MARINE 16 v SOLTRON

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A year or two ago MBM ran a test on diesal additives and proclaimed that Marine 16 was best buy. I had been using Soltron at that time and had no problems with my engines. I switched to Marine 16, and in a short time found I had diesal bug. Th prefilter got blocked over and over, I got towed in by the RNLI, and ended up leaving my old boat in Cowes to have the tanks cleaned out. A few weeks before this I had spent £300 with a company to clean my fuel, they called it polishing the fuel. Well that obsvioulsy did not work.

In the end I sold my old boat, and boat a younger one. It had been laid up for about a year before I bought it. No problems with fuel or enigines, until one day I thought the fuel guages were not working and I better fill up and see if they are reading correctly. Well, the tanks took about 100 litres each, so after filing I poured in the Marine 16, two weeks later, one the the engines would not start, my mechanic comes down changes the prefilter and the engine starts first time. He pronounces the fact that I had diesal bug!

So I am right back where I started from, with a boat that the engines could stop at any given moment and the dreaded bug.

I did not have this problem with Soltron, the label said it broke the particals down to a size that it passed through the engine and I guess filters without any trouble, either that or it did not work at all, it just seams strange to me as soon as I use Marine 16, I have all this trouble.

It looks like I may havae to clean the tanks, and they are full!!

Any suggestions on who I can use to clean my tanks, I am based in Hythe.
 
There was a thread on here a few days ago showing how to clean your own fuel, using an external pump and filters. Much cheaper than paying a "polisher".

I use Soltron, and to date have been OK. There but for the grace of God!!
 
But then again, it might not.

markdj said:
Agree, stick in the Soltron and let it do its work for a couple of weeks. A few applications and it should sort you right out.

Mark
www.boatdoctorni.com
Click to expand...

Our experience is that we used Soltron for a couple of years and then got "the bug".
We're currently using Marine 16 - for only 18 months as yet - and so far so good.

Some say that you need to change the additive after a while as the *******s become immune.
 
diesel bug

I only just came across your comments on Soltron versus Marine 16 products. I am surprised you did not contact me with your complaint. We have been buiding fuel treatments for over 20 years. They are the choice of the RNLI, Sea Start and River Canal Rescue. Bugs cannot become immune to our products. If you do read this reply please just give us a call.

David White

MD Marine 16 Ltd
 
I had the bug last year and I "polished it" the DIY route. I was only 50% full on each tank at the time so I bought a cheap diesel transfer pump and filter with cheap cartridges on the internet. Dosed both tanks with Miller Oil's biocide (can't remember the name used again today before filling, search Miller Oils Brighouse) left it for a week to swill about then pumped the fuel from tank to tank until filters stopped blocking (about 5 times). left it another week and repeated. Then I stripped the fuel filter assemblies apart completely and found big blobs lurking inside the filter housing. cleaned everything with petrol (bug doesn't like petrol;-) ), This summer the first few weeks I bunged up @ 3 or 4 primary 10micron filters quite quickly. Now it seems to be gone. I keep dosing with the millers biocide at each fill and fingers crossed. I left a long post a while ago with all the details, have a search if you need more info.
 
Diesel bug only grows if there is water present. If the tank is kept full and thus there is no condensation on the inside of the tank, the diesel bug should not grow. If the tank is sterilsed, then there should be very little chance for the bug to grow
 
Although this is quite an old thread the question of diesel bugs and fuel in water is becoming more of an issue as more low sulphur fuels (Sulphur acted as a natural Biocide). Very interested in Kashurst's comment of DIY polishing as we are working on producing a small low voltage 'plug & play' polishing unit and I would be interested to learn if anyone else has used one before and any advice or comments you would like to share. If not through this forum then through our website marship.eu it would be much appreciated (there is also lots of information on there about Diesel bugs / polishing etc). As an aside, we support Marine 16 products as does Practical Boatowner Magazine.
 
