Need Advice on Fuel Treatment Regimine

[Shaneesprit]

I think you know the answer - a polishing loop - if your refitting the tank and you have a considerable amount of fuel, should of planned it, very simple cheap.

[RUSTYNAIL]

My opinion is to use your boat as much as possible. I think serious cruisers probably have the least fuel problems, like every big truck that puts 200 miles a day on their engine. If your boat sits at the dock nine months a year or on the hard, be sure you top off the tank when stored so there is very little air space to expand and contract and accumulate water. Before you start the season, get a small $25 12v automotive diesel fuel pump and run a copper tube to the lowest part of the tank and try and pump out the water on the bottom. It's probably hard for any fuel additive to deal with a quart of water in your tank once it's stirred up. It's rewarding to pull the fuel out into a one gallon clear container and watch the water settle to the bottom. Even if you don't find water, you'll feel better.

[MJH]

Originally Posted by jpendoley

Hi all,
Having rebuilt my Westerbeke 40 (Perkins 4-108) and installed a new aluminum tank , I need advice on treating fuel. Specifically, treating to prevent water formation and algae. I,d like a simple program that keeps my tank in good shape. What's the concensus on a proven and practical approach. Of course , I have a new Racor as primary. No polishing loop at this point . Any advice greatly appreciated.

Keep your fuel tank filled, particularly over the winter...condensation produces water. Use Biorbor JF when you fill up. However, Biorbor JF has a shelf life of three years so best to buy only what you will use in that time frame. Additionally, the manufacturing date is tagged on the bottom of the bottle so check all the bottles on the shelf to get the latest product.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

[s/v Jedi]

Condensation... a myth. Primary causes are deck fills, contaminated fuel from the fuel station, tank vents etc.
https://www.yachtsurvey.com/myth_of_...fuel_tanks.htm

[a64pilot]

Condensation is sort of a myth, it’s not a myth really it does happen, just not much water.
However water in fuel is not a myth, ALL Diesel has water in it, it’s dissolved into the fuel.
So what can happen is that moisture laden air is pulled into the the tank, the diesel absorbs it and later it comes out of suspension.
Another myth is that it takes free water to grow “bugs” that’s not true, bugs will grow in the fuel supported by the water that is in the fuel. It is true through that they won’t grow a huge mat of bugs, there isn’t enough water to support that, but the water is there, and often the bugs are there, add water and you have a real problem.

If you wait until there is a problem to add Biobor or another product, you have waited too long, it’s best use is as a preventative, not a cure. It’s like a fire extinguisher, way better to prevent the fire than it is to put it out.
A very large reason why bugs aren’t more of a problem is that a lot of fuel already has a biocide in it, every drop of Valvtec for example comes with a biocide, so if you primarily use Valvtec fuel and go through it at a normal rate, say a couple of tanks or more per year, then it’s likely you may not need a biocide.

But if your out in the woods burning fuel that your not real sure what it’s pedigree is, your way better served by adding Biobor or other biocide as a preventative, it’s easy and cheap, causes no problems, so why not?

That’s the bottom line, if your feeling lucky and like to gamble, don’t treat with a biocide, it’s likely you will get lucky. But if you have ever had to deal with bugs, you’ll spend the .50c or whatever it costs to add an ounce to $200 worth of Bahamian fuel.
Based on one ounce per 40 gls.

Most better fuels and fuel suppliers treat their fuel, because if you think you have a mess to deal with your little sailboat tank with bugs, you can’t imagine the problem a several thousand gallon underground tank is.

But, not everyone does, and I believe a biocide over time may degrade, I’m not sure on that, and it may take years, I really don’t know.

On edit, prior to 2006 Diesel fuel had a higher sulphur content, sulphur acts as a biocide to some extent, so when the sulphur was removed, bugs have become an even larger problem than they were previously.

Also bio diesel has from lack of a better term contaminated the whole supply of Diesel, there aren’t different tank trucks and pipelines to transport biodiesel so it’s mixed into the whole supply system now.
https://tanktransport.com/2017/11/to...e-to-microbes/

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by jpendoley

Hi all,
Having rebuilt my Westerbeke 40 (Perkins 4-108) and installed a new aluminum tank , I need advice on treating fuel. Specifically, treating to prevent water formation and algae. I,d like a simple program that keeps my tank in good shape. What's the concensus on a proven and practical approach. Of course , I have a new Racor as primary. No polishing loop at this point . Any advice greatly appreciated.

The fuel in one of my tanks( 80l) is about 12 years old..no problems detected.
You can get a fuel addative if you think it helps algae. However these days fuel has additives added by the refinery already.
A god 2 stage fuel filter setup is important.
I bought fuel in New Caledonia wich was very dirty, mainly rust particles.
Good idea to get a funnel with a prefilter.

[jpendoley]

This thread is taking on a life of its own, kind of like bugs in a fuel tank. To repeat, my tank is brand spanking new, vacuumed and wiped clean . I’d like to keep it that way. Sounds like A preventative dollop of biobor and Stabil makes sense whenever taking on fuel. Can’t hurt and might help. Now somebody please tell me what Valvtech is-I get fuel at larger marinas and occasionally jerry jug from my local Mobil gas station-is that not safe?

