Treating and filtering diesel

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Ex-SolentBoy

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On of YM 100 tips this month was to treat and filter fuel.

I tried filtering it once, but the filter was so slow and slopped fuel all over the deck and into Dover harbour. I was not popular.

I also confess I have never treated the fuel either, but then again I may have been lucky with where I have bought it from.

What do you do, and how often?
 
Chris_Robb said:
Do You actually know the state of the bottom of the fuel tank?
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Two tanks. One is in the keel, so very difficult to access. I did DIY fuel polishing on this tank some years ago, and got most of the rubbish out. The second tank is under a saloon berth and looks very clean inside.

The engine is supplied from the keel tank. I tend to let this get low, then open a tap to fill it from the saloon tank, then refill the saloon tank with fresh diesel. That way, I hope to keep any sediment confined to the saloon tank.
 
pvb said:
Two tanks. One is in the keel, so very difficult to access. I did DIY fuel polishing on this tank some years ago, and got most of the rubbish out. The second tank is under a saloon berth and looks very clean inside.

The engine is supplied from the keel tank. I tend to let this get low, then open a tap to fill it from the saloon tank, then refill the saloon tank with fresh diesel. That way, I hope to keep any sediment confined to the saloon tank.
Click to expand...

The reason I asked is that most people have and "Out of sight, Out of mind" policy on tanks. I have seen a few boats of 15 to 20 years vintage and the tanks were perhaps an inch deep in sludge! So I sometimes think that the addition of Anti wotsit stuff in the tank without knowing the actual state is rather akin to an ostriche!

Again here manufacturers should have provided a method of access but usually don't. My Westerly Oceanlord has absolutely no method of access other than the 30mm filler cap. Through this hole I put a 15mm coper pipe and using a powerful drill and drill pump, drain 10 ltrs or so a year in to clear polycarbonate bottles where I can see the state of the Cr*p at the bottom. Having done it for 3 years running, it is now getting quite clean - but year 1 was bad and I took out some 50 ltrs, filtered it through muslin nappies, and fed it back to the boat. A side benefit to this is that one keeps the water out of the bottom which will quickly rot a mild steel tank.
 
Chris_Robb said:
The reason I asked is that most people have and "Out of sight, Out of mind" policy on tanks. I have seen a few boats of 15 to 20 years vintage and the tanks were perhaps an inch deep in sludge! So I sometimes think that the addition of Anti wotsit stuff in the tank without knowing the actual state is rather akin to an ostriche!

Again here manufacturers should have provided a method of access but usually don't. My Westerly Oceanlord has absolutely no method of access other than the 30mm filler cap. Through this hole I put a 15mm coper pipe and using a powerful drill and drill pump, drain 10 ltrs or so a year in to clear polycarbonate bottles where I can see the state of the Cr*p at the bottom. Having done it for 3 years running, it is now getting quite clean - but year 1 was bad and I took out some 50 ltrs, filtered it through muslin nappies, and fed it back to the boat. A side benefit to this is that one keeps the water out of the bottom which will quickly rot a mild steel tank.
Click to expand...
Shouldn't rot (rust?) the tank as oxygen is needed for rusting to occur............sits back and waits for metallurgist to contradict.
 
I use a pela oil extractor to suck the crud/water/dirty diesel from the bottom of the tank.
Take it all ashore, let it settle in plastic milk bottles, most of it can be filtered and put back in the tank.
I don't think a diesel tank will stay totally clean for very long, my plan is to keep the amount of water and crud well within what the filters can cope with.
I don't use a chemical treatment.
 
My tanks have small sumps, fitted with drain valves. Any dirt denser than diesel, and any water, gravitates into the sumps, and is periodically drained out. Seems like a good idea. The tanks also have inspection covers on the top. Another good idea.
 
NormanS said:
My tanks have small sumps, fitted with drain valves. Any dirt denser than diesel, and any water, gravitates into the sumps, and is periodically drained out. Seems like a good idea. The tanks also have inspection covers on the top. Another good idea.
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Yes - mine has a small sump, but fitted with a drain plug. If I undo this with a full tank the results might be a bit embarrassing.
 
Chris_Robb said:
Yes - mine has a small sump, but fitted with a drain plug. If I undo this with a full tank the results might be a bit embarrassing.
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Plug the air intake to the tank, connect a vacumm cleaner to the filler and then switch on. The resulting vacumm that is acheived will allow you to remove the plug and fit a tap without too much fuel getting out. :)

Heart rate may increase a little but its a workable way of getting a tap fitted.
Tom
 
LittleShip said:
Plug the air intake to the tank, connect a vacumm cleaner to the filler and then switch on. The resulting vacumm that is acheived will allow you to remove the plug and fit a tap without too much fuel getting out. :)

Heart rate may increase a little but its a workable way of getting a tap fitted.
Tom
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better find out size of fred first! good idea
 
Id like more detail on your method of filtration.

Chris_Robb said:
The reason I asked is that most people have and "Out of sight, Out of mind" policy on tanks. I have seen a few boats of 15 to 20 years vintage and the tanks were perhaps an inch deep in sludge! So I sometimes think that the addition of Anti wotsit stuff in the tank without knowing the actual state is rather akin to an ostriche!

Again here manufacturers should have provided a method of access but usually don't. My Westerly Oceanlord has absolutely no method of access other than the 30mm filler cap. Through this hole I put a 15mm coper pipe and using a powerful drill and drill pump, drain 10 ltrs or so a year in to clear polycarbonate bottles where I can see the state of the Cr*p at the bottom. Having done it for 3 years running, it is now getting quite clean - but year 1 was bad and I took out some 50 ltrs, filtered it through muslin nappies, and fed it back to the boat. A side benefit to this is that one keeps the water out of the bottom which will quickly rot a mild steel tank.
Click to expand...

Can you be more specific on the type of muslin used for the filter? Should I look for any particular brand/ make.

I assume adding muslim to inside of large funnel and allowing diesel to drip feed through to collector will work. How long to filter say 50 liters?
 
niallw said:
Can you be more specific on the type of muslin used for the filter? Should I look for any particular brand/ make.

I assume adding muslim to inside of large funnel and allowing diesel to drip feed through to collector will work. How long to filter say 50 liters?
Click to expand...

Just ordinary baby's muslin squares - kids now 30 something.... I used a very large plastic filter that would hold about a 3 ltrs a go, and just filtered it over the space of a week. Quite slow, but as long as you are not watching it as it runs through is ok. I bet there are more sophisticated ways of doing it, but this works, though slow.
 
I was told that one of the best ways of filtering diesel is using "Fullers Earth" (Cat litter) aparrently it is so good that it will remove the RED DYE from red diesel. And perhaps 10 years ago a a group of people who were doing this on a large scale were sent to jail as they were filtering "red" and selling it as "white" . However as you or I would only be filtering the "red" or "white" which we had bought legitimately and we would only be filtering it to remove the dreaded "diesel bug" then there should not be a problem.
 
I always use a Mr Funnel, mine's F3 size but only have a small fuel tank, so far no fuel problems at all. Their F15 model allegedly allows flow rate of 15 gallons a minute...
 
I got one of these some time ago and found the flow very small and in fact the filter blocked up very quickly.

I went for one of the jabsco gear pumps and fitted an inline plastic fuel filter from a motor factor in the outlet side. worked very well and with less split fuel.

I filled up all my diesel tanks with 1800 liters in no fine at all.
 
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