Different boat-same bug!!

[penpal]

Just had a service done and hey ho got the diesel bug! Ropewalk have suggested having the diesel polishing done. I had his done on my last boat by another company and it didn't do much good. I wondered if anyone can make some suggestions.

I did use Marine 16, but last year I only used the boat four times due to a house move.

 

[Firefly625]

A blast of marine 16 fuel bug treatment (that is different to the normal marine 16 fuel treatment), re-fill tank, run and change filters.

Then have a read of the fuel polishing thread on here and see if you can get a system working on your boat.

Oh, and use your boat more!

 

[omega2]

If you are able to get into the tank then you can best part do your own polish. First run the tank down by using the boat, and then with a "puppy" bilge pump drag the fuel out into containers, filtering it through a pair of the other halfs tights, this will catch most of the crud. I accept that all the carp will not be removed but most of it will be. The fuel can then be put back into the tank and with clean filters (what have you got) she should run for a while. Try adding bug treatment if you are not happy. What did your "expert" point out to you when diagnosing the bug??

 

[penpal]

If you are able to get into the tank then you can best part do your own polish. First run the tank down by using the boat, and then with a "puppy" bilge pump drag the fuel out into containers, filtering it through a pair of the other halfs tights, this will catch most of the crud. I accept that all the carp will not be removed but most of it will be. The fuel can then be put back into the tank and with clean filters (what have you got) she should run for a while. Try adding bug treatment if you are not happy. What did your "expert" point out to you when diagnosing the bug??

Not a lot mainly how you get the bug and what he can do to solve it which is polishing by moving the fuel from one tank to another

 

[penpal]

I have 2 x Racor 500 prefilters I would post a picture of the sediment in the glass bowl but I don't know how to copy a photo onto this message

 

[omega2]

I have 2 x Racor 500 prefilters I would post a picture of the sediment in the glass bowl but I don't know how to copy a photo onto this message

when were the filters last cleaned out? the sediment is where it should be i.e in the glass bowl. Have you been stopped by the carp?? did the service man replace the filters? It sounds to me you need to take matters into your own hands, changing filters is not rocket science. Too many boat owners are taken for ride by so called experts IIMHO

What was his theory on aquiering the bug?? dying to know how.

re the pictures stick them on photo bucket, then copy the IMG code and paste on here, delete the url just leave the IMG code.

 

[NoIllusion]

Just had a service done and hey ho got the diesel bug! Ropewalk have suggested having the diesel polishing done. I had his done on my last boat by another company and it didn't do much good. I wondered if anyone can make some suggestions.

I did use Marine 16, but last year I only used the boat four times due to a house move.

Grotamar 82...........awesome stuff!!

 

[penpal]

Funny thing the filters were all clear when I last used around August last year, this has appeared over the winter, although I had blocked prefilters some years ago and replaced for bigger filters which helped. I'll go own and fun the engines and see what happens.ill buy some Marine16 bug killer, as well

 

[Bandit]

If you have clean fuel you are highly unlikely to block the filters.

You don't "catch fuel bug" it is a build up of water in a fuel tank that allows the bacteria and fungus that are in the air around us to grow on the interface between the fuel oil ( food) and the layer of water at the bottom of the tank.

You had contaminated fuel then you added Marine 16 which is a biocide it did its job and killed the bug which has died off and fell off the tank walls and baffles it has broken up and is now being picked up by the fuel pre filters.

If you can get access to the tanks remove any water you can, continue to use a biocide at fuel refill ( I prefer Grotamar 82 which is formulated for bio diesel) , keep an eye on your pre filters which are normally Racor, Volvo Penta or Separ , inspect the filter elements and drain any water from the bowl. Keep say three spare sets of fuel filter elements on board so you can change out blocked filters and it will work its way out.

But if you can drain any water from the tank and also check or replace the rubber "O" ring on the diesel tank filler lid.

Some boats if you are lucky have a sump on them and a drain cock do you can drain off the water and crud that accumulates in the sump, my boat has sumps and a stripping line so I can strip them each year and examine the fuel crud and water volume, I use an oil vacuum Pella Pump which I only use for diesel , otherwise if you have used it for dirty engine oil it will stain and you cant see the quality of the fuel, I then tip it out into a white plastic paint kettle ( like a small bucket) so you can inspect it.

I have had contaminated fuel in two boats now, the last one when I bought it second hand, get on top of the problem.

If you cant open the tank easily and suck any water out then firstly give it a shock ( high) dose of biocide and allow it to work for at least a week and then get it professionally flushed out ( fuel polishing) with the clean fuel returned to the tank.

We are now with bio diesel seeing lots of diesel contamination , and treating it or filtering and polishing the fuel.

 

[penpal]

If you have clean fuel you are highly unlikely to block the filters.

You don't "catch fuel bug" it is a build up of water in a fuel tank that allows the bacteria and fungus that are in the air around us to grow on the interface between the fuel oil ( food) and the layer of water at the bottom of the tank.

You had contaminated fuel then you added Marine 16 which is a biocide it did its job and killed the bug which has died off and fell off the tank walls and baffles it has broken up and is now being picked up by the fuel pre filters.

If you can get access to the tanks remove any water you can, continue to use a biocide at fuel refill ( I prefer Grotamar 82 which is formulated for bio diesel) , keep an eye on your pre filters which are normally Racor, Volvo Penta or Separ , inspect the filter elements and drain any water from the bowl. Keep say three spare sets of fuel filter elements on board so you can change out blocked filters and it will work its way out.

But if you can drain any water from the tank and also check or replace the rubber "O" ring on the diesel tank filler lid.

Some boats if you are lucky have a sump on them and a drain cock do you can drain off the water and crud that accumulates in the sump, my boat has sumps and a stripping line so I can strip them each year and examine the fuel crud and water volume, I use an oil vacuum Pella Pump which I only use for diesel , otherwise if you have used it for dirty engine oil it will stain and you cant see the quality of the fuel, I then tip it out into a white plastic paint kettle ( like a small bucket) so you can inspect it.

I have had contaminated fuel in two boats now, the last one when I bought it second hand, get on top of the problem.

If you cant open the tank easily and suck any water out then firstly give it a shock ( high) dose of biocide and allow it to work for at least a week and then get it professionally flushed out ( fuel polishing) with the clean fuel returned to the tank.

We are now with bio diesel seeing lots of diesel contamination , and treating it or filtering and polishing the fuel.

Thank you r this advice I'll change to Grotamar 82 and give it a big dose

 

[Bandit]

Good move, make sure you have several spare sets of elements as it will die and come through to the filter keep an eye on the filets after every trip and you need to be familiar with changing an element in case you have to do it at sea.

One or two engines and what type?