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by jpendoley

This thread is taking on a life of its own, kind of like bugs in a fuel tank. To repeat, my tank is brand spanking new, vacuumed and wiped clean . I’d like to keep it that way. Sounds like A preventative dollop of biobor and Stabil makes sense whenever taking on fuel. Can’t hurt and might help. Now somebody please tell me what Valvtech is-I get fuel at larger marinas and occasionally jerry jug from my local Mobil gas station-is that not safe?

So everything is clean. How long would fuel be stored in your tank, I didn’t find that piece of crucial info?

If you burn it right away, it does not matter where you buy it and the best you can do is add nothing. Adding anything makes it worse in that case.

Now if you keep it more than 3 months, you should not buy biodiesel with ethanol or anything alcohol-like added. You can still buy at gas stations as long as it’s pure diesel... Murphy’s at Wall Mart sells it where I am. Fuel docks should all sell that.

Longer than 6 months: ethanol free plus add maintenance dose of Startron.

Longer than 12 months: repeat Startron dose every 6 months. You can add as much as often as you like because Startron itself is fuel, unlike a biocide which will hurt the engine when maximum quantities are not adhered to... and it expires so basically you have to either use the fuel or dispose of it. This is why biocides (=poison) only work when you have an infestation too big for enzyme based treatment.

Valvetec is in premium dockside fuel and it is a biocide afaik. Good fuel though, nothing wrong with it and you can add Startron (but no biocide as that’s already in there)

You do not need stabilizer for non ethanol fuel treated with Startron. I still have some 3rd world diesel 8 years old working 100% fine. You need stabilizer for bio diesel and for gasoline.

If you want to do anything more, it’s not additives. A drain tap in the tank to drain water and crud, check samples is great. Same can be done with a suction tube that goes all the way down to the deepest point of the tank bottom. My tanks even have sumps.
Next is a polishing system using a filter and pump. I added a priming pump to that as well, see my diagram.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

So everything is clean. How long would fuel be stored in your tank, I didn’t find that piece of crucial info?

If you burn it right away, it does not matter where you buy it and the best you can do is add nothing. Adding anything makes it worse in that case.

Now if you keep it more than 3 months, you should not buy biodiesel with ethanol or anything alcohol-like added. You can still buy at gas stations as long as it’s pure diesel... Murphy’s at Wall Mart sells it where I am. Fuel docks should all sell that.

Longer than 6 months: ethanol free plus add maintenance dose of Startron.

Longer than 12 months: repeat Startron dose every 6 months. You can add as much as often as you like because Startron itself is fuel, unlike a biocide which will hurt the engine when maximum quantities are not adhered to... and it expires so basically you have to either use the fuel or dispose of it. This is why biocides (=poison) only work when you have an infestation too big for enzyme based treatment.

Valvetec is in premium dockside fuel and it is a biocide afaik. Good fuel though, nothing wrong with it and you can add Startron (but no biocide as that’s already in there)

You do not need stabilizer for non ethanol fuel treated with Startron. I still have some 3rd world diesel 8 years old working 100% fine. You need stabilizer for bio diesel and for gasoline.

If you want to do anything more, it’s not additives. A drain tap in the tank to drain water and crud, check samples is great. Same can be done with a suction tube that goes all the way down to the deepest point of the tank bottom. My tanks even have sumps.
Next is a polishing system using a filter and pump. I added a priming pump to that as well, see my diagram.

Ethanol in diesel? That is quite illegal because it will make the fuel flammable, among other practical problems. I assume you misspoke.


That said, unintentional trace amounts of biodiesel and ethanol appear in most diesel, the result of pipeline and tanker overlap. This is not something you can avoid, it is a pervasive product quality challenge. This has been tied to increased infection problems by several industry groups.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Ethanol in diesel? That is quite illegal because it will make the fuel flammable, among other practical problems. I assume you misspoke.


That said, unintentional trace amounts of biodiesel and ethanol appear in most diesel, the result of pipeline and tanker overlap. This is not something you can avoid, it is a pervasive product quality challenge. This has been tied to increased infection problems by several industry groups.

Yes, ethanol is used in gasoline, but in biodiesel they use it to make it ethylester etc., see below.

What I really mean is that diesels marked as B20 etc. should not be used ot have a stabilizer. B20 is a full 20% of biofuel so way different than some trace amounts.

Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow),[1] soybean oil,[2] or some other vegetable oil with an alcohol, producing a methyl, ethyl or propyl ester.

[DeValency]

Originally Posted by jpendoley

All good on those points-fill pipe is beneath cockpit floor and has a cap. Installed on a slope to expedite drainage. I’m inquiring about fuel treatments and additives. PreviouslyI used Stabil for diesel Every time I fueled up and a biocide a couple times a season. My local parts store suggested Howe’s Lubricant as an additional lubricant which I did add in the old tank, but I’m not sure that it did not foul up my fuel more than it helped. What do others add to their fuel?

You do all the right things including the additives. But don’t add any lubricant. Diesel is the best lubricant there is. Keep the tank full as possible and use the engine frequently under load. I also use an external separator/filter funnel when getting diesel from less reliable sources (had to use it in the Caribbean).

[Poche]

Rely on your filters and pay attention. Fuel does not deteriorate so fast.