Fuel polishing question.

[powsmias]

Appreciate any advice here. have been on the hard about 10 yrs. Emptied and refilled 25 gallon diesel tank but rough water churned up sediment and clogged filter last year. question is, i bought a fuel pump and hoping to run it into tank to filter and return while at dock in somewhat choppy weather to filter out remaining fuel whle kicking up sediment. Figuriing leaving about 3 gallans sloshing aroung will get things moving and non stop 24/7 pump will eventually get the job done. or will i need to access interior of tank (i'll have to cut hole and thinking easy repair and reseal)
thanx in advance
eddie

[Captsteve53]

Probably best to take the long way around (know you didn't want to hear that!), I'M sure next time out you will appreciate the thought you dont have any more issues, and it always allow further cleaning if need be,

May want to think about your fuel lines as well if been sitting for long periods


Cheers Steve

[Cheechako]

I dont think 3 gallons is enough really. You need enough in there to contact all the tank surfaces. Maybe 2/3 full. The nice thing about a service doing it is they open the tank and kind of pressure spray removing that scum from the tank walls. But it's not perfect. I know they went thru 3 filters during polishing on one boat I had. The filters were big (maybe twice the size of a car oil filter and were heavily loaded up with gunk. And that boat ran fine with no fuel issues before polishing. But at least polishing the fuel will help and maybe the gunk will stay on the tank walls.

[powsmias]

Originally Posted by Captsteve53

Probably best to take the long way around (know you didn't want to hear that!), I'M sure next time out you will appreciate the thought you dont have any more issues, and it always allow further cleaning if need be,

May want to think about your fuel lines as well if been sitting for long periods


Cheers Steve

thanx, was leaning towards that but trying to avoid it. an access hole i could patch with a plate sandwiched to another with an o ring or similar gasket and guessing would be simple. on paper anyway. i don't see major problems with that route just trying to do the least work possible.. (gettin old, funds are low and being careful)

[Copacabana]

It shouldn't cost you much to cut an access hole and make a lid for it. This is a great thing to have on your fuel tank as you can do the tank cleaning yourself (providing you can reach every corner) and save yourself polishing costs and a lot of trouble down the road. It's really worth it.

[powsmias]

Originally Posted by Copacabana

It shouldn't cost you much to cut an access hole and make a lid for it. This is a great thing to have on your fuel tank as you can do the tank cleaning yourself (providing you can reach every corner) and save yourself polishing costs and a lot of trouble down the road. It's really worth it.

Appreciate the reply, my thought because of access was to have the hole on the top end of the side. kinda cramped in there for top access but side might be a breeze.

[Copacabana]

If the access port will be submerged when the tank is full it might be a problem (leaks). Is there no way to get to your tank from above? Also, the hatch should be large enough to see inside and get your arms in to give it a good cleaning.

Fuel polishing is OK, but I don't believe it really gets the tank as clean as a manual scrubbing and rinse with querosene.

[Cheechako]

There is a rubber impregnated cork gasket material that works well for diesel fuel gaskets. I tried some plain nitrile and rubber style materials in the past and they are difficult to make not leak. They become super slippery and squeeze out when diesel gets on them.'
You dont have a fuel gauge hole in the tank top do you?

[nautical62]

When I had problems with stuff in my tank accumulating and clogging the filter, I ended up yanking out the tank, cleaning it and replacing the tank to engine hose. Just another option to consider.

[rognvald]

Eddie,
Cut a round access hole IN THE TOP OF your tank. Drill holes and use self-tapping metal screws and plumbers gasket cut slightly larger than your access port and cover to ultimately seal. Use your auxiliary pump and filter your fuel through a baja filter into jerry cans. Clean the tank with clean rags dipped in diesel until clean. You may have to jerry-rig a pole with rags at the end for difficult access areas in your tank. This can be simply done with wire ties or large rubber bands to hold the rags in place. Then, refill your tank with the filtered fuel(filter a second time), sail your boat and change your primary and secondary filters after 25 hours motoring. If they are not clogged and clean, replace and change at 50 hours. Always pre-filter your fuel in the future and maintain a good filter regimen. I hope this helps. Good luck and safe sailing.