MarShip UK said:
Although this is quite an old thread the question of diesel bugs and fuel in water is becoming more of an issue as more low sulphur fuels (Sulphur acted as a natural Biocide). Very interested in Kashurst's comment of DIY polishing as we are working on producing a small low voltage 'plug & play' polishing unit and I would be interested to learn if anyone else has used one before and any advice or comments you would like to share. If not through this forum then through our website marship.eu it would be much appreciated (there is also lots of information on there about Diesel bugs / polishing etc). As an aside, we support Marine 16 products as does Practical Boatowner Magazine.
Click to expand...

Have installed my own fuel polishing system, a search on YouTube and you may find it... And marine 16 I was recommended and to date not looked back.

Btw, nice resurrection.
 
I've used Marine16 Diesel Bug Treatment or Diesel Complete for a couple of years. No problems with fuels in that time and I don't use it on every fill. However, I do give it a dose prior to winter storage and check tank sump at start of each season. I've only found a very tiny bit of black material prior to launch. When I do find anything I suck that out and re-dose with Marine16.

It seems to work but I might just have been lucky with fuel in Scotland, France and Spain.

Last time I looked, Marine16 and Grotamar82 used the same highly effective anti-microbial agent. I also know that some ferries in Scotland use Marine 16. I can't remember which one but saw an order going out for a ferry fairly far North last time I was picking some up.

No idea what's in Soltron, manufacturer says 0.1% - <1% proprietary organic compounds and it doesn't work in the same manner as the biocide in Marine16/Grotamar.
 
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Firstly diesel bug is becoming more prevalent due to the considerable reduction of sulphur which was a natural control for diesel bug and secondly the introduction of bio content in diesel on which the diesel bug thrive.

Marine 16 and Grotamar 71 and now 82 are straight biocides.

You need these days to treat diesel in boats with a biocide to control the diesel bug at every refill, as well as being scrupulous with your removal of water from the tank, from filters and the regular inspection of your prefilter bowls and filter elements etc.

Diesel bug wont go away if you ignore it.

If you have a tank that has diesel bug contamination and add a biocide, it will kill the diesel bug slime and mat but that diesel bug will now fall off the tank walls and baffles and start to break up it will then be drawn into the diesel prefilter where it will be trapped by the element as it cleans the diesel doing its job. This is the moment where people said "I added Marine 16 etc and I Now have diesel bug", Wrong! They have had diesel bug thriving in their fuel tanks for ages and now they have treated it with a biocide it has died off , broken up and is being picked up by the pre filter.

If you have diesel bug contamination it needs to be treated or it will get worse and damage the engine by contaminating the fuel pump and injectors and will stop an engine. This is very expensive to repair.

The by products of diesel bug contamination is acidic and will quickly corrode an aluminium or steel fuel tank and I have seen it corrode through an aluminium tank in about 4 years on a new boat.

If you have diesel bug contamination you need to kill it off with a biocide and either have the tank flushed and the fuel cleaned and returned to your tank or to let the pre filters do their work.

As a boat owner you need to know and to monitor your diesel fuel system. You need several sets of spare filter elements on a boat for such eventualities and you need to clean your filter units as well as draining off water.
 
Excellent description Bandit, and the exact reasons I have used Marine16 since having the boat. Only thing I'm unsure of, is there any truth in claim that Bug can become resilient if you use same treatment all the time, and is it adviseable to change type of additive every so often I.e every couple of years.
 
sharpness said:
Excellent description Bandit, and the exact reasons I have used Marine16 since having the boat. Only thing I'm unsure of, is there any truth in claim that Bug can become resilient if you use same treatment all the time, and is it adviseable to change type of additive every so often I.e every couple of years.
Click to expand...
good question and as one who gave up soltron after it stopped working and switched to marine 16 which did work, I suspect the bug can become resilient, but purely an anecdotal rather than a scientific conclusion. Any scientists with definive info out there?
 
