Diesel Bug type

[bridge100]

Hello fellow boaters

 

Has anyone seen/had this type of Bug?

We had the fuel pollished 18mts ago when we had the Black slimy gunge which blocked the fuel feed line,and some of this Ginger sticky granular "dead bugs"

Fuel only from hire boat base....dosed with marine 16 plus other product from tank polishing Co and a water absorbing device in the bottom of the tank . We have done about 50hrs plus some engine running up to temperature over the winter

Also it seems to of changed the diesel from standard red to a straw colour in the bottom of the tank

2x quality filters in line the primary one heavly contaminated no water, secondry filter no water but in the base but some Ginger bug

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tony Brooks]

First of all congratulations for going to the trouble of dismantling a filter so you cans ee what is inside it. A number of others would do well to copy you.

 

I can't help with the question but wonder if its not bug but varnish, lacquerer & gums that have been dissolved from the system by one of the additives.

 

I fear you need someone to look at the residue through a microscope to identify it.

 

 

[bridge100]

Thanks for the reply Tony.

 

When im next at the boat i intend to use my Pila suction pump to see what is at the bottom of the tank.

Then it might be wise to remove all the old fuel leave the tank to dry out, clean the tank out and refill with fresh

I have sent the direct injectors to be serviced as they had gummed up

 

I will post when i sort out the reason for the problem

[Tony Brooks]

23 minutes ago, bridge100 said:

Thanks for the reply Tony.

 

When im next at the boat i intend to use my Pila suction pump to see what is at the bottom of the tank.

Then it might be wise to remove all the old fuel leave the tank to dry out, clean the tank out and refill with fresh

I have sent the direct injectors to be serviced as they had gummed up

 

I will post when i sort out the reason for the problem

Although I used to use my Pela pump to do that an "accident" with a cheap electric pump caused me to use a much wider clear plastic hose and a length of 3/8 copper pipe. I put 4 pint milk carton on the base plate and and set a syphon running from the bottom of the tank. The difference between what the Pela pulled out and the syphon was very different. I would now say that if your tank is in the "normal" position don't bother with the Pela, use a syphon.

[Paringa]

I think you have had a problem and are looking a bit hard to find a problem where there probably isn't one...

 

Suck out a sample from the bottom of the tank and unless you find the black oily mess you had before I would be content to carry on running.

 

My only slight concern is why the injectors have gummed up - but then you have sent them for servicing now anyway - so once installed and perhaps after a summer of cruising have one out for a check.

 

Once a year inspect the bottom of the tank for any water and any oily gunk using the Pela. Check your fuel filters for water and change as often as you feel is necessary. Keep dosing the tank and enjoy your boating to keep a regular changeover of good fuel.

 

If the gum returns then I would look again but I think - and I am no expert - that what you are looking at is the dead diesel bug but much thinned out and your filters are doing their job.

 

Best regards

 

 

[Chop!]

We had our diesel 'polished' at a cost of over £200 including filters.

But shortly after we broke down again, I cut a hole in the top of the tank and sucked three and a half gallons of very thick black sludge out.

The 'polishers' ignored my complaint.

[Detling]

I had problems with the webasto this spring, when we checked the filter it had white sludge on it. One mechanic said it was caused by the very cold weather in March causing wax to form, a bit like paraffin wax (candle wax). It can form below 12 degrees C and melts at about 30 degrees. 

[Bee]

Best of my knowledge wax will form below some sort of perishing cold temp but it will 'unwax' when it warms up. Having had a right problem with water and every type of sludge in my tank last year I am now totally convinced that the only way to know what is in the tank is to have an inspection hole big enough to shine a torch in and get an arm in to physically clean the crud out. Nothing else will do and a little drain plug at the bottom is simply not enough. All good builders should include this and if the people who built boats had to clean a tank out they most certainly would!

[bridge100]

Thanks for the replys

Ill post when i have found the problem ans a solution

 

[Matthew77]

On 24/05/2018 at 12:23, Chop! said:

We had our diesel 'polished' at a cost of over £200 including filters.

But shortly after we broke down again, I cut a hole in the top of the tank and sucked three and a half gallons of very thick black sludge out.

The 'polishers' ignored my complaint.

Name and shame!!

This is something I had planned to do with our new boat when it gets surveyed at £200 you expect/demand better customer care.

Are there are other company's that are recommended ??

[Bee]

Best way to ruin diesel? bung it in a tank on a boat with every chance of water ingress and then leave it for years without ever cleaning the tank. I am convinced that it is impossible to clean a tank without actually having a decent sized removable plate in the top, if the tank was cone shaped it may be possible to drain the crud out of the bottom but a flat bottomed tank with a little drain plug is a waste of time. I looked at a tank removed from a barge recently, it had a cylindrical sump and had been cut in half to remove it, it was awful inside, the sump was ineffective. Water will get in the tank, rust 'flowers' will happen, nasty organic stuff will breed and even (or in fact particularly) if you use that additive that emulsifies water and diesel to enable it to burn you will end up with something horrible that will most certainly not burn. After a week up to my armpit in my 10 year old tank scrubbing and mopping the tank, changing filters, bleeding everything many times over before risking the River Scheldt I can honestly say I would never trust ANY tank without a removable plate where I could at least shine a torch in and look at what was lurking inside. And if you do mop out a tank beware of using nappies, they have some sort of silica gel that can escape and then you have another problem. How do I know? Just guess.

[ditchcrawler]

On 24/05/2018 at 12:23, Chop! said:

We had our diesel 'polished' at a cost of over £200 including filters.

But shortly after we broke down again, I cut a hole in the top of the tank and sucked three and a half gallons of very thick black sludge out.

The 'polishers' ignored my complaint.

You can polish fuel until what goes round is to a higher spec than what you buy, but if you don't take the crap out its a hiding to nothing. We spent days polishing hydraulic oil in systems offshore, OK the tanks were a bit bigger, say 1000 lt but it took a long time and high volume pumps to get them clean, cleaning the oil was the easy bit.