Diesel bug

[Sgroves]

We've just purchased a secondhand boat, we have no history of the fuel treatment processes (if any!) that the previous owner followed, but have added soltron each time we've refueled, recently, our regular pre-cruise check showed that the filter on one engine was heavily clogged with black slime. I'm concerned that we may have lots of dead bug in the bottom of the tanks? does anyone know if Soltron will remove the dead bug, or does it only treat live ones? Any comments? or experience of other treatments?

Steve

 

[hlb]

Soltron is supposed to digest the dead bugs. Though how many it can eat at once is debatable! It will shift them eventualy though.

 

[Nick_H]

Refueled at Plymouth Yacht Haven the other day, and they have an additive added to their fuel before they sell it, and their fuel was still pretty cheap at 43p a litre (which is cheap these days). Why don't other fuel retailers do the same?

 

[trev]

I had used Sltron for two years in my boat (bought five years old) and still had the bug when the filters clogged six miles off Dover on a choppy run from Calais.
Suggest you get the Expresslube people to give it a flush - cost me a couple of hundred, but well worth the peace of mind.
I'm not totally convinced by any of the additive hype ! Still use it though.

 

[floyd]

Hi

I agree with your scepticism on diesel additives. I am not sure about Soltron being able to deal with dead biomass in the tank. My understanding was that additives work in two ways: either they kill the bugs (with the disadvantage that the dead bugs then accumulate in the tank) or they remove the water from the fuel which should stop diesel bug from growing.

Personally we have stuck to a regime of keeping the tank reasonably full to cut down on condensation in the tank; regular fuel filter changes every couple of hundred hours; even more regular primary filter draining to check whether the fuel is becoming contaminated; and not doing obviously stupid things like filling up in the middle of the rain or not mopping up the inevitable water from around the fuel filler.

Now we've only had this particular boat 3 years and done about 500 hours, so perhaps that's not long enough for diesel bug to become a problem and we've been lucky.

Nonetheless at the moment I am of the belief that prudence together with a spare set of fuel filters and the ability to change them when needed is at least as good an option to the plethora of expensive "wonder drugs" on the market.

Floyd

 

[DepSol]

Just to confirm Soltron WILL break up the dead matter so it can pass through your filters and be burnt off.