Diesel Fuel

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sep 29, 2008
162
Morgan Out Island 33 Pompano Beach
Short of the color, is the diesel fuel purchased from a road fuel station any different from that at a marine fueler...ie-low sulfur, mixed with up to 15% something? bob
 
Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
Short of the color, is the diesel fuel purchased from a road fuel station any different from that at a marine fueler...ie-low sulfur, mixed with up to 15% something? bob
I hope not. I use a lot of it in my engine. I also ran most of the first season on a tank of heating oil because that's what the boatyard put in. Never noticed any difference except that the stuff from marinas often has water and gunk in it:)
 
Dec 2, 1999
15,184
Hunter Vision-36 Rio Vista, CA.
Short of the color, is the diesel fuel purchased from a road fuel station any different from that at a marine fueler...ie-low sulfur, mixed with up to 15% something? bob
The federal road tax on diesel is $0.244 per gallon. That is the difference in the products.
 
Dec 1, 1999
2,391
Hunter 28.5 Chesapeake Bay
I agree with Roger and Steve. By now, virtually all diesel fuel is ULSD, i.e., 15 ppm sulphur. If you find a tank marked with 500 or anything higher, it may just be very old fuel. Make sure the cetane rating of the fuel you buy is what your engine manual calls for -- or add a cetane booster. I also think it wise to try to buy fuel from a source that sells a lot of fuel -- and most sailing marinas do not. I like to buy it at busy truck stop, and I filter it with a West Marine water/gunk separating filter once going into my gerry can, and a second time going into the tank on my boat. You can never be too rich, too thin, or have diesel fuel that is too clean.... Think spring.
 
Dec 9, 2006
694
Oday 22 Hickory, NC
Not rying to stir anything up here...we talked about it a year or so back...there are some stateds that require the fuel in boats to be not dyed! I forget which ones.
Jack
 
Sep 29, 2008
162
Morgan Out Island 33 Pompano Beach
OK, we've established its the same. Now, does the stuff the've added to the low sulphur fuel have the ability ( or effect) to clean the gunk off the tank sides and either leave it in the bottom of the tank or suspend it i the fuel so that it can be drawn thru the filters? Bob
 
Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
Now, does the stuff the've added to the low sulphur fuel have the ability ( or effect) to clean the gunk off the tank sides and either leave it in the bottom of the tank or suspend it i the fuel so that it can be drawn thru the filters?
No, the Startron you add does that. But, only if there isn't a thick coating. There are other products but I've had good luck with Startron which is a non-toxic enzyme base product. The handling warnings on the "algecide" products scare me.

If you are really concerned about fuel quality, and you should be, put in a simple polishing system.

http://www.rogerlongboats.com/FOpolishing.htm
 
Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
Not rying to stir anything up here...we talked about it a year or so back...there are some stateds that require the fuel in boats to be not dyed! I forget which ones.
Stirs me up just thinking about it. Screw em. I bought it, paid their #*&!##$% taxes and I'll use it any *&)*^ way I please that is legal aside from tax considerations. They want to come on my boat and take a sample, they can get a court order.

Anybody remember back when our congress critters passed one of those bills written by lobbiests that none of them bother to read and screwed up the whole diesel fuel system for years? Fuel for commercial boats had to be dyed one color and recreational vessels another. Since almost no fuel docks had dual systems (why would they), they all had to decide whether to server commercial or recreational vessels. In places where fuel docks were far apart, there were many situations where some recreational and commercial vessel couldn't make the passage between fueling points because the critical marina had decided to serve the other market.
 
Nov 6, 2006
9,885
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
In Louisiana, the pink dyed diesel is for off road use and does not have road taxes on it.. It is OK to use in recreational boats. Some states are different. It is available in places where farmers buy fuel and where shrimp boats and other commercial boats buy fuel. It is pretty much the same as the road diesel as long as the number is the same.. it is also pretty much the same as heating oil most off the time.
 

Benny

.
Sep 27, 2008
1,149
Hunter 320 Tampa, FL
In the near future the Road Tax will not be charged by the gallon but by the mile so as a result the color difference will disappear.
 
Mar 18, 2008
19
Beneteau 38 Slidell
Are their any fuels sold that already have bioside added?
Also, does Star Tron Work as a diesel additive. or is this BS?
Any problems with particles clogging the filter when you add this stuff.
 
Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
Are their any fuels sold that already have bioside added?.
Not that I ever heard of.

Also, does Star Tron Work as a diesel additive. or is this BS?
As soon as I put it in my tank, I started seeing stuff in my sediment bowl and had my first and only loaded filter. That tells me it's doing what it is supposed to do, getting the stuff into suspension so it can be moved out of the tank to the filters where it can be removed.

Any problems with particles clogging the filter when you add this stuff.
Sure. If you've let your tank get full of crud and either kill it with a bioside or aglomerate it with a clumping agent like Star Tron, you are going to have clogged filters. They warn you about this in the literature that comes with it. Where did you think the stuff was going to go?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.