Argh. Diesel Bug.....in full Tecknecolour.Bad luck and trouble etc

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oldgit

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Waiting for the third thing.
A,hem. A confession.
Last Tuesday went down to meet the return of the Medway Queen from Bristol.
In a bit of hurry so let go all lines but totally forgot to retrieve stern mooring line to pontoon.
Lets reverse over rope and get firmly attached to pontoon.
H,mm.time is pressing so cut rope and check for vibration,not much,so proceed at low speed and take a few piccies.

Our club has nice set of blocks so arrange to go on early Sunday morning to remove rope and polish hull/check A/F etc at same time.
Shame about tides.4 blimming AM.Pitch black tide running nicely and one engine refuses to start,previous experience tells me the boat is an unresponsive cow going forward on one engine and as for astern....forget it.
Anywho we manage to get on blocks without hitting anything or waking anybody up.
The results.
The Medway Queen.
DSCN9161.jpg

My stern mooring Rope
rope.jpg

The totally clogged filters.
dieselbug.jpg

Fuel now out and settling.Will filter and return.
Which bug killer gets a chance to prove its worth ? Any suggestions.
What is going to go wrong next.
All suggestions welcome.
 
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I add Starbrite additive every fillup Allways have .Filters looked clean every Easter at change .
Just never know travelling about the exact quality of fuel ,so prevention I think is better than chancing it .
But not wanting to ignite the outdrive debate I can justify the tiny extra € for the additive cos of low fuel bill.
Also no need to lift out more£££ to clear/ change props or Clean props just raise the legs and reach from the bathing platform .
 
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz..............thats the sound of raising the leg................chop chop chop.............sound of a good knife cutting away the rope around the prop whilst getting ones forearm wet........mmmm......outdrives gotta love em!..... ;);)
 
Bad news about the fuel bug, but from numerous searches done previously it seems Grotomar 82 or Marine 16 come highly recommended to kill the bug.
Had you been using any additive prior to getting the bug?
Do you have any idea what may have caused this outbreak, assuming a bad fill up or just accumulation of water in the fuel tanks?
I wish you well with the clear up, boating don't you just love it at times!
 
RobWales said:
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz..............thats the sound of raising the leg................chop chop chop.............sound of a good knife cutting away the rope around the prop whilst getting ones forearm wet........mmmm......outdrives gotta love em!..... ;);)
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Grrr.......... :)




Going to finish cleaning out tank tonight and replace inspection plate.
All that will be left is to refit new filters to both engines and then bleed the blimming systems. Fuel lift pumps are well hidden of course and difficult to manually operate the weeny little lever.
Need to treat a thousand litres,so need to buy a decent sized bottle of snake oil.Had no idea there were so many fuel biocides on the market.
The real goo in the bottom will not be wasted,its going into the diesel space heater at work.
If that clogs up, slightly less drama to clean.
I now smell very faintly of diesel at all times.:0
 
oldgit said:
Grrr.......... :)




Going to finish cleaning out tank tonight and replace inspection plate.
All that will be left is to refit new filters to both engines and then bleed the blimming systems. Fuel lift pumps are well hidden of course and difficult to manually operate the weeny little lever.
Need to treat a thousand litres,so need to buy a decent sized bottle of snake oil.Had no idea there were so many fuel biocides on the market.
The real goo in the bottom will not be wasted,its going into the diesel space heater at work.
If that clogs up, slightly less drama to clean.
I now smell very faintly of diesel at all times.:0
Click to expand...

you may want to benefit from my hard won experience - you may not.

Several decades ago a helpful guy topped up a diesel tank with water.

The tank was immediately drained removed and cleaned with a steam cleaner all filter changed tank refilled with new diesel and dosed with biocide.

By the end of the month diesel bug

removed tank steam cleaned it again, applied copious amounts of biocide and ensured it went through the fuel system by putting it in the new filters

more bug

7 yes 7 seasons of this - then fuel-set came on the market, cured the problem overnight have never looked back.

All my boats have had the stuff in the fuel ever since and no hint of bug and the filters are clean (we cut them open to see whats inside when we change them)

it has also coped very well with the stuff they call diesel in Greece, often very wet and often very black, but the engine has never failed to start and the filters have never blocked.

no connection with liquid engineering just a very satisfied customer.
 
DAKA said:
Another vote for grotomar


Thats a lot of emulsified water, looks like you have some sort of emulsifier in the fuel either by you or the supplier,
my first thoughts would be to check the fuel cap filler O rings,
deck wash and rain water running down the decks and leaking in the filler perhaps ??


PBO test of treatments here

http://www.marine16.co.uk/acatalog/diesel_bug_pbo_test1.pdf
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+1 that looks like no bug I have ever seen, usually black and slimy!
 
Thanks to all who responded...even those dangling a pair of chocolate teapot unmentionables over the back.

Erm ....whats the difference between Grotomar 71 and 82 ????.....Confused. !
 
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Grotamar 82 is a new formulation for Bio diesel which is like a gourmet dinner to diesel bug and biodiesel has none of that horrible sulphur in it so they thrive.
 
oldgit said:
So me,still mainlining on good old fashioned filthy Red need to stick to 71 ?
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I'm sure you will benefit from a bioxide as a preventive measure especially as you have water evidence in your filter.

So far from the photos you have posted you do not have a Pseudomonas Aeruginosa issue,
you need to establish where all the emulsified water has come from.

There is evidence of water and an emulsifier overdose not a bug contamination , just too red and light (in my non expert opinion).
 
DAKA said:
I'm sure you will benefit from a bioxide as a preventive measure especially as you have water evidence in your filter.

So far from the photos you have posted you do not have a Pseudomonas Aeruginosa issue,
you need to establish where all the emulsified water has come from.

There is evidence of water and an emulsifier overdose not a bug contamination , just too red and light (in my non expert opinion).
Click to expand...


Must admit I have only seen brown bug as well and also wonder have your tanks been over dosed with something in the recent past, to cause such a wet emulsified diesel
 
Am going to check the diesel filler deck fitting . It is placed where any water draining back from side decks runs right across top of filler.
When the boat is lying on its mud berth it does heel over form a puddle very close to filler if deck drain blocked.
Going to bet money that's the problem.
Removed two bucketfuls of what can best be described as pinkish runny foamy goo, but without the black dots, from bottom of tank.:)
Basically a pink foamy expresso.
Pretty certain from comments on here,its water causing the problem not the diesel bug.
The boat has had at any point had any additive of any description ever.
 
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Better options

We recently boat a kit. No need for chemicals. It cleans the fuel and stops to bug from growing

0845 226 2934 - spoke to a girl called Lyndsey
 
oldgit said:
The boat has had at any point had any additive of any description ever.
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I think you are saying that you have not added an emulsifier.

Depending where you buy your fuel there is a very high chance that additives are in your fuel prior to purchase.

the south coast fuel I buy dockside has additives in prior to the marina getting it,
the fuel is not specially made for our marina so I expect all south coast marinas have additives in before it is delivered .

Further if your supplier has had an issue they may have added extra emulsifier.( some of my clients have fuel outlets and they say they deal with water in their tanks with chemicals)

Filler cap Orings should be replaced every two years and need to be Nitrile http://www.screwfix.com/p/metric-o-ring-set-3-50mm-419-pieces/27385
 
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