rafiki_
Well-Known Member
The fuel at Portishead is proper coastal diesel, not inland with bio. it is not dosed with any addititve so I currently use Marine 16.
Argh. Diesel Bug.....in full Tecknecolour.Bad luck and trouble etc
- Thread starter oldgit
- Start date
The fuel at Portishead is proper coastal diesel, not inland with bio. it is not dosed with any addititve so I currently use Marine 16.
DAKA
Well-Known Member
I dont use Bio either .
The proper coastal fuel I buy on the south coast is laced with additive , I would be interested in the response you get if you ask the specific questions.
rafiki_
Well-Known Member
I did ask the question last time I fuelled. No additive.
DAKA
Well-Known Member
Was the guy selling it likely to know ?
rafiki_
Well-Known Member
Yep, he's the guy who orders the fuel.
DAKA
Well-Known Member
You might be right with your assumption 
Usually it will be ordered as a trade name, the supplier probably doesnt know without checking .
If you can be bothered you need to check what the trade name is and check with the supplier exactly what is in it.
Usually it will be ordered as a trade name, the supplier probably doesnt know without checking .
If you can be bothered you need to check what the trade name is and check with the supplier exactly what is in it.
lynall
Well-Known Member
Thats exactly how the water was getting into my petrol tank, i removed it from the deck, resealed it and stripped the cap down and checked all the o-rings etc, been fine since, i even went so far as to fit an agglomerater into the system to catch any water.
Latestarter1
Well-Known Member
Sorry to not appear unsympathetic however no amout of fuel treatment will do very much for you.
If you are using CAV 296 as a primary filter then installation is not fit for purpose. If the 296's are your last chance filters and this contamination has escaped your primary your first line of defence then you simply have no first line of defence, no aggomeration nothing.
Hate to say it but is just an accident that was bound to happen.
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oldgit
Well-Known Member
The primary Filter was the recommended Vetus ,the 2 x secondaries per engine were Fleetguard FF 167.
The diesel flow to one engine was totally blocked by emulsified diesel in primary diesel filter canister.. No contamination ever got as far as the secondary filters.
The other engine had a small amount of pink foam in the primary filter but insufficiant to prevent it running.
Tank has been totally drained and cleaned internally,all pipes and filters,including fuel lift pump filter inspected but no trace of contamination beyond primary filters.
Everything now up and running and with considerably less smoke on idle.
The diesel flow to one engine was totally blocked by emulsified diesel in primary diesel filter canister.. No contamination ever got as far as the secondary filters.
The other engine had a small amount of pink foam in the primary filter but insufficiant to prevent it running.
Tank has been totally drained and cleaned internally,all pipes and filters,including fuel lift pump filter inspected but no trace of contamination beyond primary filters.
Everything now up and running and with considerably less smoke on idle.
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Latestarter1
Well-Known Member
FF167 is direct replacement for the old CAV 296 identical and pretty pathetic filteration properties, so make is of no relevance.
Still no clue about primary filter and was all this established before we switched to zero sulphur fuel or after, because in 2010 when we had to re-write the rule book.
oldgit
Well-Known Member
Point taken and understood .
So looking for better quality filter,presumably Racor will do something that fits ?
So looking for better quality filter,presumably Racor will do something that fits ?
Latestarter1
Well-Known Member
As you know I am no fan of 50 year old Racor design, expensive, fiddly, making filter changing in seaway a pain and not particularly effective.
If you post your Vetus model# there MAY be something more effective which uses existing filter head, always first port of call.
Interesting but your pink grunge looks exactly the same as the contaminant which badly afflicts supermarket diesel storage tanks, once again this was part of presentation given at the Marine Fuel Forum.
Latestarter1
Well-Known Member
I just looked a Vetus site and it appears that spin on filter/water separators use the same filter head, capacity simply increases by fitting longer cartridge.
Life looked like it could be real simple exept the spin on element is 10 Micron with NO options which runs contrary to my 30-10-2 rule.
Cannot find coss reference for Vetus 320/350VETB cartridge however certain I once found alternative to these expensive cartriges so will keep looking.
Life looked like it could be real simple exept the spin on element is 10 Micron with NO options which runs contrary to my 30-10-2 rule.
Cannot find coss reference for Vetus 320/350VETB cartridge however certain I once found alternative to these expensive cartriges so will keep looking.
omega2
Well-Known Member
forgive me for mentioning this but how full was/are your tanks? as fuel will float on top of any water in there and as you use/ drain down the water will come into play and stop you. Keep your fuel levels high this helps prevent condensation in them.
