Diesel fuel quality tester

[sandy daugherty]

I had 2 1/2 gallons of fresh, clean, dry diesel in a 6 gallon tank in an outside rain proof shed. It had been baja filtered. The vent cap was loosened to prevent distortion of the tank. 4 months later I sucked a half cup of water out of the bottom. Every drop of water came from condensation. Or the tooth fairy. Temperatures in the shed varied from over a hundred degrees F on a summer afternoon to 70 that night. Winter variations were at lower temps but about the same percentage difference betwee high and low.

Since neither I nor the tank have read pascoe's article, its probably just a case of ignorance.

[Hud3]

Fight water in the fuel any way you can. Keep the tank topped up to discourage condensation. Replace the rubber O-rings on the deck fill cap every year, and add a bit of silicone grease to them. Install a Racor filter if you don't have one. Avoid fuel docks that have a bad rep. But, in spite of all your precautions, water still may get into the tank.

Here's an idea. Buy one of those rubber squeeze bulbs with the hoses on each side that WM sells for outboard engines. They come without any fittings on the ends. Cut the rubber hoses to convenient lengths. On the suction side, install a length of 3/8" copper tubing long enough to reach the bottom of your diesel tank. Secure it with a hose clamp. After the boat has sat quietly for a time, open up the tank's access port, or remove the pickup tube if you don't have one, and gently insert the copper tube into the tank's nether regions. Squeeze the bulb and extract a pint or so of diesel into a clear plastic peanut butter jar (cleaned up, of course).

You can then judge the general cleanliness of your fuel, and also remove any water or sludge that's accumulated in the bottom of the tank.

[DeepFrz]

Since neither I nor the tank have read pascoe's article, its probably just a case of ignorance.

You could very well be right.

[Whimsical]

Originally Posted by sandy daugherty

Since neither I nor the tank have read pascoe's article, its probably just a case of ignorance.

I think Sandy would have to be in line for an award. He just keeps comming up with such gems

Mike

[bastonjock]

why dont the manufacturers put a toughened glass strip on the side of the tank?

[Sandero]

My tank has no access port. It has two pick upl one for the engine and one for the heater.

I have added two racors with a manifold and switch over and replace the "used" filter on alternate seasons.

I assume that there is crud in the tank as it has been in use for 23 years. I try to keep it topped up so the volume of air inside is minimal.

I assume that the pickups do not extend to the bottom of the tank. My tank has a sloped bottom to one corner (to fit the hull shape) and this must be were the crud accumulates. The pick ups are close to the the deep corner. The fuel gauge sender is in a shallower corner so it cannot truly measure "empty" as there will always be fuel below it's lowest reach.

I have never had any fuel problems which caused loss of power, or mis fires etc. I suspect when the crud which may include algae rises high enough I'll be faced with installing a port (above the deep corner) and cleaning the tank.

So far so good. But this can't last.

[DeepFrz]

I have never had any fuel problems which caused loss of power, or mis fires etc. I suspect when the crud which may include algae rises high enough I'll be faced with installing a port (above the deep corner) and cleaning the tank.

I hope, for your sake, that this happens at a convenient time at your slip. My experience was in slop off the North West end of Cuba and just enough crud got sucked up to plug the fuel line at a 90 deg. bend. Filter was new and still looked clean so switching filters would not have helped. I never checked if it was asphaltene deposits or algae deposits, because at the time it really didn't matter.