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Fuel Cleaning

Captain Fizz

By Captain Fizz
in General Boating

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Quinafloat Collaborator

Quinafloat

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Posted

Personally I would be more interested if it was static. I would be quite happy to cruise to it and it should, in theory, make it cheaper as you would have less travelling time. It could also then be combined with other services such as anti freeze replacement and any other "do it every few years" type services if that is of interest to you.

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Grace and Favour Veteran II

Grace and Favour

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If a mobile tank cleaning and fuel polishing service were available at a sensible price, who would consider using it?

It is a service which I have been considering for some time and would appreciate some feedback.

You may also like to ask the question of all the boatyards/marinas/hire companies in your proposed area - you may well find that you'll get most of your business from them

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Mike Tee Experienced

Mike Tee

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A friend of mine just had his done by a mobile service, cost I think around £100. They got a large amount of crud out of the tank, and spent quite a while pumping the fuel round to make sure it was fully 'polished' (their word for filtered!).

 

I'm considering getting mine done in the spring as the boat is over 20 years old, and I'm sure the tank has never been cleaned. I don't do a lot of winter cruising so the fuel does sit for long periods. At about £100 I think it is worth it after 20+ years just for peace of mind.

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Chop! Rising Star

Chop!

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Posted (edited)

If a mobile tank cleaning and fuel polishing service were available at a sensible price, who would consider using it?

It is a service which I have been considering for some time and would appreciate some feedback.

We broke down numerous times, suffering a nasty case of diesel bug/ crap in the tank, lift pump and filters, after several strip downs, filters and bleedings we took CRC's advise and used a diesel polishing service that they said we would be "Pleasantly surprised, as it would only cost around £100"

We had about 75 litres left in the tank, it did cost £100 plus an additional £90 for polishing filters.

The boat carried on breaking down after that and we ended up disconnecting the fuel tank and running from 5 gallon containers.

It would have been a lot cheaper and better to pump the diesel out and throw it away.

We have now cut a hole in the top of our diesel tank and fitted an inspection cover, we will empty the tank, jet wash it and clean it out at regular intervals from now on.

Sorry if this is not what you want to hear.

Edited by Chop!
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Captain Fizz Proficient

Captain Fizz

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Hi Chop,

Yes, you do have to assess the condition of the fuel and tank.

There will be times when the condition of a tank may be so bad that normal filtering will not be cost effective.

I always take at least two samples before starting, one from halfway down the tank and the other from the bottom.

If there is a lot of water/sludge at the bottom, I pump that out to waste first.

£90 for filters does seem excessive, do you know how many were used?

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CygnusV Collaborator

CygnusV

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We had a serious problem 2 years ago in our twin (interconnected) X32 gallon 60 year old tanks. The tank cleaning guys that did the job took around 5 hours and removed a load of water and cr*p. Shortly after having this done we had the BSC man (Nigel, a member here) come visit and I asked him about the Perkins water filter I'd had for some time. He said it was fine to install it outside the engine room, so I did. We are regularly draining a half inch of water out of it. At least we can see the water in the filter and it isn't getting into the injector pump.... Result!

 

Just seen Captain Fizzes post about the cost of the filters - They are massive things so I'm not that surprised at the cost

Edited by CygnusV
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Captain Fizz Proficient

Captain Fizz

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OK, Here is the method that I use.

First I test the contents of the tank by drawing samples from the bottom of the tank and halfway up.

Depending on what is found will drive what happens next.

If there are signs of diesel bug, I add biocide to the tank which kills the growth and strips the slime from the sides. This is left for 24 hours.

If the tank contains a lot of water, I pump this out without filtering and store for disposal.

I then introduce a flexible lance and jet the bottom of the tank to lift any debris/slime into suspension.

The fuel/debris mix is then passed through the filter plant at least twice to clean it, removing any remaining water at the same time.

If the condition of the tank is very dirty, I recommend pumping out most of the fuel before agitating the remainder and pumping it to waste. This saves the expense of using too many filters.

 

The net result is clean fuel and a clean tank without having to cut holes in the tank.

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Mike Tee Experienced

Mike Tee

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Are you sure? I've been told several times that fuel polishing is just the fuel not the tanks, and if I want my tanks cleaning out I need to cut a hole in the top of them for access.

Thats what my mate had done. As Fizz says (in detail post #16), basically they stir up all the crud into the tanks contents, suck it all out and filter it. He had other engine work done at the same time, but was told it was around the £100 mark for that in particular.

To answer Fizz's question, £100 seems reasonable.

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mango Experienced

mango

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A fuel tank should have a sloping base so that any water and debris can be drained off periodically from the lowest point. The fuel filler and vent should be designed and sited to prevent ingress of water. I have seen a boat where water shot out of the rudder bearing when in reverse, and straight onto the fuel tank vent.

 

Water separators might help to prevent water getting into the fuel pump and injectors, but if there is enough water in the tank for it to reach the separator, there is probably a lot more at the bottom of the tank, with severe risk of diesel bug.

 

There would be no need for fuel polishing if boats were better designed and fuel tanks maintained properly.

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