CHI
Well-Known Member
HI Latestarter1
How about the later Stratapore Fleetguard filters, Are they a good alternative as a pre-filter
Although i suppose they will not fit a Vetus filter head?
How about the later Stratapore Fleetguard filters, Are they a good alternative as a pre-filter
Although i suppose they will not fit a Vetus filter head?
Latestarter1
Well-Known Member
That would be my strategy in a nutshell...........Choose a big Fleetguard FS model with Stratapore intended for say a large Detroit with 20 or 30 micron first pass performance and look at filter head options. These filters can carry more than their own weight in debris and still pass fuel.
In a post a while back thought I had identified Vetus filter head dimensions, ho hum will keep digging.
DAKA
Well-Known Member
Over the years you have given oodles of expert filter advice thank you.
It took a few postings for me to take on board what you were telling us was about to happen , I listened along with several others and upgraded as per your suggestion.
Others unfortunately keep their heads buried in the sand and this could be the start of a long line of similar threads, it will take a while for the emulsified water to accumulate .
You were clear in your warnings about the fuel we are buying changing too.
it will be interesting if rafiki goes to the trouble to identify the fuel he filled up with, he clearly was interested in what he was putting in the tank, what we need to know is was the reply given by the guy selling the fuel accurate.
rafiki and all of us could already have the Strawberry Blamange building in our tanks.
Jegs
Well-Known Member
rafiki_
Well-Known Member
Daka, Shergar is about flogged to death on this
I asked the question of the guy who sources the fuel, as previously I had been using inland fuel, which included some FAME, but which was treated by the Marina, Tewkesbury.
Portishead, being coastal, uses non FAME diesel, and does not treat it. Now, I cannot be 100% sure that somewhere in the supply chain has either treated or not treated the fuel! but why would the supplier incur the cost of treatment if not requested by the purchaser?
However, I have treated the fuel with Marine 16 on Rafiki. I'm not sure there is much more I can do.
DAKA
Well-Known Member
I feel the same way , only not even at the first hurdle on this one
Long story but here goes...............
A large marina group wrote to all their berth holders and everyone who gave a genuine address on their 60/40 declaration ,
it went something along the lines of............
Great news , our fuel is treated with some really good additive and you shouldnt add your own fuel treatment to it.
If you need to add anything then make sure its the same we use.
I use Marine 16 being , I then went to the trouble to find out exactly what they were adding.
Guy at the pump didnt know.
Marina manager who ordered it didnt really know but to his credit he quickly sprung into action,
they were not really adding anything, they were buying it in already laced with additive .
Turned out the fuel is not just bought by my fuel depot but is a trade fuel with additives added at source
designed for coastal marinas sold to all the south coast marinas except the ones inland which have their own problems .
I think I am right in saying the only way you can avoid additives is to buy kerosene (heating oil)
but this will seriously damage your engine if used neat .
Now I am going to guess, the following should be taken as my guess and not fact ............
Due to economies of scale and production costs,
The fuel from dockside is the same you put in your car with an additive to help storage
The fuel you put in your car is already laced with additive.
Oldgits fuel was most likely overdosed with additive.
He got water in from the filler which caused the pink blancmange.
The rest of us have the same pink blancmange slowly building in our tanks
Long story but here goes...............
A large marina group wrote to all their berth holders and everyone who gave a genuine address on their 60/40 declaration ,
it went something along the lines of............
Great news , our fuel is treated with some really good additive and you shouldnt add your own fuel treatment to it.
If you need to add anything then make sure its the same we use.
I use Marine 16 being , I then went to the trouble to find out exactly what they were adding.
Guy at the pump didnt know.
Marina manager who ordered it didnt really know but to his credit he quickly sprung into action,
they were not really adding anything, they were buying it in already laced with additive .
Turned out the fuel is not just bought by my fuel depot but is a trade fuel with additives added at source
designed for coastal marinas sold to all the south coast marinas except the ones inland which have their own problems .
I think I am right in saying the only way you can avoid additives is to buy kerosene (heating oil)
but this will seriously damage your engine if used neat .
Now I am going to guess, the following should be taken as my guess and not fact ............
Due to economies of scale and production costs,
The fuel from dockside is the same you put in your car with an additive to help storage
The fuel you put in your car is already laced with additive.
Oldgits fuel was most likely overdosed with additive.
He got water in from the filler which caused the pink blancmange.
The rest of us have the same pink blancmange slowly building in our tanks