Sucking out the crud.

G

gus

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 May 2001
Messages
405
Location
Larkhall, South Lanarkshire
www.whysuffer.co.uk
Watching 'Saving lives at Sea', it seems like many casualties are suffering from blocked fuel filters. I wonder how many boaters potter about without problems, then when they then undertake a rougher passage, suffer from a fuel blockage when it could have been avoided by regularly sucking out the crud from the bottom of the fuel tank. I feel it is one of these regular maintenance jobs which is grossly overlooked.
 
Absolutely. Peela, cable tied to a stick, at night, with a torch, i can see the 4 corners of the tank base.

I suspect it had never been done in the previous 40yrs ownership of the boat as i check yearly, and have only had to do it once, about 10years ago...
 
Agreed its neglected .
Since diesel may , and probably does , have increasing amounts of bio fuel in it leading to increased risk of fuel issues and since many of us have the same fuel in the tank for six months or more over the winter you are quite correct .
 
MartynG said:
Agreed its neglected .
Since diesel may , and probably does , have increasing amounts of bio fuel in it leading to increased risk of fuel issues and since many of us have the same fuel in the tank for six months or more over the winter you are quite correct .
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I had dirty fuel about 4 years ago, so had the tank emptied and cleaned. I now understand that with the increased amount of bio fuel, that diesel is meant to be used within 3 months according to the data sheet. Now, rather than leaving the tank full over the winter (in Greece) I run the tank as low as I dare. In the Spring I check the diesel looks clear by taking a sample out with a little squeezy bulb suction thing. I would also see any water too.

If it looks clear (which it has for the past two winters of doing this) I fill up for the coming season. I do use Marine 16 when I fill

Works for me

(BTW, my fuel tank is formed from the hull so does not have a drain tap)

TS
 
After a dose of the fuel bug several years ago (from red diesel) I have the tank cleaned every three years, run with only the amount that I need in the tank +20 ltrs.

I'm planning to visit the Azores in the summer of 2021, the entire fuel system will be checked before I cast off.
 
Our 40 year-old boat had a reoccurring problem with clogged fuel filters. We carry spares and I have, on occasion, washed them out at sea in gasoline. The previous owner had himself towed in by the Coast Gard.
The old steel tank, unfortunately, did not have any inspection hatches, so eventually I put some in. There was a mound of some 6 inches under the infill and I scooped out a couple of buckets of muck from the bottom. Then, I sealed it with epoxy. We had no more problems after that. The boat had been in the Med for a number of years and one has to wonder as to the cleanliness of diesel in general.
5 years later the tank rusted through, from the outside, and just as we were re-engining the boat; talk about luck. We have replaced it with a translucent plastic tank.
 
After breaking down last year due to dirty fuel at the bottom of my tank I'm going to only fill up via a racor fuel filler/filter in future. I'm also going to completely drain and clean my tank each winter. Probably a but overkill to clean the tank every year as it's a new plastic one but it won't take that long.
 
Crinan12 said:
After breaking down last year due to dirty fuel at the bottom of my tank I'm going to only fill up via a racor fuel filler/filter in future. I'm also going to completely drain and clean my tank each winter. Probably a but overkill to clean the tank every year as it's a new plastic one but it won't take that long.
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A few years ago I was experimenting with filtering used cooking oil. I bought some 5 micron “socks” they were about 12” diameter and a couple of feet long. They sat in the garage unused for years. I had an MX5 that got a load of water in the fuel tank that I drained out. I decided to experiment with the “sock” material, I cut circles that folded in to a cone to fit my funnel. I found out that the material actually separated the water out, the petrol went through as clean as a whistle! I cut them all in to circles and now use them when filling the boat out of cans.
 
One idea would be to have a separate pump and filter constantly running on a closed loop, pickup up the bottom and returning at the top of the tank. It could even be run with the boat on the hard during winter, once a month or so.
 
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