It's fenolftaleine, the dye is the tracer. you can remove it by adding sulfur acid, but then you have to find a way to remove the acid........

 

Then, when they catch you anyway, .......the IRS removes your Bank Account.

 

Does the IRS have anything to do with highway fuel taxes? Isn't enforcement up to the states?

Edwin

 

Fuel tax is both Federal and state. Yes, the IRS gets involved.

Rusty

 

Does the IRS stop trucks on the road or do they just leave it to the state guys?

I just read about a run on cooking oil at markets in the UK. Seems people are putting it in their tanks. It's a heafty fine there too.

 

The state stops you, assecess their fines, then turns the information over to the Feds.

 

Those dirty RATS!

 

Keith, on the old Ruby in the barrel. I had a partially filled farm tank sitting in my boneyard for 15 years that I gave to friend. I told him to use the 100 or so gallons in it to start fires but instead he used in his Cummins, said it was fine.
Also heard a story about a salvage crew in Seattle scraping a barge from WWII that had several thousand gallons of fifty year old diesel in it. They ended up using every drop of it in their trucks and equipment.

I was wondering how the mint oil project was coming along so asked the researcher today. Apparently the mint smell doesn't come though on diesel engines that are equipped with particulate scrubbers that will be required pollution equipment in 2007. It was back to the drawing board but he says he can overcome it. A group of mint growers have already formed a co-op to market it. Sounds like it will be coming.

I doubt if any of you have experienced pure mint oil, man the stuff is strong, just a drop on your skin and it will burn for a week and leave a scar. I got a little on my boots once and had to throw them away, the smell wouldn't leave and made everyone's eyes water the minute I walked inside a building. The stuff is wicked.

 

I don't think my injection pump would take sulfuric acid very well.

 

I know they used phenolpthalien solution for pH titration in our lab.
It was also the active ingredient used in Ex-Lax. (highly diluted, it stops lunchbox thieves too! )
I wonder how that is supposed to work in #2 diesel...
Maybe when the IRS inspector gets too much untaxed fuel, he... er,...well, you know...


Infidel, I figured mint oil would combust along with #2D in those high temps of the power stroke and wouldn't have a smell... That must be some bad, bad stuff to resist the high temps and oxygen!
I still have a 3liter jug of that old Red-Ruby fuel that is slowly going into my lawnmower!


Shovelhead, A supervisor here got crossways with the IRS some years back and they "informed" him how much they were going to collect from him...
HIM: "That's way more than I've got! After all ya can't squeeze blood from a turnip!".
IRS: "Sir, you don't understand... If you don't comply, we get the turnip!!".
HIM:

Therefore, I don't need to get crossways with those folks... They're downright sadistic!!!


Edwin, A fellow employee went over to the UK going on 2 years ago for some global business conference.
While he was there, he saw a special report on UK TV where the UK govt was cracking down on people going down and buying several big tins of cooking oil and running it in their diesel vehicles. Apparently the road tax was high enough over there to make buying that expensive cooking oil more economical.
They fixed them! Now to buy any large container or qty of cooking oil(for turkey fryers, a big fish fry, etc) you have to SIGN for it along with enough personal info to make tracking you down VERY easy!


K.

 

SOTEX,
A little off topic.....
My father was audited by the IRS back in the early 80s.
They claimed he owed around $500 in taxes from his retirement accounts and company stock plans.
Baaaad move on their part.
My Father was a VERY organized individual.
Had all his receipts filed & cross referenced.
(This was ALL hard copies, before he learned to use a computer.)
After a loooong meeting with the auditer, they ended up owing HIM $2500.

 

I have a question regarding the chemical tracer in red fuel. I don't use red fuel but usually during the winter I will run some clear kerosene to save a little $$$ and make the starting a little easier. Because I live in a city, and always park on the street (never in the same spot), I can't plug in. So I'm wondering if there's no red in the fuel, will there be a chemical tracer anyway? Some places have red kero and some have clear and I always use the clear.

Also, if you did have Marvel or ATF or some other red item in the tank and got dipped, wouldn't they have to verify chemically that it actually was dyed fuel and not one of these "additives"?

 

That is what I was trying to ascertain. I used to run red dyed diesel back when it was dyed that way as a "premium" diesel grade.
I had heard rumors that now there is another chemical "tracer" in addition to red dye.

K.

 

I had driven on "red" for 7 years, when I got caught by customs and I had to pay a fine of the extreem amount: 100-dollar yeah...these were cheap years..