Diesel tank - car vs boat

cmedsailor

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Why we need to clean the fuel tank in a boat and make sure that it's clean whereas in a car we never bother but also never have problems? What's the difference? We use the same diesel.
 
The "dirt" I had in the boat tank was diesel bug. Only need to fill up once with contaminated diesel, and have some mosture in the tank, and it will grow, unless precautions are taken.

I put ~40 - 45L in my 52L car tank once a fortnight, so a large throughput of diesel, with very little hanging around. The car tank has a bottom take off, so any small qantities of mosture, which get in by the tank breathing and water condensing, will be pulled through the engine and burned. I put ~30L in my 100L boat tank 3-4 times a year. It has a top take off, so the mosture says in the bottom, and the bugs grow. After removing and steam cleaning the tank last winter I now dose with Marine 16, and the bugs have not (yet) returned.
 
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