall for 10 hours. It was the most terrifying experience of my life. Ian brought catastrophic damage caused by both wind and massive flooding. Millions were left without power in Southwest Florida, thousands were left homeless, destroying 5,000 homes and severely damaging 30,000. Hundreds of business were destroyed or severely damaged in the wake of the storm.
As with all large storm systems, the extended power outages contributed significantly to the hardships many residents and businesses experienced. My neighbor was prepared. He had a large diesel generator in place that was well serviced with plenty of clean diesel fuel. It supplied electricity for his home and several others in our neighborhood. Thanks to him, we had working refrigerators, charging stations for phones and other luxuries that many did not.
I cannot say enough about how important storm season preparation is to home and business. In the aftermath, I heard story after story of generators not working. The same lines were repeated numerously, “We had a generator but when we needed it, it didn’t work.” Most failed due to bad fuel. So many lessons learned the hard way. Having a generator is great. Better still, having a generator and making certain it has been serviced – including the fuel supply. Diesel fuel only has a 6 month shelf-life.
Three steps to extend the shelf-life of fuel and preserve it for when you need it:
- Test you generator fuel and have it cleaned if necessary.
- Treat your fuel with a good multi-functional diesel fuel additive. The best you will find is Biobor DC+Cetane. It contains an ashless thermal stability additive formulated to prevent degradation associated with the challenges of long term storage. It will extend the shelf-life of your fuel.
- Treat your fuel with Biobor JF to ensure the fuel is free of microbial contamination. Its use can ensure no hidden microbial issues will create a problem during long term storage. Because fuel systems often harbor issues outside of reach during sampling and inspections, use Biobor JF to preserve the fuel, resulting in a longer shelf-life.
Before hurricane season, have your generator fuel tested, treated and protected before the storm hits. Hammonds Fuel Additives has a proven program designed to reduce the fuel failures of the past. Contact us for help.
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