cptdarel,
While I freely admit that I don't know enough about the gas station business to argue with what you said, I do know that if someone told me they had to drain water from the separator after filling up at a given station, I would seriously question how well that place is checking and maintaining the tanks.

 

I fill up most of the time at Wall Mart/Murphy USA. I have even seen the CAT dealer, Fed-X and other trucks fill up there. I have gotten better MPG from Wallys then I did from Citgo fuel!

Bad part is Gas has gone up 13 cents in the last 6 days here in North Iowa and Diesel has gone up betwen 3 and 7 cents [sm=bomb.gif] Our lowest is at Wallys at $2.36 and a few others have it at $2.46 [:@]

 

Now Drew, just because people have this sterotype about some folks from Georgia being backwoods, inbred and redneck... Doesn't mean it isn't true......
I grew up in South GA and my home town was smaller than some of the schools here in Atl and LOTS of people were related to lots of other folks.[:@]

Fortunately, my folks were from out of country and I grew up smart enough to buy a CTD...

(Still love my hometown though)

 

well this comes to the argument was it from that fill up or has it been acumulating for a while, case in point, we would get a complaint from a customer about getting bad gas from time to time, we had 5 tow trucks using the same fuel, a complaint would come in we would check the water in our tanks and all would be fine , and no problem with our trucks, but the customer adament about our fuel, we would advise them to have a mechanic check it out and if we were neglegent we would turn it over to our ins co. Never heard from them again. unless you check the water in your separator at every fill up how can you blame it on one tank. I use a water disperser in my fuel about every 3 months, to absorb and burn out any water that may acumulate in the trucks tank.

 

Not everyone remembers that leaving your CTD tank less than full causes condensation to form - happens with gas or diesel or whatever as long as there's air in the tank. I learned the hard way some years back not to keep my tanks low for days on end - especially when the temperature changes more radically from day to night as it does in the fall and spring - couldn't figure out why I kept getting water in the fuel even when I'd switch stations.
As for who's selling fuel - some of the Safeway's (large grocery chain) in northern Cali and Nevada sell diesel along with gas, and if you have one of their discount cards you save another 3 cents a gallon.

 

On the subject of water, can someone explain why its a critical concern for diesel engines, and not for gas?

 

where bouts in South GA, I gew up half in Griffin(where I'm from) and Savannah. spent alot of time around Albany, Valdosta, Moultry, Americus, TyTy, and points in between. . .and yes I did get pulled over in Berlin[:@] damn cop complained about one of my tag lights being out. . .butt pirate[:@]

should have had that sticker that said "Bad Cop, No Doughnut!"

 

[quoteOn the subject of water, can someone explain why its a critical concern for diesel engines, and not for gas?] [/quote]

Not a mechanic or engineer here but I'd think the water stops the fuell from getting through to the engine and also freezes in the lines.
I'm sure one of the diesel guru's will set us all straight.. my .02

 

When this water reaches the diesel's fuel injection system, the water dilutes the fuel on which the injector depends for its lubrication. Water washes away the thin oil film coating the injector's micro-polished surfaces causing scorching and uneven wear.

Under pressure, water becomes a liquid abrasive, causing enlargement of spray holes and ruination of the spray pattern, which in itself can cause the need for replacement of the fuel injectors.

Water separators certainly help in removing water, but they don't remove all the water. What water remains can cause serious damage to the fuel injection system.

Sludge also has its start in water. Algae grows in the inter-face of fuel and water and the microorganisms depend on

the oxygen in the water for growth.
By totally dispersing the water in the fuel, the oxygen is no longer available for growth. It really boils down to this -- no water, no oxygen, no growth, no algae, no sludge.



http://www.cartelproducts.com/Avoiding_Freezeups.htm

 

I usually go to Wallys 75% of the time and have had no probs. I actually signed up for there credit card and use it strictly as a gas card for the extra $0.3 off.