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Diesel bug


monkeyhanger

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7 minutes ago, LadyG said:

We are usually talking about narrowboats which don't have drain holes or more than one filter, a disposable filter which normally lasts a year.

There are methods of cleaning the tank not always successful .

 

The filter bit is not absolute. Only some budget builders and home builders seem to fail to fit a primary water trap filter. The better builds will have two. One between tank and engine and one on the engine. The one between tank and engine may not be a filter as such, but it is still designed to remove water and the larger bits of muck. I would suggest the drain hole bit is not accurate for the better quality builds but even if the tank has a drain hole how much water it leaves behind is open to question, because of typical tank deign and the way narrow boats tend to trim stern down.

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I would remove fuel from main tank use containers from a car wash. Settle.

Decant using aquarium filters and a spare container. Use finer filters, and a small dose of biocide till satisfied, return some to tank, flush, repeat till you are getting clean diesel.

Run engine, flush again. Change to another new fuel filter.

Having used biocide at full dose to clean everything you should be able to return the rest of your fuel at maintenance concentration.

Make sure no water gets in to tank.

Don't forget to flush through to day tank

 

 

 

Edited by LadyG
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The other precaution is use a large dia pipe from tank to first filter.....1/2 " NB at least..............this will stop crud from blocking up at unions where the bore is reduced............ever see the news items where boats are found adrift with skeletons aboard and blocked fuel systems?

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4 hours ago, LadyG said:

We are usually talking about narrowboats which don't have drain holes or more than one filter, a disposable filter which normally lasts a year.

There are methods of cleaning the tank not always successful .

 

 

 

 

 

 

My narrowboat has a washable (in clean diesel) WASP filter to remove water and larger particles from the fuel before it reaches the engines disposable filter. It also has a drain point on the fuel tank.

 

Perhaps your shell and engine installation are less than optimum, as is often the case with cheaper shells and boat builders?

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9 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

My narrowboat has a washable (in clean diesel) WASP filter to remove water and larger particles from the fuel before it reaches the engines disposable filter. It also has a drain point on the fuel tank.

 

Perhaps your shell and engine installation are less than optimum, as is often the case with cheaper shells and boat builders?

Yes I'm afraid I didn't buy a premium boat like wot you did, lol.

I've spent my money on a proper anchor and ground tackle instead of a dual filtration system.

My fuel is fresh and clean, no signs of muck at bottom, treated routinely, and the filter recently replaced was noted as clean, engine etc professionally serviced every year.

I would instal a proper dual filter system on a sea going boat, but not on a narrowboat which never ventures out on rivers in dubious conditions.

I dare not ask Tyler Wilson to comment on your suggestion that he's not a very good builder, he'd explode! 

Shire Cruisers had the Isuzu LB33 on all their hire boats for reliability until they. were withdrawn from the market. Some are still going strong, twenty years on

PS I've got rivets and a semi josher bow , is that not good enough?

 

 

Edited by LadyG
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10 hours ago, LadyG said:

Yes I'm afraid I didn't buy a premium boat like wot you did, lol.

I've spent my money on a proper anchor and ground tackle instead of a dual filtration system.

My fuel is fresh and clean, no signs of muck at bottom, treated routinely, and the filter recently replaced was noted as clean, engine etc professionally serviced every year.

I would instal a proper dual filter system on a sea going boat, but not on a narrowboat which never ventures out on rivers in dubious conditions.

I dare not ask Tyler Wilson to comment on your suggestion that he's not a very good builder, he'd explode! 

Shire Cruisers had the Isuzu LB33 on all their hire boats for reliability until they. were withdrawn from the market. Some are still going strong, twenty years on

PS I've got rivets and a semi josher bow , is that not good enough?

 

 

 

The reason for the first fuel.filter or agglomeration is to collect water and larger solid particles. Given that steel narrowboats suffer from condensation forming on exposed internal steel within the fuel tank as well as water entering through the filler many have two filters fitted. Water ingress to the fuel tank is not solely the preserve of sea going boats.

 

I'm surprised that Tyler Wilson didn't fit one. They usually do to boats where they install the engine. Perhaps your boatbuilder just took their shell?

 

All three boats that I have extensive experience of have had them fitted, even my first shareboat, which was built by the bargain basement boat builder Pat Buckle.

 

I'm afraid the type of engine, the number of rivets or the bow type do little to prevent condensation from entering the fuel tank. It looks like the original owner specified form over function.

 

Edited by cuthound
Grandma
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Give up.

When i asked my instructor on a mid level professional RYA Training course if i should go on their basic

diesel engine course he asked if I could  be their  instructor .

  

Edited by LadyG
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6 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Give up.

When i asked my instructor on a mid level professional RYA Training course if i should go on their basic

diesel engine course he asked if I could  be their  instructor .

  

 

In my view that says more about the RYA's franchise system than anything else. For the maintenance course, as far as I can see, you can be fully qualified to national standards to teach the subject but are not qualified as far as the RYA is concerned. All they seem interested in is that you pay them to do their own training course and the check on your knowledge is a 15-minute presentation.

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14 hours ago, LadyG said:

 

I dare not ask Tyler Wilson to comment on your suggestion that he's not a very good builder, he'd explode! 

 

 

 

I thought that was who did the steel work, did they install the engine and do the fitout as well. I requested a drain in my diesel tank but it got forgotten

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The comment on running the Diesel course was a joke comment meaning I did not need to go on his course.

I bought the boat three years ago, cleaned the tank and it's never missed a beat.

