I'd use the Stanadyne Performance Formula or Stanadyne Winter 1000. Both products prevent gelling/waxing, but the Performance Formula has lubricants and cetane improvers and is more expensive, whereas the Winter 1000 is solely a gel/wax prevention additive.
4by4bygod sells the ACES additives. They also reduce teh pour point, but I don't know if it reduces it as far as the Stanadyne additives - you would have to ask him on that one.
Both the Stanadyne Performance Formula and the ACES contain ignition improvers, which should help with cold starting as well...
Thanks for the mention, Max!
As for what my stuff does for winter operation - we do reduce pour point by 10 degrees from the base fuels pour point. For example, if your winter fuel has a pour point of - 7, we'll take it to - 17.
What we don't address is cold filter plug point, or cloud point - these are the temperature points at which the wax crystals form and begin to conglomerate..you will always reach cold filter plug / cloud point, before you reach pour point.
The reason we don't affect cold filter plug / cloud point is due to the fact we don't contain kerosene..we aren't an anti gel.
anti gels like kerosene thin out the fuel to keep the wax from initially getting together and clogging the filter. the more expensive anti gels called de waxing additives inhibit the wax from getting together as well.
Pour point depressants ( which is what ACES does, among other things) reduce the temperature at which the fuel stops flowing, ( because the wax crystal formation has gotten so pervasive that the fuel is transformed from a liquid to just about solid) although they don't stop the wax crystals from initially getting together.
In other words, if nobody used a fuel filter, all you would need is a pour point depressant - the anti gels are needed to allow the fuel to flow in a low temperature filtered environment.
Back to what all this means to you - the area you live in will already have "winter fuel" at the pump.. that's just ULSD fuel laced with up to 50% kerosene, and / or de - waxing additives.
We advise our customers to be on top of their fuel supplier to make sure they are being supplied with proper winter grade fuel, to drain their water separators, ( no additive stops water from freezing, and what you may think is fuel gelling is actually the moisture droplets freezing), and of course to keep using us. We also have a blend that drops pour point even further than ten degrees.
here's a bulletin from one of the largest fuel labs ( Staveley ) discussing how ULSD doesn't react well to being treated with kerosene or kerosene additives.
http://www.agviewfs.net/energy/?page_id=14
you can also do searches on places like "dieselplace" to see how guys still gelled up last winter, even with powerservice, amsoil, and any other distillate additive. it's a different world now.
bottom line is that winter operation is a learning experience with these new fuels, and nobody has the complete answer.. We'll never use kerosene or distillates in our products , simply because of the decrease in BTU, increased emissions, and the buildup of carbon under combustion.. beyond that, distillate additives are good anti gels - but they are one trick ponys.
sorry for the length - this isn't a simple subject.
