diesel bug?

[Elessar]

Use Chris Curtis Clean Diesel company he operates all over the south coast
He will suck out fuel, clean out tanks of any sludge

There is a fuel polishing company in my marina and he came to take a look.
He could come up with no way of accessing the tanks to polish the fuel either (without lots of collateral damage) so he suggested a shock chemical treatment.
He uses soltron and I already had some marine 16 in there and he says they are incompatible - so he recommended a shock dose of marine 16 (which he doesn’t sell)
So he spent 20 or 30 mins with me, gave me loads of advice and sold nothing.

If the marine 16 doesn’t work I’ll do the surgery and he’ll come back and polish it.

He said that he did 18 boats from the local MDL marinas last year and none from premier marinas. Premier pre dose their diesel with soltron.

I will for sure be using a fuel treatment permanently in future.

I’ve never used one and never had a problem. But I use the boat all year round and this year I didn’t because I had a bad leg. It could have been related to lack of use. Or maybe coincidence.

 

[Elessar]

Ps I only have 2 spare filters left and I’m off to Chichester tomorrow - where’s the best place to get racor filters at a decent price (col normally leaves me spares when he does the service so I’ve never bought any)

There is of course a huge chance that the crap in there will break down and block the filters quickly. Good thing is they are dead easy to get to and there is lots of space so easy to change at sea.

 

[Hurricane]

If I were you, I would keep the heavy concentration of marine 16 for 3 or 4 refuel sessions.
To try and dilute the fuel in there with new heavily concentrated Marine 16/fuel mix.
Then treat the system to the expensive Marine 16 Complete.
See here https://marine16.co.uk/product/diesel-fuel-complete/
I understand that this stuff also contains a lubricant which might condition the system.
As I said earlier in this thread, you will be surprised how much ?rap gets dissolved using standard Marine 16.
A good few flushes with the concentrate mix should break it down.

 

[Elessar]

If I were you, I would keep the heavy concentration of marine 16 for 3 or 4 refuel sessions.
To try and dilute the fuel in there with new heavily concentrated Marine 16/fuel mix.
Then treat the system to the expensive Marine 16 Complete.
See here https://marine16.co.uk/product/diesel-fuel-complete/
I understand that this stuff also contains a lubricant which might condition the system.
As I said earlier in this thread, you will be surprised how much ?rap gets dissolved using standard Marine 16.
A good few flushes with the concentrate mix should break it down.

Makes sense. I didn’t think of shock dosing the next few fills but it seems like a good idea. I’m at 100ml per 100l at the mo which is what they recommend for heavy contamination. The maintenance dose is 100ml per 2000l.

My trip to Chi tomorrow will give it a stir up. I’ll then add some more fuel with a shock dose.

 

[Hurricane]

Makes sense. I didn’t think of shock dosing the next few fills but it seems like a good idea. I’m at 100ml per 100l at the mo which is what they recommend for heavy contamination. The maintenance dose is 100ml per 2000l.

My trip to Chi tomorrow will give it a stir up. I’ll then add some more fuel with a shock dose.

Yep - that what I do.
My tanks are 2000l each side.
So, I got a couple of 100ml containers from Marine 16 and I decant 100ml from a bigger container into them.
Then just before filling up, I empty one 100ml container into each side.
That means I end up with a stronger mix than the recommended 100ml per 2000 but it is "cheap as chips" on the grand scale of things.
I have not had a single sign of bug since adopting this strategy.
And in the Med, remember, we only have ULSD - not the good old Red with all that sulphur (actually, I may be out of date on that statement).
My point is that ULSD with a Bio mix IMO is more susceptible to bug that the old Red containing sulphur.
I'm not an expert but thats my view.

 

[Martin_J]

Ps I only have 2 spare filters left and I’m off to Chichester tomorrow - where’s the best place to get racor filters at a decent price (col normally leaves me spares when he does the service so I’ve never bought any)

Hi.. Not exactly the best price but I guess you realise that Hyphose (in Southampton and Portsmouth) seem to stock most of the racor filters and filter elements. Handy if you need a few immediately.

I would also second Chris Curtis at Clean Diesel Company for a speedy and efficient service. My diesel tank already had an inspection hatch but I could only get to one side of a baffle so I was a little stuck. I called him last Wednesday and on Friday afternoon he visited the boat, emptied the tank, took the murky fuel to his van, centrifuged/polished/treated the removed fuel, added a second inspection hatch, cleaned the tank, put the fuel back in and sent me photos and videos of it all..

I guess I could have done all that myself but I'd still be trying to remove the diesel smell from both the boat and myself.. and I'd still be clearing out any swarf!

 

[superheat6k]

Makes sense. I didn’t think of shock dosing the next few fills but it seems like a good idea. I’m at 100ml per 100l at the mo which is what they recommend for heavy contamination. The maintenance dose is 100ml per 2000l.

My trip to Chi tomorrow will give it a stir up. I’ll then add some more fuel with a shock dose.

Mark. I have quite a few 500 and 900 size Chinese copy Racor elements in Hamble if you need some - £5 for the 500. £8 for the 900 size. I will PM you my mobile number.

 

[Boat2016]

I normally buy my Racor filters from ASAP and they now have a branch in Fareham if that’s near enough.

 

[Elessar]

Update.

I tried pumping and filtering and got a pro polisher along to take a look who couldn’t figure how to access it either.

Eventually I decided to cut a new hole in the tank to get access.

Whilst still sourcing bits a friend who installs fuel stations brought a small coke bottle of liquid along. Wouldn’t tell me what it was. He put about 1/4 of the bottle in each tank and took the rest home with him.

He said it was enough “for 30000 litres”.

Anyway my bowls are miraculously crystal clear and everything is running perfectly.

Whatever it was I wish you could buy it in force 4. I guess it’s some bio thing that has to be restricted but I don’t know.

I do know I’ll be putting a preventative measure in every fill up from now on. Something I’ve never done before and never had a problem before this one. But I don’t want it again!

 

[rafiki_]

Great result Mark, well done!

 

[Momac]

Another vote for preventative additive on a regular basis.
Although I do know people who add nothing and have had no fuel issues.

You never know if the fuel you buy is clean.

I am presently using the type of additive that dissolves water into the fuel rather than the stuff that makes the water drop out..
However I understand no additive will deal with large quantities of water in the fuel. Seals on fuel filler caps are very important.

 

[Martin1976]

I was put out of action by diesel bug whilst rounding one of the Solent forts....
In a shameless plug given his first class service, Parker Marine services came and sorted the fuel out....

 

[Elessar]

I bit the bullet and cut a hole the tank.

I pumped out all but 100 litres and vacuumed that out. I returned it to the other thank via a sieve. My logic is the the filters will polish it as long as the fuel can get up the pipe to the filter

I could only vacuum the rear 1/3 of the tank due to the baffles, and in a month or so when some crap from the forward 2 sections has jiggled back I’ll do it again.


I don’t understand how the engine ran at all.

About a 1/4 of a 5 litre container is full of grit and what looks like jellyfish.

Right now I have 600 litres one side and none in the other so it is a bit like sailing a beam reach but sat in the marina!
Off out today with friends and will pump as we go.

Fingers crossed I’ve nailed it now.

I’ve uploaded pictures but they don’t seem to have appeared. I hate the photo hosting on this website.
Edit 2. Seems I had to email them to myself to resize them. What a load of rubbish.

 

[petem]

Blimey Mark, that looks horrendous! Looks like you've turned a corner getting it fixed now though.