Roger Gunkel's Eberspacher Update-its long!

[Mick and Pauline]

Hi Roger,

 

I am pleased Shell confirmed my post on the changes to Derv fuel over the last ten years and I agree with Julian that one should take precautions for water / sludge formation from "Diesel Bug" in your boats diesel tank.

 

When I left the oil industry last year, there was talk of the EU bringing in a reduction in gasoil / red diesel sulphur content. So this could happen in the next couple of years, which will bring red diesel closer to Derv again.

 

M & P.

[Roger Gunkel]

are you sure it was a filter? if its gauze and in the combustion chamber its NOT a fiter........

 

If ther sludge was in a filter it sounds like "diesel bug" and the only way that I have found to combat this is to use soltron

Julian

 

I can find no trace of diesel bug in the tank samples, or from the engine filter. I understood that Fuelset also attacked diesel bug as well as lowering water content.

 

The filter and pump for the Hydronics are both built ino the unit's body and the engineer showed me the filter which is as small as I described. It appeared to be positioned next to the combustion chamber at the end of the fuel line in the main body rather than actually in it.

 

Roger

[GUMPY]

I can find no trace of diesel bug in the tank samples, or from the engine filter. I understood that Fuelset also attacked diesel bug as well as lowering water content.

 

The filter and pump for the Hydronics are both built ino the unit's body and the engineer showed me the filter which is as small as I described. It appeared to be positioned next to the combustion chamber at the end of the fuel line in the main body rather than actually in it.

 

How did you test for diesel bug as far as I know unless you have access to a decent bio lab there is no test that can be done easily.

One was on offer at the baot show this year but I have heard that it doesnt work ( I stand to be corrected on that there should have been a magazine article out by now)

OK I misunderstood its in the heater but not in the combustion chamber. I repeat that black sludge could well be diesel bug I know I have seen it twice on this boat and twice I have dosed with soltron changed the filters a couple of times and within a week the filters are clear.

 

I quote from the fuelset website

 

"It removes the moisture the 'bug' needs to survive, it then helps to disperse the lumps of 'bug', significantly reducing clean up time and with regular use protects against this costly and annoying problem."

 

It does not remove the bug merely disperses it so it needs to be used all the time.

 

If it was ablack sludge that is exactly what the bug looks like I had it so badly that it stopped my diesel drip feed stove from working because the filter we so badly blocked. Treated it changed the filter and away it went.

You MUST get a secondary filter fitted there is no way that you should rely on the eber filter.

 

End of sermon......

 

 

Julian

[Roger Gunkel]

If it was ablack sludge that is exactly what the bug looks like I had it so badly that it stopped my diesel drip feed stove from working because the filter we so badly blocked. Treated it changed the filter and away it went.

You MUST get a secondary filter fitted there is no way that you should rely on the eber filter.

 

Hi Julian,

I certainly wouln't question your knowledge of the diesel bug and I don't have access to lab facilities. I did have what I believed was diesel bug recently on my other boat, which appeared to be a very fine dark sludge in the filter. I took a sample of the fuel in the tank by dipping it and found some black particles in the fuel which didn't seem to sink like normal sediment. It was also not gritty but felt very smooth whereas sediment that had accumulated at the bottom of the tank felt a different texture and had more of a reddish brown colour. The tank had also been standing unused and half empty for some months with no fuel added, and had previously been filled from someone elses can. The fuel from my liveaboard is always in use and kept topped up from the same highly reputable supplier, Fuelset has been added for some time and my test which was merely to dip the fuel and examine a sample, showed no visible contaminants whatsoever.

I am certainly not a biologist with laboratory facilities and I have no doubt that few of us are, so I would expect to take reasonable precautions to protect and check my fuel. However as as there have been regular failures of the heating units through coking up, fuel quality and delivery have been tested with no problems showing by previous engineers and there were similar deposits inside the unit itself then, I think it would be reasonable to look there first. In passing I would also say that I have used heating oil for domestic heating boilers and run diesel vehicles for years with no diesel bug problems manifesting themselves apart from the other boat, so it would be a bit unlikely on top of the track history of the unit failures to suddenly end up with a major diesel bug problem which only affects the heater and not the engine and filters from the same tank.

 

I certainly appreciate your comments regarding the use of Soltron, which I have not previously heard of and it would be something that I could add as a safeguard, especially in the other boat which has a much lower useage. I would also suggest that your comments about diesel bug could be yet another reason for people to consider before buying a diesel heater to rely on for their boat heating. In fact I am beginning to think that there is very little to encourage people to use diesel heaters on a liveaboard. (purely a personal opinion)

 

Finally, I totally agree with your comments about an extra fuel filter in the line, but as the engineers sent by Eberspacher specifically said that the delivery pressure would be reduced and they couldn't reccommend it, I would be putting in an unapproved mod, and in the absence still of any operational guidelines, I would be very reluctant to do this.

 

Thanks for your comments,

Roger

[GUMPY]

The fuel from my liveaboard is always in use and kept topped up from the same highly reputable supplier,

 

My last attack came from one of the major industrial suppliers so there is no guarantee.....

 

J

[Johnno]

Just for info but Sea Start & River Canal Rescue both sell Marine 16 Diesel Fuel Treatment in their webshops which

 

stops bug, cleans injectors & filters, demulsifies water and raises the cetane rating of the fuel - they say that

 

"Fuels with higher cetane numbers burn more quickly and completely, resulting in smoother-running engines with less power lag, lower emissions, easier engine starting and better fuel consumption."

 

if this helps.

 

Also I believe they also sell a Diesel Bug Treatment concentrate to deal with severe bug problems as well as preventsative measures.

 

J

[john & mike]

Hi everyone I have been reading this forum with great interest as i have a hydronic 10 fitted to my sailing boat and have spent the last two months trying to get the thing back working !

 

I have gleaned a great deal of information from various forums and websites and have finally got my unit running again....on red diesel...On a sailing boat the option of two fuel tanks is a no no,

 

The main thing i have discovered which may help you all is that the fuel pump is adjustable, a fact which is not posted ANYWHERE on te outlet side of the pump there are two nuts, a brass one and a steel one, the brass assembly houses the non return valve for the pump and the steel on adjusts the amount of fuel the pump delivers, when running for extended periods on red diesel, reducing the fuel delivered by a very small amount will cause the unit to run lean and therefore will reduce the carbon deposits, I would not suggest you carry out any adjustments unless your unit is out of warranty and only if you have a timer unit that allows you to reset the lock out as obviously this is a trial and error adjustment and before you get it right you may finf that unit fails to light ! (often )

 

hope this helps some of you