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Fuel Polishing

monkeyhanger

By monkeyhanger
in General Boating

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monkeyhanger Rising Star

monkeyhanger

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Last summer I had problems with blocked fuel filters which I'm pretty certain was diesel bug. I sorted it by changing filters and giving the tank a hefty dose of Marine 16. I'm about to set off on a 3 month summer cruise, part of which will be on rivers and , obviously, I don't want to encounter similar problems to those I had last year.

I am considering having the diesel in my tank"polished", i.e. filtered and returned to the tank, somewhere along the route of my journey.

I intend to go London-GU-Braunston-Warwick-Stratford-Avon Ring-Birmingham-Coventry Canal- Braunston-London.

Can anyone recommend any Fuel polishers on that route, or should I just dose again with Marine 16? I have at the moment 100 gallons of diesel in my tank. Any thoughts/suggestions much appreciated.

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PhilR Experienced

PhilR

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the usual fuel tank built into the stern is a poor design usually without adequate drain off, time to get builders to up their game, an insulated (to stop condensation), v bottomed stainless tank with drain would be better. No need to ever polish then.

 

Any insulation inside the tank might fall off and block the fuel lines? I reckon an aglomerator and/or sedimenter are essential and should be regularly checked for water and sediment. I'm sure a few people on this forum have bought contaminated fuel at some time.

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onionbargee Influencer

onionbargee

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Any insulation inside the tank might fall off and block the fuel lines? I reckon an aglomerator and/or sedimenter are essential and should be regularly checked for water and sediment. I'm sure a few people on this forum have bought contaminated fuel at some time.

Insulation INSIDE !! you are having me on ?

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comfortably numb Proficient

comfortably numb

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I was told on an RCR couse recently that you should expect to pay between £100 & £130. It's something I am considering having done with my recently bought boat and then I plan to fit a sedimentor and/or aglomenter thingy. Expensive precautions I know but IMO well worth it if it helps prevent problems in future.

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PhilR Experienced

PhilR

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Insulation INSIDE !! you are having me on ?

Yes. Sorry.

 

But seriously, it is probably not possible to fully insulate an integral tank and I can't imagine freestanding tanks being popular.

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

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Is 'fuel polishing' the correct process for removing residual canal water, rust and general crud from inside the fuel tanks on REGINALD, or would physical tank cleaning following fitting of some access panels be more appropriate?

 

MtB

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KJT Proficient

KJTDonate to Canal World

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have you tryed thesel http://www.guds.co.uk/ thay are roving traders so may meet you on your travels.Not used them just know of them.

I used GUDS last year and can recommend them. The charge was £95 if I recall correctly. They also put a camera inside the tank so you can see a 'before and after' picture.

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J R Community Regular

J R

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Prevention is often better than a cure. Use an oil extractor pump (Pela pump) each year with the plastic tube taped to a length of wood to dip into the tank and suck out any water or c**p that is in the bottom of the tank. Has done the job to date. On my boat the fuel takeoff is a couple of inches above the bottom of the tank so all water and crud is, in theory, not sucked into the engine. Also have an inline water seperator plus a seperate filter as a precaution.

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

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All the fault of the integral mild steel stern tank on Narrowboats. Not fit for purpose.

 

Not necessarily. REGINALD has two removable saddle tanks under the floor either side of the engine, suspected contaminated with canal water from when he sank.

 

MtB

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WJM Veteran

WJM

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Last summer I had problems with blocked fuel filters which I'm pretty certain was diesel bug. I sorted it by changing filters and giving the tank a hefty dose of Marine 16.

 

That doesn't sound right to me. From experience, if you have diesel bug you will have a lot more that a blocked filter. The bug looks like someone has dumped a load of butter in your fuel system. It blocks everything.

 

Fuel polishing is not what you are looking for. Polishing cleans contaminated fuel. If your engine/heating are working fine then you don't have diesel bug. What you probably do have is water and dirt in the bottom of your tank, which is a perfect breeding ground for bug. You want someone to suck all of that out. That process is not difficult, you just need a pump and a rigid tube.

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john6767 Veteran II

john6767

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Based on the discussions on here last year I swapped from using Fuel Set to Marine 16. Previously as expected I had never had an significant amount of water in the bottom of the fuel tank when sucking it out with a hand pump. This year I got out over a litre of water before it started coming out pure diesel. So I guess that does prove that Marine 16 does work as expected and differently to Fuel Set, but I don't really like the ides that by using Marine 16 you are purposefully encouraging water to form at the bottom of the tank.

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ditchcrawler Veteran II

ditchcrawlerDonate to Canal World

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Based on the discussions on here last year I swapped from using Fuel Set to Marine 16. Previously as expected I had never had an significant amount of water in the bottom of the fuel tank when sucking it out with a hand pump. This year I got out over a litre of water before it started coming out pure diesel. So I guess that does prove that Marine 16 does work as expected and differently to Fuel Set, but I don't really like the ides that by using Marine 16 you are purposefully encouraging water to form at the bottom of the tank.

Where would you rather have it considering its in the tank somewhere?

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WJM Veteran

WJM

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Where would you rather have it considering its in the tank somewhere?

 

If you have water in your diesel tank then the best place to have it is emulsified within the fuel - and not sitting separately on the bottom. Diesel bug lives at the interface or oil and water, so the best prevention is to destroy that interface.

 

Based on the discussions on here last year I swapped from using Fuel Set to Marine 16. Previously as expected I had never had an significant amount of water in the bottom of the fuel tank when sucking it out with a hand pump. This year I got out over a litre of water before it started coming out pure diesel. So I guess that does prove that Marine 16 does work as expected and differently to Fuel Set, but I don't really like the ides that by using Marine 16 you are purposefully encouraging water to form at the bottom of the tank.

 

So what you are saying is: Using Marine-16 you are now getting clear water at the bottom of the tank, whereas when you used Fuelset that did not occur? I am currently dosing with both.

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