Food grade 90wt. gear oil

[Ridgerunner]

I have a chance to get an unopened 55 gallon drum of food grade 90wt gear oil, cheap. I have no idea how old it is (looks like it's been sitting for quite some time, in a warehouse and have no information in it's age) How would this be mixed/cut with diesel for fuel? Does it degrade with age or spoil, being food grade, which would make it not the greatest to burn in the truck?

 

[Jeepsinker]

I believe the food grade oil is actually water based.

 

[Beyond Biodiesel]

Food grade oils are generally made from vegetable oils; and when it comes to turning oils into diesel fuel, then oil is oil.

Gear oil is pretty viscous, so i would cut it with gasoline at about 50%, instead of diesel fuel, then blend that at about 60% with diesel fuel, when running it in any old diesel engine, because gasoline has alcohol in it, and the alcohol is too great for the seals in old diesel engines, when the alcohol-gasoline content is over 30%. Here the diesel fuel is not being used as a solvent for the gear oil, but as a dilution agent for the alcohol.

 

[svd dragunov]

It could also be white mineral oil. Alot of food grade oil is mineral oil. Are there any specific markings or numbers on the drum?

 

[Ridgerunner]

When it was offered, I looked it over, seen it was unopened and it said on the sticker/tag "FOOD GRADE 90 wt. Gear oil" in big letters with a bunch of smaller writings under it, along with the MSDS symbols. I was thinking cheap fuel, so I then came here and asked if it would be good to run in a multi-fueled Deuce. I already knew it would have to be cut with something because it was so thick and viscous to use as a fuel substitute. Then some one said food grade=water based, so I passed on it, and didn't want to deal with it at that point. Was only $30 for the entire 55gal drum.

 

[svd dragunov]

When it was offered, I looked it over, seen it was unopened and it said on the sticker/tag "FOOD GRADE 90 wt. Gear oil" in big letters with a bunch of smaller writings under it, along with the MSDS symbols. I was thinking cheap fuel, so I then came here and asked if it would be good to run in a multi-fueled Deuce. I already knew it would have to be cut with something because it was so thick and viscous to use as a fuel substitute. Then some one said food grade=water based, so I passed on it, and didn't want to deal with it at that point. Was only $30 for the entire 55gal drum.

For 30 bucks, id have tried it out. I seriously doubt it was water based. A simple q tip test would have told you if it was fuel worthy.

 

[Warthog]

My interpitation is that it is 90 gear oil for machinery that processes food. Not used for food but rather the machinery. YMMV

 

[svd dragunov]

My interpitation is that it is 90 gear oil for machinery that processes food. Not used for for but rather the machinery. YMMV

Thats what i read as well. Its processed to be safe if small amounts come into contact with food. Hence the refined mineral oil.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Well, I ended up picking up the 55gal. drum of gear oil after all. It is in fact mineral based oil. It's un-opened with the seal caps still on it. I did have one minor hiccup with the endeavor though. When we got it back to my place, unloading it, we slipped on the ice/snow and down it went off the truck. Put one heck of a huge dent in the top ring/barrel. No leaks though, just glad it didn't split open. Would have made for a bad day.

 

[svd dragunov]

Good score. Glad you where able to pick it up!

 

[oddshot]

I've not run into this before ... so I went a-searching ...

This site: http://www.crcindustries.com/ei/product_detail.aspx?id=04247 tells us that their "Food grade gear lubricant that is formulated with USP grade white oils."

So what the heck are white oils?

This site: http://www.lsc-online.com/122/
tells us "USP WHITE OIL is highly refined mineral oils which are colorless, tasteless, and odorless. They are especially refined to obtain the highest degree of purity for their use in those applications requiring direct food contact." (They) Features: (Oils) Produced from highly refined hydrogenated paraffin base stocks

Paraffin and Mineral Oil. OK ... so what the heck is THIS stuff made from?

This site: http://www.koppeskandles.com/Soy_vs_Parrifin.htm tells us that "Paraffin wax is a heavy hydrocarbon that comes from crude oil. Paraffin waxes are produced by refining or separating the waxes out of crude mineral oils. Obtained from the ground, crude oil is a compositionally varied product, consisting of a mixture of hydrocarbons. Another name for crude oil is fossil fuel."

Swell. What about Mineral Oil?

Wikipedia tells us that "A mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a non-vegetable (mineral) source, particularly a distillate of petroleum."

Other sites I checked back all this up.

As far as I can tell, it ain't water based, and it don't come from veggies.

Petroleum don't go bad if stored properly.

Cut it with about 20-30% pump gas or kerosene and burn it in yer truck.

Getting it cheap is OK ... but getting it FREE would be better!

 

[strelnik]

It seems to me that you should be able to get an MSDS sheet on this oil, especially since it is food-grade.
This might help set your mind at ease and prevent damage to the machinery.

 

[dmetalmiki]

Why not use the gear oil as gear oil?. Where hypoid isnt needed. Cutting with fuel should be in a high ratio due to the thickness. I did not like using gear oils because of the exessive smoke.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I figure I'll use it one way or another, as diff oil, burn it what ever. It's in the shop, so time will tell. I did find out how much it cost to buy....OUTCH!!!

Mine is just Mineral oil based ($49.00 a gallon), and the synthetic stuff is twice as much $$$.

http://www.amazon.com/Food-Grade-Gear-Oil-SAE/dp/B009KH0BHQ