Yes it would be ideal if the boat had every safety feature known to man, but it's pottering up and down a muddy ditch, get a grip.

I've been occasionally servicing my engines since I was seventeen. No expert, but they all worked. Once i found a good engineer to check everything he did the job.

That excludes the motorbike

 company who drained the oil and forgot to replace it. Then there was the  Honda lawnmower agent who over filled one of my lawn mowers, I did not use him again.

I was provided with a van at work for

ten years

 which was not serviced, the brake pipes failed the MOT test when I took it to a  commercial garage for advice . The fluid poured out on the floor, scary.

I buy my own oil, filters and ATF. Only found one person or company who do a thorough job (Shire cruisers), they have a hire fleet so don't skimp and know what they are doing .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by LadyG
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41 minutes ago, LadyG said:

The comment on running the Diesel course was a joke comment meaning I did not need to go on his course.

I bought the boat three years ago, cleaned the tank and it's never missed a beat.

Yes it would be ideal if the boat had every safety feature known to man, but it's pottering up and down a muddy ditch, get a grip.

I've been occasionally servicing my engines since I was seventeen. No expert, but they all worked. Once i found a good engineer to check everything he did the job.

That excludes the motorbike

 company who drained the oil and forgot to replace it. Then there was the  Honda lawnmower agent who over filled one of my lawn mowers, I did not use him again.

I was provided with a van at work for

ten years

 which was not serviced, the brake pipes failed the MOT test when I took it to a  commercial garage for advice . The fluid poured out on the floor, scary.

I buy my own oil, filters and ATF. Only found one person or company who do a thorough job (Shire cruisers), they have a hire fleet so don't skimp and know what they are doing .

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are definitely the unluckiest person I know employing people, 

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15 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

You are definitely the unluckiest person I know employing people, 

I suppose the motorbike engine blowing up would not have been traced to no oil, etc etc .

Most of my work required attention to detail, and problem solving, so maybe I tend to physically inspect things where others don't bother.

Edited by LadyG
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16 hours ago, LadyG said:

Yes I'm afraid I didn't buy a premium boat like wot you did, lol.

I've spent my money on a proper anchor and ground tackle instead of a dual filtration system.

My fuel is fresh and clean, no signs of muck at bottom, treated routinely, and the filter recently replaced was noted as clean, engine etc professionally serviced every year.

I would instal a proper dual filter system on a sea going boat, but not on a narrowboat which never ventures out on rivers in dubious conditions.

I dare not ask Tyler Wilson to comment on your suggestion that he's not a very good builder, he'd explode! 

Shire Cruisers had the Isuzu LB33 on all their hire boats for reliability until they. were withdrawn from the market. Some are still going strong, twenty years on

PS I've got rivets and a semi josher bow , is that not good enough?

 

 

Don't forget that Tyler WIlson = Tim Tyler and Jonathon Wilson ie they

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7 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

Don't forget that Tyler WIlson = Tim Tyler and Jonathon Wilson ie they

I'm not to sure what the situation is now, I twice phoned a Sheffield Jonathan Wilson, not very friendly btw.

I think there. Is now  a Wilson at Thorne, where boats are fitted out by Steve Ellis .

My paperwork says Tyler Wilson

 

 

 

 

Edited by LadyG
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I'm a bit on the fence with this diesel bug stuff. For years I used Marine 16 and hey ho I found bug (black jelly like matter) in the filters after the engine died. I syphoned the tank then as luck would have it our boat club aquired a diesel polisher. For the past 10 or so years

I have ditched the Marine 16 and just polish the diesel every 2 or 3 years. No more trace of bug and never used bleach. 

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13 hours ago, Midnight said:

I'm a bit on the fence with this diesel bug stuff. For years I used Marine 16 and hey ho I found bug (black jelly like matter) in the filters after the engine died. I syphoned the tank then as luck would have it our boat club aquired a diesel polisher. For the past 10 or so years

I have ditched the Marine 16 and just polish the diesel every 2 or 3 years. No more trace of bug and never used bleach. 

 

 

As I understand it diesel bug lives at the junction between diesel and water. So your fuel polishing is probably doing the trick provided it is removing all the water/condensation that gathers in the bottom of the diesel tank. Otherwise (like most boaters) you have just been lucky! 

 

 

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14 hours ago, Midnight said:

I'm a bit on the fence with this diesel bug stuff. For years I used Marine 16 and hey ho I found bug (black jelly like matter) in the filters after the engine died. I syphoned the tank then as luck would have it our boat club aquired a diesel polisher. For the past 10 or so years

I have ditched the Marine 16 and just polish the diesel every 2 or 3 years. No more trace of bug and never used bleach. 

 

I used the Marine 16 additive for years and never had a problem until one year winter I forgot to put any in my tank on 2 consecutive fills then discovered the early stages of diesel bug in my fuel. That might have been coincidence of course but since then I make sure I always add some every time I fill or top up the tank. 

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No water ,no bug ...simple ..........when I retired from the refinery ,I took enough diesel to last me 10 years.........it wasnt actually diesel but feedstock for one of the towers ,and all the contractors used it ......even the BP executives could be seen filling their Benzes and Cruisers at the pumps...........anyhoo,I put diesel bug killer in every drum,and there was not a sign of anything but clean fuel when the last drop was used.,....................The worst diesel bug ever I had was from using aviation kerosine in my Gardner .........and Im told this is why the kero must be drained and discarded. every month.............was cheap fuel tho,and we did a lot of cruising in the boat using that kero.

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