Sharpness

I understand that diesel bug is not one specific species but various funghi and algae that live on the interface between diesel and water and they need both to live, they are in the air and water around us naturally but thrive between the water and diesel in a warm static fuel tank.

The original Grotamar 71 has been reformulated to to Grotamr 82 to control diesel bug in low sulphur and biodiesel mixes.

I bought a boat in 2007 that had contaminated fuel, I treated the fuel with Grotamar 71 and I actually filtered the fuel with our diesel bug filter unit.

Its a matter of treatment, removal of water from the tank where possible have sumps in my tanks with stripping lines to remove water and being fastidious on treatment every time I refuel, checking and monitoring the prefilters.

I don't think diesel bug becomes resistant but you must remove the water to stay in control.
 
Well said Bandit
Personally I use Startron diesel additive -reckons to kill it ( them ) and break them down +disperse any water , so go throught the injectors .
Prob spend € 100 /annum .
Allways add some every fill up ad in the winter top up the tank to min condensation inside the cold walls .
Never in 9 years ever seen any water - I do drain now and again .cos I feel guilty if I do not .
Bandits right doing nothing is asking for trouble .Boats based in the Med so the last thing I need ( Fam + freinds hols) is to be pratting about with engine probs -which turn out to be preventable for the sake of € 100 or so
Also at annual filter change they seem spotless - almost to the piont of being a bit disappointed fitting new when " old" look fine .kinda secretly hoping one day to see somthing to justify new ones -so far no luck
 
Completely agree with Bandit and doing nothing is not an option.

The by products mentioned are anaerobic bacteria and Bandit has experience of an aluminium tank corroding in 4 years!……Yep can easily believe that although that was a relatively long time, In worst cases they could corrode through a STEEL tank in a less than a year.

Remove the water and the bugs have nowhere to live. It’s a good idea to stick diesel bug treatment in if you suspect any bugs but not all treatments are the same, Marine 16 are and Grotomar use a biocide, others use enzymes which can actually make matters worse if not dosed correctly, that might be why some products do not seem to work.

However once the tank is treated and the bugs are dead we would highly recommend using a diesel additive, the reduction of sulphur has not just allowed the bugs an easier life it has also meant the fuel has lost lubricity. Sulphur has lubricity and is actually used as an EP (Extreme Pressure) additive in gear oils. Now the sulphur has gone so has the lubricant that kept all the fuel system lubricated.

A diesel additive replaces the lubricant but also has a cetane improver (like the octane number in petrol). With the removal of the sulphur there was also a lowering of the cetane number, basically you now get less bang for your buck, this can be improved by 3 points (with Marine 16, not sure about the others) so helps starting and gives up to 4% reduction in fuel consumption so actually pays for itself, it also demulsifies the new fuel so the water drops to the bottom and with a small amount of Diesel bug Treatment in the additive kills any bugs that are introduced with the new fuel.

Continuously dosing with diesel bug treatment is expensive and unnecessary, continuous dosing with an additive gives far more advantages and is almost half the price!

So to achieve clean trouble free fuel, , Kill off any bugs with a bug treatment, fit a Fuel purifier/water separator to remove the water (see our web site, there is a video showing how it works) and regularly dose with a diesel additive not a bug treatment.

Hope this helps
 
Under new EU Regs there are now only two biocides that can claim to kill or prevent both of them. Marine 16 has both but we sell the one I believe to be technically and commercially the best. None of the enzyme products such as Soltron can now legally claim to kill or prevent diesel bug. If enzymes were better than biocdes I would make them. I also consult on biocidal systems for drug manufacturing and hospitals. Resistance is caused by mutataions due to inclomplete kill. This is what happens with anitbiotics. With biocides we kill everything. No survivors, no mutant strains, no replication. No resistance. The choice of biocide is important. Not all biocides kill all bugs. Hope that helps but anyone can call me via www.marine16.co.uk if they have any further questions. David White MD Marine1 6 Ltd
 
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