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23-12-2011, 07:49
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#61
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Avalon, NJ
Boat: Albin 40 double cabin Trawler
Posts: 1,886
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
Unless agitated...just pump/drain the water off...any diesel tank without a bottom drain is useless no matter WHAT ANY safety organization has to say.
The trick is to get ALL the water out...any water does the engine, leftover fuel and tank no good.
DON'T use any additives to get the water out...you don't want to suspend water in the fuel...NOT recommended by many engine manufacturers. Alcohol is only OK if you wind up getting rid of the entire tankload so why add the alcohol to begin with?
If you feel like you got all but a tiny bit of water out...then agitate the crap out of your tank and burn up a lot of fuel...in other words take a nice sea run with plenty of water separating filters and Sea Tow!!!
Most of the stuff posted here make me cringe...ask a good diesel mechanic or post somewhere sailors are the minimum...like a trawler forum where the diesel is their lifeblood...sailors might be informative about sails but so far many are way off base on diesels and the fuel (some are dead on but hard to pick out).
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23-12-2011, 10:00
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#62
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Nevada City. CA
Boat: Sceptre 41
Posts: 3,857
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
Been there done that. I asked my son to fill the water tanks and he filled the diesel tank with water. I couldn't figure out why the generator wouldn't start. checked the water separator and it looked like diesel. I spent half the night pulling the diesel from my tank and transferring it to Jerri jugs and then carting it up the dock to the oil dump. This was in Mexico. I am sure it would have cost me a fortune to dispose of the same mess in California and what I had done was probably illegal. Another option that you have is to get a fuel pump and suck all of the liquid out of the tank and put it into a jerri can passing it thru one of those funnels that removes water WEST MARINE 006_180_003_517 at West Marine I have done this before and it works pretty well. You still have a filter water separator before the fuel goes into the engine. You'll have to watch that closely.
__________________
Fair Winds,
Charlie
Between us there was, as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea. Besides holding our hearts together through long periods of separation, it had the effect of making us tolerant of each other's yarns -- and even convictions. Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
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04-01-2012, 07:34
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#63
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Coral Gables, FL USA
Boat: Shannon Shoalsailer 35
Posts: 14
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After-action report, if anyone is interested:
Thanks to all for advice on my original inquiry. I also contacted a local Miami fuel polishing service (Diamond Diesel), who offered to come out anytime on emergency. However It didn't appear that polishing was necessary. It's kind of a pricey service due to the cost of the equipment - for a small vessel it may be cheaper to replace the fuel if you can't polish it yourself.
I inserted a stiff tube through the tank indicator opening and pumped out about 20 or more gallons of water, moving the tube around as best as I could reach, until pure fuel showed. I have run the engine about three times since then with no problems apparent, each time for more than an hour at speed. After each running I drained the water separator, removing less and less water each time (no more than 3-4 oz last time). The tank is now full of fresh fuel with additive and biocide, and I will continue to watch the Racor.
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04-01-2012, 08:35
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#64
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Avalon, NJ
Boat: Albin 40 double cabin Trawler
Posts: 1,886
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slowpoke
After-action report, if anyone is interested:
Thanks to all for advice on my original inquiry. I also contacted a local Miami fuel polishing service (Diamond Diesel), who offered to come out anytime on emergency. However It didn't appear that polishing was necessary. It's kind of a pricey service due to the cost of the equipment - for a small vessel it may be cheaper to replace the fuel if you can't polish it yourself.
I inserted a stiff tube through the tank indicator opening and pumped out about 20 or more gallons of water, moving the tube around as best as I could reach, until pure fuel showed. I have run the engine about three times since then with no problems apparent, each time for more than an hour at speed. After each running I drained the water separator, removing less and less water each time (no more than 3-4 oz last time). The tank is now full of fresh fuel with additive and biocide, and I will continue to watch the Racor.
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good for you...following the advice to toss the fuel was...well..just fuelish!
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04-01-2012, 09:22
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#65
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CF Adviser
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: sausalito
Boat: 14 meter sloop
Posts: 7,260
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by psneeld
good for you...following the advice to toss the fuel was...well..just fuelish!
