Using Supermarket Diesel ?

[Malabarista]

Re Heating oil
Probably of no use to anyone but I regularly use 28 sec oil in earth moving equipment ( diggers dumpers etc) with no apparent ill effect. I say apparent as the plant is hired and then returned but we have never been questioned about fuel type and the engines sound and operate as if they were running on red. I buy heating oil ( for my house) at 0.52p per litre and have 2x 1400 litre tanks next to my barns.
Not yet had the cojones to put it into my brand new yanmar but as it hasn’t yet been run in maybe i will experiment after it stops being so shiny

 

[lw395]

The canaljunction piece alludes to a few things which I believe to be true:
1) Copper and brass are bad news, encouraging breakdown of fuel. I'm not entirely clear if this is necessarily any better with 'non bio' fuel.
2) Ancient rubber tubing and seals can be an issue. Needed changing anyway.
3) If your tank and system are dirty, you are asking for trouble. Changing the fuel while there is water or dirt of any sort in the tank is IMHO risky, as the new fuel may free up the crud. Get the bottom of your tank clean, and keep it dry.
4) Storing fuel, any fuel, risks it degrading. Made worse by excessive venting of tanks/containers.
5) If you actually go anywhere in your boat, you may end up buying white diesel in France or red which is bio in the UK. Better to have your boat sorted in your own time at home, not have a crisis on your summer holiday.

As for the relative merits of supermarket and premium road fuels, I think it varies from engine to engine. Similarly some people make convincing claims about the benefits of additives like:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/EcoMax-Mil...esel+additive&qid=1566808688&s=gateway&sr=8-1
but I'm agnostic. I've felt my car go a bit better after using such stuff, but I suspect it's a similar benefit to a long fast run after a couple of months of doing only short trips.

 

[Graham376]

Very many thanks for the results of your comprehensive and wide-ranging survey, covering tens of thousands of boats. How many of those were the older diesel engines to which I referred, and which I know are liable to severe damage to the seals from modern DERV or whatever you call it in the EU?

The percentage of older engines is no doubt the same as in the UK and in the 12 years we've been EU based have seen many engines changed but have never heard of one being changed or worked on because of knackered seals. There's been much scare mongering in the UK about the supposed dangers of road diesel but no-one I have come across has had any problems and there are far fewer instances of fuel bug as well.

 

[Champagne Murphy]

We have a 1982 Bukh 20, it was rebuilt about 6 years ago and there really weren’t many seals that could go wrong with FAME. Copper at the injectors were replaced like for like and fuel line seals, again copper washers, were replaced with Dowty seals which are used in hydraulic systems so pretty resistant to bad stuff. And as has already been pointed out, if someone hasn’t replaced their fuel piping from time to time with the right gear then they are asking for trouble no matter what fuel they put in.

 

[[3889]]

Then there was the skipper on a biggish mobo, who paid 12,000 euro to fill up in Portimao, on his way to the med. Not his money, of course. Down there, it was road pump price..

Which makes the "Volume" argument look pretty weak. Sourcing tax free agri diesel in the UK is pretty straightforward, so I'm told. Not much use in Europe, though.