What about all these tens of thousands of diesel owners, myself included, that ran standard DEF with no injector build-up?

Are you certain that it's the DEF composition alone that's responsible for your now clean injector?

 

What about all the hundreds of thousands of diesel owners, myself included, that suffered from regular DEF crystalizing on the injector and the inlet to the SCR chamber? You seem to want to deny this is an issue yet you can do a simple search on the internet and pull up examples of people with blocked DEF injectors and inlets to the SCR chamber from crystalized DEF.

You call real world use unscientific, look you have made it clear you don't believe Peak and will not buy their BlueDEF Platinum and that is your choice, but your denial of people that have used Peak BlueDEF Platinum and it cured their DEF crystallization issues as not being valid begs the question as to what would you call valid? Real world use does not get anymore valid.

Face it the truth is 99% of the people never pull their DEF injector to check it for crystalized DEF deposits on the injector and the inlet to the SCR chamber. Those same crystalized DEF deposits also build up inside the SCR chamber creating blockage over time as they build up.

 

What about all the hundreds of thousands of diesel owners, myself included, that suffered from regular DEF crystalizing on the injector and the inlet to the SCR chamber? You seem to want to deny this is an issue yet you can do a simple search on the internet and pull up examples of people with blocked DEF injectors and inlets to the SCR chamber from crystalized DEF.

You call real world use unscientific, look you have made it clear you don't believe Peak and will not buy their BlueDEF Platinum and that is your choice, but your denial of people that have used Peak BlueDEF Platinum and it cured their DEF crystallization issues as not being valid begs the question as to what would you call valid? Real world use does not get anymore valid.

Face it the truth is 99% of the people never pull their DEF injector to check it for crystalized DEF deposits on the injector and the inlet to the SCR chamber. Those same crystalized DEF deposits also build up inside the SCR chamber creating blockage over time as they build up.

You're obviously very passionate about this and it wasn't my intent to upset you.

By basic point is you have to understand that correlation is not causation. Simply put, if I change the air in my tires to nitrogen and suddenly my DEF injector no longer clogs, that's correlation. There are factors out there that are allowing thousands of diesel truck owners to live free of injector clogs, and it isn't the fancy DEF. So there are other reasons.

I challenge you to find one Ecodiesel owner with a SCR clogged from crystallized DEF. And not one that says 'the dealer told me'. The fact you say it's common tells me you're buying into this magic pixie dust 200%.

@Olypopper I think the fancy DEF has a surfactant added.

 

I'm in the 99% that has has not pulled my DEF injector... where is it, it you don't mind? I think it is quite easy to access. The reason this thread has caught my eye is that I never let me DEF tank get below 1/2 and have never had a problem (oh, FOR SURE MY FINGERS ARE CROSSED AS I'M TYPING)... I've also used WallyMart's BlueDEF. It would be interesting to compare the difference (scientific vs. unscientific) of n=2.

 

In the first 30,000 miles of my truck's life I used the cheapest stuff I could find. Sometimes off the shelf at WalMart and sometimes straight from the pump at the truck stop. Never had a problem.

Now it's probably a plugged sprayer and a block of left over DEF at the bottom of the tank after ~160,000 miles of using none.

 

I've only used cheap def from Walmart and some truck stop pumps and I use distilled in the summer. 281,000kms and never had an issue and def injector has never been pulled.
Proof is in the pudding.

 

Hi: Ecosparky... Then you don't have a favorite "Pudding" Eh?
Dieseldragon North shore of Lake Erie.

 

To the OP, DEF is 32.5% urea and 67.5% water. What does your current choice have added that makes it different than the others? Reason I ask is because out of all of my Cummins and one Ecodiesel I've never once had a problem with the DEF system with the exception of a failed heater (I live in Alaska and it gets a workout).

Also, have you had a software update done to your truck that changed dosing rates?

Also, I researched the ISO-22241 standard for DEF and all advertised brands are manufactured to this spec so I wonder what's different, if anything.

 

Odd chance that it may be from using improperly stored DEF by virtue of temperature or beyond useful life?

 

Back when I worked on the engine side and was doing lots of scr campaigns I would find buses with certain routes that had def buildup issues. They got the def from the exact same pump as the rest. Short drives, idle times, and commute make a big difference.

 

It is fruitless to argue platinum over regular DEF until we can understand why some have crystallization on their doser valves and others do not. None of us know how many there are or aren't so there is no sense in throwing out hundreds of us or thousand of them numbers to support a claim.

I pulled my doser valve on my 2015 Cummins, clean as a whistle.

I've read some believe that running the truck on short trips where the emission system is not allowed to come up to operating temperature and sustain an operating temperature may be the root cause of doser valve crystallization, I don't know but I do know arguing will not help us find the reason.

The OP has shown us before-platinum and after-platinum pictures of the doser valve. The question is why did he get crystalization to begin with. Perhaps he makes an abundance of short trips. In my case, the Cummins is 90% towing something and never on short runs. I also use fresh DEF that I test before use.

What about the ones that don't have crystallization, are you short trippers?

 

What about the ones that don't have crystallization, are you short trippers?

Most of my trips are 16 miles, each way. I do pull out of town occasionally and those trips are usually 350+ miles, one way. I'm also in Alaska and over half the year is on the cool side and the DEF tank is frozen so no DEF use.

 

Hi: All... My DEF gauge seemed to stop working and I had a lot of messages to service DEF system "See dealer" including count down to no start. Since adding a jug of standard Blue DEF from Wally Marty, my gauge is back working and "No messages". No countdown either. YEA!!!
Dieseldragon North shore of Lake Erie.

 

Maybe Wally World reg DEF is actually BlueDEF Platinum? We all know Wally doesn't make the stuff....

 

Back a few years ago, Old World Industries bottled DEF for Walmart. Now they bottle their own. Here is the license from API.

Old World Industries still bottles for several retailers ..... (partial listing here). Oh, look, there are our friends Blue and Platinum.

 

Thanks you for your response and pictures.

 

Thank you RaceHillFarms for your real world test and photographs. I have a 2021 and will only use Peak BlueDEF Platinum.

 

It looks like the additive in Blue DEF Platinum may parallel what is used in Europe, a surfactant (sometimes called a wetting agent) that reduces the surface tension thus preventing crystalization, interesting. Based on what I'm learning here, I may rethink and start using the platinum, not for the doser valve since I don't have an issue with crystalization but for the health of the SCR.

I need to go have a chat with one of my sons, he is a chemist albeit in a different field but the rules may be the same.

 

I may rethink and start using the platinum, not for the doser valve since I don't have an issue with crystalization but for the health of the SCR.

Are SCR's failing from DEF crystallization in the Ecodiesel? If they are, I haven't heard of it.

 

What would be swell is if someone marketed and sold such an additive standalone. Then I could still buy my DEF at the convenience of the truck pumps. The hassle and waste associated with the jugs is a major turn-off for me. Either way, I'm going to stick to my current practice until it becomes an issue.

 

Well, wetting agents are common and my wife has a few bottles she uses in her greenhouse. While I find it interesting to try this, I'm not going to, I'm chicken. Besides, I don't have the resources to do a study on how wetting agents affect DEF doser valves.

I'm with you, it would be great to see someone with the resources offer up a DEF additive. While wetting agents are expensive so to speak, the amount used is minimal and certainly does not reflect in the price delta they get for DEF Platinum.