Diesel Bug Treatments

[Montemar]

I know there are two different types of treatment namely those that dissolve water into the fuel and those that simply kill the bug. I have always used Grotamar 82.
I have never heard of anyone recommending that both types are used simultaneously. Would this be a good idea?

 

[Hurricane]

Marine 16 is the same as Grotamar but I believe a lot cheaper.
Thats what I use.

 

[Orthop]

I always use Grotamar, but in Germany it´s not sold to private persons anymore, since a few months. Wherever you get your fuel it might be helpful to consider a professional tank cleaning at a regularly period of time (5 years?). E.g. I believe some fuel stations in Croatia sell not the stuff you really want. Can you simply buy Gr/82 in UK ?

 

[Elessar]

I have never heard of anyone recommending that both types are used simultaneously. Would this be a good idea?

I’ve suffered terribly from bug over the last year, now thankfully cured after making a hole in the tank to vacuum it out.

I was advised by suppliers specifically not to mix the desolving type (eg soltron) with the killing type (eg marine 16)
Note if you fill up in Premier they pre dose with soltron apparently.

 

[Momac]

I think there may be a possibility that mixing two treatments unless specifically recommended by a single supplier could diminish the affect of both .

 

[Montemar]

Thanks for replies, could be that alternating treatments may work best.

 

[ari]

Another Marine16 fan here, although you never really know if they work (as opposed to never having a problem in the first place), only if they don't...

 

[Elessar]

Another Marine16 fan here, although you never really know if they work (as opposed to never having a problem in the first place), only if they don't...

I didn’t have any problem using nothing.
Until I did........

 

[Bandit]

I use Grotamar 87 and have done for 12 years in current boat and boats before.

We also use it commercially but last year we were instructed that we could not sell it to the general public only to be used by professionals.

Grotamar is a very effective biocide.

Firstly you need to remove any water from your fuel tanks, this builds up with time, there is a certain percentage of water in diesel anyway, but rain water, filler cap seals, condensation etc it builds up and sits at the bottom of your tank with little likelihood of evaporating with 50cm of diesel over the top of it.

I am lucky I have sumps built in to my tanks of about 1.5 litres and this traps water and crud and each season I drain these and take out about an egg cup full of water from each tank, the sumps are about 6 inch diameter so have a small surface area for the bug to grow on the interface between water and diesel.

Imagine a flat bottomed tank with a litre of water in it the surface area could be the whole of the whole area of the bottom of the tank.

Fuel tank pick up lines finish short of the bottom of the tank for a very good reason so that you don't draw up all water and crud

We clean fuel tanks of diesel bug, we generally have to cut inspection hatches in the tank tops to gain access.

Why boat fuel tanks are built without sumps and preferably drain plugs or a method of drawing fuel from the very bottom of the tank and acess hatches behind each baffle plate is a crime but its down to cost.

The other problem is aluminium tanks with diesel bug corrode from the inside out because the fuel bug makes the water corrosive. So generally a new fuel tank is required.

So make every effort to drain all water from your diesel tank and use a fuel bug killer, I advocate Grotamar 87.