Is heating oil good for cleaning parts?

[gard]

I also use diesel fuel for cleaning parts, it leaves a little bit of a film that seems to prevent rust. If that is later cleaned off with other solvents like gasoline the parts can rust very quickly. It seems to me that cleaning with hot water and strong detergent also leaves a surface slightly resistant to rusting, someplace between the diesel and gas. I don't know about the chemistry of cleaning with detergents but the paint cans often specify it.

 

[Eddyde]

Heating oil, Diesel or Kerosene is great for starting bonfires. More effective and much safer than gasoline.

 

[rabler]

Heating oil, Diesel or Kerosene is great for starting bonfires. More effective and much safer than gasoline.

I do the same thing. But @woodchucker's 20-30 gallons is a lifetime supply of starting bonfires, a cup or two per fire is plenty.

 

[gard]

Go old school and put about a quart in an old tire, that will get things burning.

 

[Jake M]

The experiences I've had with diesel engines were definitely the "old school" versions. Our next-door neighbor was the local Standard Oil Agent. In those days the "Agent" was the middleman between the service station operators retail customers, and the corporate headquarters. He supplied fuels and lubricants to the stations, and heating and diesel oil to homeowners, farmers, and construction companies.

In those days #2 diesel and heating oil were synonymous. They both came from the same bulk tank labeled #2 DIESEL.

Absolutely that happens. You will see diesel fuel put in the heating oil tank. That is what you saw. What you WON'T see is the bulk heating oil tank being substituted into the diesel tanks. It's not a tax thing, as that is the end user's responsibility. If (it won't happen, but if) somebody dropped "home heating oil" into the diesel tank at the local quick stop, the tax still gets paid. That's not the issue. The issue is that heating oil doesn't have to deal with fuel injection and high pressures, detonation, lubrication, basic cleanliness, all kinds of things. Diesel fuel will, for now, ALWAYS meed home heating oil spec's. Home heating oil has no obligations to meet the bulk of the requirements of diesel fuel. A couple of times in a winter I might get dyed diesel delivered in lieu of home heating oil. Or I might get undyed diesel. It's always itemized (And there are restrictions on that. Not every company is eligible to have the ability to "drop" the road tax on diesel, they've got to have record keeping that's above average).

 

[Eddyde]

I do the same thing. - a cup or two per fire is plenty.

I wish I had your restraint...

 

[rabler]

I wish I had your restraint...

To be really miserly, put it in a cheap 1 gallon garden sprayer. A fine mist covers a lot of stuff with minimal fuel