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Old 21-12-2011, 15:10   #16
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

3 or 4 ft of copper tube some rubber hose to fit on copper tube and a small pump 12 volt or whatever runtube to the bottom of tank through the top or wherever you can access, pump water from bottom to a container till pure diesel comes out of the pump, let the racors take care of the rest. always worked for me ! keep a rig like this on the boat all the time for me and others who have problems . saved my Butt a couple of times when i got a BUNCH of water in Central America ! 900 gals of about 1/3 water LOL took 3 days on the anchor for the water to settle, before I could remove it! bigest problem was to find a place to get rid of the cruddy water ! LOL Bob and Connie
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Old 21-12-2011, 15:37   #17
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

Listen to the people who are telling you to just pump the water out from the bottom using whatever pump is necessary and let the racor (you do have a racor with a clear bowl on the bottom don't you?) catch the rest.
Diesel fuel does not compress. You won't explode your engine. It just won't run on water. Cruisers who are actually cruising have often dealt with this in remote areas and without anyone to show up in a shiny truck to polish their fuel.
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Old 21-12-2011, 15:57   #18
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

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Rum check: diesel floats on top of water - the rest of it is OK.
Atoll is just having a bad rum day.
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Old 21-12-2011, 16:12   #19
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

You are very lucky to know what happened. You have lots of good advice for getting the water out. A real good technique involves pressurizing the fuel tank. Don't bother, you and your tank are not set up for it (check with builder though).

The reason behind letting no water or moisture get into your diesel. Water does not compress compared to diesel or oil or kerosene or even gasoline (which is why gasoline will not work in a diesel, gas can't compress enough to go boom). Your diesel compresses the sprayed fuel droplets in somewhere around a 20:1 compression. Your gasoline engine has a compression less than half that, about 9:1. Water in the diesel will blow the heads apart. Some water in the gasoline will "boost" the power of the gasoline engine. That is an old technique of a power booster, JC Whitney made a fortune off those.

All of this means to watch your water separator carefully - after you have your tank drained and cleaned of water. Water vapor will condense, the reason to keep tanks full.
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Old 21-12-2011, 16:21   #20
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Me-and-Boo View Post
The reason behind letting no water or moisture get into your diesel. Water does not compress compared to diesel or oil or kerosene or even gasoline (which is why gasoline will not work in a diesel, gas can't compress enough to go boom). Your diesel compresses the sprayed fuel droplets in somewhere around a 20:1 compression. Your gasoline engine has a compression less than half that, about 9:1. Water in the diesel will blow the heads apart.
With respect, this is really not true at all. "Compressibility" of fuel or water has nothing to do with it. Your engine does not compress "sprayed fuel droplets" -- it compresses air, and then sprays fuel into the compressed air. There is no significant difference between the compressibility of diesel fuel and that of water.

Water in the fuel will not "blow apart" your engine. The problem is that water does not burn, so your engine will stop running if it starts to get water instead of diesel fuel. Furthermore, water in the fuel will promote the growth of bacteria whose dead bodies will clog your filters and fuel system. Those are the problems which water causes, not "blowing anything apart."
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Old 21-12-2011, 16:23   #21
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

I may be the jack ass here, but you'll need to throw a quart or two of methanol into the tank first. Wait a couple of days (5). Pump out the tank, throw some kerosene into the tank and flush. If you don't have a polishing system then dump again. If you access to the fuel tank, vacuum the tank out before this process. Start engine(s) after refueling; replace all filters. There's more but you have to ask nicely.
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Old 21-12-2011, 16:24   #22
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

Some reasons you don't want water in your diesel fuel.

Water reduces the heat of combustion of the bulk fuel. This means more smoke, harder starting, less power.

Water causes corrosion of vital fuel system components: fuel pumps, injector pumps, fuel lines, etc.

Water & microbes cause the paper element filters in the system to fail (rot), which in turn results in premature failure of the fuel pump due to ingestion of large particles.

Water freezes to form ice crystals near 0C (32F). These crystals provide sites for nucleation and accelerate the gelling of the residual fuel.

Water accelerates the growth of microbe colonies, which can plug up a fuel system. Biodiesel users who have heated fuel tanks therefore face a year-round microbe problem.

Additionally, water can cause pitting in the pistons on a diesel engine.
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Old 21-12-2011, 16:29   #23
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

There is some excellent advice in this spread. In addition , you should work out exactly how you came to put water into the wrong tank, and design some system that ensures as far as possible that it does not happen again!
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Old 21-12-2011, 16:31   #24
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

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Some reasons you don't want water in your diesel fuel.

Water reduces the heat of combustion of the bulk fuel. This means more smoke, harder starting, less power.

Water causes corrosion of vital fuel system components: fuel pumps, injector pumps, fuel lines, etc.

Water & microbes cause the paper element filters in the system to fail (rot), which in turn results in premature failure of the fuel pump due to ingestion of large particles.

Water freezes to form ice crystals near 0C (32F). These crystals provide sites for nucleation and accelerate the gelling of the residual fuel.

Water accelerates the growth of microbe colonies, which can plug up a fuel system. Biodiesel users who have heated fuel tanks therefore face a year-round microbe problem.

Additionally, water can cause pitting in the pistons on a diesel engine.
You're kidding; right?
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Old 21-12-2011, 16:38   #25
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

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Atoll is just having a bad rum day.
if only rum floated on water........ my glass would allways be half full............
instead the stuff bluddy evaporates befor i get a chance to drink it........
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Old 21-12-2011, 16:41   #26
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

replace with steam engine and you wont have any of these problems.........
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Old 21-12-2011, 16:49   #27
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

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if only rum floated on water........ my glass would allways be half full............
instead the stuff bluddy evaporates befor i get a chance to drink it........

+ 1
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Old 21-12-2011, 16:58   #28
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

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Thanks to all. Any idea how to find a professional fuel polisher in Miami? A quick search didn't turn up such a creature.
Google "Diesel Fuel Polishing Miami". You might start with Diamond Diesel . Others appear with the search function.

The "Fuel Polishers" I've come across in Florida typically work by pulling the fuel level sender out of the fuel tank and inserting a return/mixer line through that and a suction line through the fuel fill. Fuel is suctioned out, run through a water separator and a couple of increasingly fine filters and then returned to the tank through a small nozzle that spins and agitates the fuel, water, alge and whatever may remain in the tank, which is, in turn, sucked up and the cycle repeated. This may go on for an hour, or several hours, until the fuel runs clear and no water accumulates in the water separator. It isn't inexpensive but far less costly than the repairs that might be necessary if water is allowed to remain in the tank and it will despense with any "growies" in the tank, at least for awhile.

FWIW...
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Old 21-12-2011, 17:07   #29
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

A good read.

Source Of Diesel Fuel Problems

Edit: those who think that the recirculated fuel from the engine return line is fuel polishing should read this.
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Old 21-12-2011, 17:20   #30
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...

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A good read.

Source Of Diesel Fuel Problems

Edit: those who think that the recirculated fuel from the engine return line is fuel polishing should read this.

Really?
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