water in deisel - how to check

[tomframe]

Hi, I have seen the guys operating the diesel pumps in the marina use some sort of what looks like a litmus type test to check if there is water in their large diesel tanks. They lower a rod to the bottom of the tank and a colour indicator tells them if they have water in the tank. (apparently) does anybody know if these are available on a small scale.
I had an incident last year where water somehow got in my diesel tank and after a £1000 bill to clean the injectors I am rather paranoid. The problem is that their was salt water in the tank, but nobody knows how it got in. I would just like a simple test.

 

[richardabeattie]

No idea but how did the water get past the water seperator and fine filter to damage the injectors? I always assume there must be some water at the bottom of my tank but hopefully not enough to defeat the seperator. One answer would be to use a PELA pump once a year to suck out the crud from the bottom of the tank.

 

[michael_w]

I'm sure Racor make a filter which has a water sensor. The sensor could be wired up to sound and alarm/light.

As for salt water in the tank I suggest you look at the filler and the breather arrangements as being the likely culprits.

 

[duncanmack]

Kolor Kut Water finding paste

Petrol stations use it! It's very effective! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Comes in 3 oz tube!

 

[savageseadog]

You can use cobalt chloride dissolved in water soaked into filter paper and dried (any paper will do really)
In reality there will always be some water, shouldn't be seawater of course, and you should have a separator and filter or filter/separator combo to prevent water getting through

 

[davidbfox]

Syphon a sample from the bottom of your tank using a pipe attached to a cane, leading into a clear bottle or similar. I got nearly a full 2 litre pop bottle of water before diesel began to flow through.

The rigid cane lets you get the syphon into the corners of the tank, hopefully.

I had to sit in my dinghy to get low enough for the syphon to flow.

 

[lw395]

I second the pela, but found the crud blocked the bowden cable outer that they use for a hose. I'm going to make a bigger bore hose with a 1/4 turn tap in it for this and other jobs! Then I can concentrate on getting the hose/tube in the right place without having to pump at the same time!