[Flyingriki]

I had this conversation with a very knowledgeable guy recently. He built a simple system with a couple WIX Gold diesel fliters from a truck stop. WAY cheaper than any bs marine nonsense and much larger. Filtered his fuel several times after sloshing around and it finally came clean. might be worth a try and keep the setup for later. Digging holes in your tank should be a last gasp .....

[maxingout]

I would love to see the set up he made using the Wix oil/fuel filters. I need to polish the fuel in my tanks and clean out any residual gunk, and if it's practical and possible, I would like to do it myself.

I would think that I would need a huge pump to polish the fuel as a small pump would take a very long time to pump the fuel through the filters.

Does anyone have instructions about how to make an efficient fuel polishing rig without spending tons of money?

[powsmias]

Originally Posted by Flyingriki

I had this conversation with a very knowledgeable guy recently. He built a simple system with a couple WIX Gold diesel fliters from a truck stop. WAY cheaper than any bs marine nonsense and much larger. Filtered his fuel several times after sloshing around and it finally came clean. might be worth a try and keep the setup for later. Digging holes in your tank should be a last gasp .....

thanx for that. glad i wasn't alone in that thinking

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Flyingriki

I had this conversation with a very knowledgeable guy recently. He built a simple system with a couple WIX Gold diesel fliters from a truck stop. WAY cheaper than any bs marine nonsense and much larger. Filtered his fuel several times after sloshing around and it finally came clean. might be worth a try and keep the setup for later. Digging holes in your tank should be a last gasp .....

Well yes, but think tank has been sat for a very long time rather than in regular use. therefor either cutting a hatch or pulling the tank and doing it off the boat is probably the better solution. No reason not to use a ready made hatch to save a lot of time and effort.

Something like this would be ideal for future checks and cleaning.

Pete

[sailah]

Here's one I made, it's mounted in the boat, but can just as easily be made into a portable unit and screwed to a board or something. I drew up a simple schematic, looking at my pictures is confusing if you didn't have me to walk thru it. Also you can simply refer to the SV Strider post as his schematic works well.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post2377890

If you wanted a portable one, I'd think the only important things are the Carter fuel pump and the filter housing. The filters talked about using like a CAT oil fuel filter are an issue because you can't see the progress unless you cut open the filters. And large steel body filters like that are somewhat expensive.

The filters I buy for my shelco filter are $5 and available easily in any micron rating you want.

Here's the filter housing I have (I have 2)

SHELCO MICROGUARDIAN STAINLESS STEEL FILTER HOUSING 250 PSI MS10 3/4" NPT | eBay

Here's the pump I use

Carter P4070 Electric Fuel Pump | eBay

Without seeing your setup, I'd plumb it like this. Make up a metal dip tube from a piece of copper or small pipe that you can bend easily and get into the corners. Something like 3/8" tubing would work well. A 3' piece is $8 in stainless from McMaster which is where I get the filters from.

https://www.mcmaster.com/#8989k481/=199l4aq

Then just use regular fuel line and hose barbs to construct the rest. You want the filter before the pump. In my experience the filter needs to be filled up with fuel as the pumps won't self prime. So every time you remove a filter you need to prime the filter body. Which is the other reason I don't like the CAT type filters.

Use the dip tube to fish around the bottom and the walls etc. You can return the fuel through anything including the tank return or fuel fill.

My setup runs happily for hours at a time. I have mine on a relay so that it is running when my engine is running and it does 72 GPH For a temporary setup you could just use alligator clips to a good 12v battery with a fuse inline.

So for $150 buying new parts you could make yourself a fuel polisher. You could then transition it over to a permanent setup if you had the room like I do and enjoy the benefits of constant fuel polishing.

Heres the filter that I buy in 10 micron, I use 2. (1) 10 micron and then a 5 micron after the pump but thats probably over kill.

https://www.mcmaster.com/#9982t12/=199l3yc