Diesel Bug in the Med

Bouba

Bouba

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This is a follow up to Steruth's thread Full Tanks in the Med
Is it true that no-one here has heard of, either first or second hand, a case of Diesel Bug in the Med?
 
Neighbour ,s Camarge 46 with CAT ,s 3208, s - this Sept .
Both fuel pumps needed to come off , new pipes ,inc cutting tank(s) and cleaning + new internal pick up pipes .Several filter changes etc
A real parlava -They worked on it for 4 days, and unusually for French late into the evenings ,till 11pm . Had a mobile fuel polishing barge twice along t,other side -daytime .
Owner only uses it once for 2 weeks / year, and was turning up that week end . We have never met them -only the guardiene who cleans it and hauls it out once for annual etc .

Thing is with regular use ,ie long ish hours/ season -- with the return to tank diesel , - you are ineffect constantly re- filtering it ,time and time agian .
Water obviously got in ? Any anti bug did not work , no running , no top ups -
We left early the day they arrived -so don,t know for sure how it all ended ?

So it's about ,but this boat was a sitting duck .
It's just had its teak cleaned -to honey glow and earlier say June ,the blue haunches were mechanically buffed -so looks well maintained --but we never hear anybody run the engines ,just clean it .
 
Portofino said:
Neighbour ,s Camarge 46 with CAT ,s 3208, s - this Sept .
Both fuel pumps needed to come off , new pipes ,inc cutting tank(s) and cleaning + new internal pick up pipes .Several filter changes etc
A real parlava -They worked on it for 4 days, and unusually for French late into the evenings ,till 11pm . Had a mobile fuel polishing barge twice along t,other side -daytime .
Owner only uses it once for 2 weeks / year, and was turning up that week end . We have never met them -only the guardiene who cleans it and hauls it out once for annual etc .

Thing is with regular use ,ie long ish hours/ season -- with the return to tank diesel , - you are ineffect constantly re- filtering it ,time and time agian .
Water obviously got in ? Any anti bug did not work , no running , no top ups -
We left early the day they arrived -so don,t know for sure how it all ended ?

So it's about ,but this boat was a sitting duck .
It's just had its teak cleaned -to honey glow and earlier say June ,the blue haunches were mechanically buffed -so looks well maintained --but we never hear anybody run the engines ,just clean it .
Click to expand...
I guess the fact they had a fuel polishing barge already shows it must be a big problem.
Is there any chance that all of the cases people have heard about are boats that have been brought over from the U.K. already infected?
 
No it's not a " big problem " they do a tank cleaning service .
Crud builds up over time and bigger boats have inspection hatches .Periodcally these are opened .From there a dicision is made to "nettoyage" the tank .
The boat next door ,guardiene told me had engine trouble , eventually diagnosed as the bug .
The guys on the barge were called in by the engineers to assist .
I don,t know where the barge is based ,never seen it before or since ,but we are talking arguably Worlds epicentre of leisure boating the SoF -every thing /service is out there .
 
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rafiki_ said:
I believe Vas has a friend who suffered with the bug this summer in Greece?
Click to expand...

indeed P.

oddly also CAT3208 which apparently have the extra feature of using diesel to lubricate the pumps (which again apparently the other engines don't)
Also a boat used twice a year (during August) for 15days in total and six months on the hard.
Owner had missed replacing the primary filters and only did the engine mounted ones. Result is that after 5+yrs once removed they were filled with the thing, tanks also affected slightly (?) pipework, pumps removed twice, real stressful weeks end of July beginning of August. Made it to his vacations, was with them most of the days, all travelling done at 9kn not wanting to push, pushed once reaching in company a nice anchorage, port engine stalled, spent a couple of hours sorting it out.
I believe now it's OK as he also found an air leak related to the stalling, starting and testing it regularly now.

I've also heard of another boat here with the bug.
I think though it's mainly lousy/substandard maintenance which is to blame. Proper diesel was OK, but omissions are highlighted with the bio diesel we use now.

I'm only using ELIN crystal diesel which has additive added into it from the factory. a few cents more expensive but never had a problem on the not so many nm I've done this one and a half season boat is back in the water.

cheers

V.
 
Hi All
I`m from the other side.... We chartered an English owned yacht in the Ionian early in season and a couple of days out started with engine revs dropping then finally the engine stopped off Zante ,managed to limp back to harbour not really knowing what the issue was however cut a long story short after changing filters ,no joy, sailed some distance to get near some engineers but engine was eventually stopping every 30 seconds as we approached a harbour so dropped anchor in deep outside .Ionian Boat assistance came and immediately identified diesel bug .
diesel possibly purchased in the quiet islands - not a big turnover through their pumps or diesel left in boat tank allowed moisture overwinter .Probably with you all buying diesel in marinas where there is a big turnover/flow you will not suffer ,but tank filter had jelly like toffee apple over it and system had to be stripped not a pleasant experience when you need an engine
Lesson get your diesel in busy places - regards Colin
 
Whitelighter said:
I think Hurricane had the bug once
Click to expand...

Yep - nasty experience - DJEFABS on here was with me when we got it.
We were about 100 mikes from land in a remote cruising area when we discovered it.
One engine's electronics reported low fuel pressure and went into "idiot mode" - low speed.
Luckly, we have duplex fuel pre filters and carry spares so we were able to make it safely into port.
But it was a scary incident.

I urge EVERYONE to treat for it.
Marine 16 Is so cheap to use as a deterrent that it is a "no brainer".
Take my word for it - Just do it.
 
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