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Agreed. I don't think I've ever seen this amount of misinformation in a CF thread. Good for the OP for sifting through it all.
__________________
cruising is entirely about showing up--in boat shoes.
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04-01-2012, 10:10
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#66
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Avalon, NJ
Boat: Albin 40 double cabin Trawler
Posts: 1,886
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bash
Agreed. I don't think I've ever seen this amount of misinformation in a CF thread. Good for the OP for sifting through it all.
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Oh...it's one of just many here and a drop in the bucket for the whole internet....
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04-01-2012, 10:17
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#67
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: gettin naughty on the beach in cornwall
Boat: 63 custom alloy sloop,macwester26,prout snowgoose 37 elite catamaran!
Posts: 10,594
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
still think his boat would have been kinda kool with a steam engine................
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23-05-2019, 02:25
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#68
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Mediterranean
Boat: Plan Joubert 21
Posts: 114
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
wow.... so I just made the same mistake this morning and filled an estimated 20 liners of water into a 240l diesel Tank.
My current thinking is: Give it a few hours to settle down. Open the top, stick a hose with weight to the bottom slowly pump out all the water.
Add a new water separator to the fuel line to the engine with a small hand pump before it, pump that until only fuel is coming (current setup has 3 filters, but no water separator).
Any other thoughts?
Biocide might be smart, but impossible to get right here and now (southern Crete....)
Thanks for the advice in this thread!
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23-05-2019, 03:03
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#69
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Sweden
Boat: 73´ULDB custom ketch
Posts: 1,069
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
Your plan is sound, but I would add biocide, otherwise problems will/may occur depending on the diesel fuel.
What filters do you have that are not water separating?
On my boat was worse, P.O. poured diesel into a water tank.....
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23-05-2019, 03:08
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#70
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Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Denmark (Winter), Helsinki (Summer); Cruising the Baltic Sea this year!
Boat: Cutter-Rigged Moody 54
Posts: 33,764
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
No comfort to any on here, but diesel fill port set in the deck next to water fill is madness.
Or set into the deck at all -- that's the main source of fuel problems. Keep in mind when shopping for next boat.
__________________
"You sea! I resign myself to you also . . . . I guess what you mean,
I behold from the beach your crooked inviting fingers,
I believe you refuse to go back without feeling of me;
We must have a turn together . . . . I undress . . . . hurry me out of sight of the land,
Cushion me soft . . . . rock me in billowy drowse,
Dash me with amorous wet . . . . I can repay you."
Walt Whitman
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23-05-2019, 03:24
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#71
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Mediterranean
Boat: Plan Joubert 21
Posts: 114
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinR
Your plan is sound, but I would add biocide, otherwise problems will/may occur depending on the diesel fuel.
What filters do you have that are not water separating?
On my boat was worse, P.O. poured diesel into a water tank.....
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We got perkins filters... 2 prefilters and one on the engine, but no water seperator, will be added today though...
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23-05-2019, 03:25
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#72
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Mediterranean
Boat: Plan Joubert 21
Posts: 114
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dockhead
No comfort to any on here, but diesel fill port set in the deck next to water fill is madness.
Or set into the deck at all -- that's the main source of fuel problems. Keep in mind when shopping for next boat.
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Agreed and is added to my list! Not necessarily for the next boat but also to move the existing one or at the very least change it to a different key than the water one...
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23-05-2019, 03:37
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#73
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Sweden
Boat: 73´ULDB custom ketch
Posts: 1,069
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dockhead
Or set into the deck at all -- that's the main source of fuel problems. Keep in mind when shopping for next boat.
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Agree completely, but unfortunately most of the manufacturers have other ideas.
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23-05-2019, 03:41
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#74
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Sweden
Boat: 73´ULDB custom ketch
Posts: 1,069
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Re: Accidentally put water in diesel tank ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by s/v Jedi
Water in the diesel is not a big problem at all. On diesel-electric submarines they put seawater in the tanks on purpose, to replace the diesel that is used.
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Yes, but they use floating fuel pick ups. Also many shore storage facilities store diesel on a water bed. Diesel and water separate nicely.
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