Sorry for reposting. I posted this on the Ask a Hunter Owner, but wanted to ask all since it is not Hunter specific. Thanks. I was changing the fuel filter in our H34 today and I filled a cup with diesel out of the fuel line (when I had the primary raycor off by putting a cup beneath the lines without the filter in place). The diesel was not the nice pink that I expected, it was more the color of red wine. I did not see any strings of algae or anything like that, but I know that this is not right and this diesel is probably too dirty to ignore. We bought the boat last year and the tank was almost full and I do not know the history of the use of biocide, etc. Does this fuel sound too dirty to try the "fuel polishing" that I read about in the archives? If I can go that route, does anyone know of someone around Deltaville who performs this service? Any ballpark costs for a 25 gallon tank? From what I have read, these people can clean your tanks pretty well, so this sounds like a good idea - better than pumping about 25 gallons of diesel and disposing of it, installing an inspection port or new tank, etc. Any of the engine sages out there have any thoughts? Thanks for all the help in advance.
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25 gallons at $2.00/gallon = $50
Give or take a little. I would filter the fuel through a West Marine filter and see what is there. If you trap water and dirt drain the whole tank. If it looks too bad find someone to give it to for heating fuel etc and then fill your tank with nice fresh clean diesel. Actually unless you motor a lot just put in 5 gallons or so at a time. OTOH if your filters aren't dirty and the engine runs fine why worry??? Tom
Give or take a little. I would filter the fuel through a West Marine filter and see what is there. If you trap water and dirt drain the whole tank. If it looks too bad find someone to give it to for heating fuel etc and then fill your tank with nice fresh clean diesel. Actually unless you motor a lot just put in 5 gallons or so at a time. OTOH if your filters aren't dirty and the engine runs fine why worry??? Tom
Do the following 'test'
Take the fuel and put into a clean glass vessel .... cup, tumbler, etc. With a very bright light BEHIND you look for visible particles in the fluid. If there are many then you definitely need to polish the fuel. Better is totaly discard the fouled oil (use it in your oil burner at home, etc.), thoroughly clean the tank and start over. THEN Hold the glass between a bright light source and your eyeball and look for a 'haze'. If you have a small high intensity flashlight hold the bulb to the far side of the glass with your eye on the near side and denote if there is a 'cone' of haze. If not or if there is only a 'slight' haze then the fuel doesnt need polishing. If there is a signifcant haze, then polishing will be of benefit. Polishing fuel oil in a tank thats contaminated (dirty walls, etc.) is wasteful economically and will not remove the root cause. Its infinitely better to get inside the tank with a stiff brush and physically knock the crud loose, sop it up with paper towels, etc. and THEN polish the fuel that you put back into the tank. Nomial charge for polishing a 100 gallon tank is about $50 minimun upwards to $150.
Take the fuel and put into a clean glass vessel .... cup, tumbler, etc. With a very bright light BEHIND you look for visible particles in the fluid. If there are many then you definitely need to polish the fuel. Better is totaly discard the fouled oil (use it in your oil burner at home, etc.), thoroughly clean the tank and start over. THEN Hold the glass between a bright light source and your eyeball and look for a 'haze'. If you have a small high intensity flashlight hold the bulb to the far side of the glass with your eye on the near side and denote if there is a 'cone' of haze. If not or if there is only a 'slight' haze then the fuel doesnt need polishing. If there is a signifcant haze, then polishing will be of benefit. Polishing fuel oil in a tank thats contaminated (dirty walls, etc.) is wasteful economically and will not remove the root cause. Its infinitely better to get inside the tank with a stiff brush and physically knock the crud loose, sop it up with paper towels, etc. and THEN polish the fuel that you put back into the tank. Nomial charge for polishing a 100 gallon tank is about $50 minimun upwards to $150.
Polishing
I think Tom & Rich have both offered good advice. A proper “fuel polishing” returns the filtered fuel to your tank through a high-pressure nozzle. This helps to scour any surface contamination off the insides of your tank. The polishing process continues through several cycles, until the pick-up fuel is clean. I always got several dock-mates to participate, as a significant portion of the charge is for travel and set-up.
I think Tom & Rich have both offered good advice. A proper “fuel polishing” returns the filtered fuel to your tank through a high-pressure nozzle. This helps to scour any surface contamination off the insides of your tank. The polishing process continues through several cycles, until the pick-up fuel is clean. I always got several dock-mates to participate, as a significant portion of the charge is for travel and set-up.
Get a Lot of Racor Filters
Recycle your own fuel. Just turn the fuel pump on without starting the engine and it will return fuel to the tank. Replace the fuel filters A LOT. Stu
Recycle your own fuel. Just turn the fuel pump on without starting the engine and it will return fuel to the tank. Replace the fuel filters A LOT. Stu
I recently noticed a red tint in my diesel after the engine had been idle for a couple of months, and took it to be rust. I had a couple of inches of fuel in the tank, and measured less than 1/4" of water in the bottom. I made up a 3/4" PVC nozzle that reached the bottom of the tank and fitted it to my Shop Vac, got out all the old fuel, then dumped in and sucked out about 4 gals in 1/2 gal increments, after which the red had disappeared. I then dumped in a quart of phosphoric acid, let sit awhile and pumped out and finally flushed with another 1/2 gal. of diesel. A lot of tedium caused by my neglecting to prevent that bit of water in the tank.
Condensation isn't the source of Water!!!
Air holds very little water even when relative humidity is 100%. Air doesn't expand and contract that much especially in a boat that is sitting in the water. If you have water in your fuel it most likely got there when you refueled or through your refueling port. Keeping the tank less than half full helps to make sure that your fuel isn't several years old. Letting dirty old fuel sit in your tank for several years is a great way to have crud form in your tank. If you check around probably the worst tanks are ones where the owner rarely uses the boat and always keeps the tank full. Even if I am absolutely wrong about condensation having a 1/4 tank of dirty fuel is better than having a full tank of dirty fuel. And dirty fuel that is several years old has to be worse than dirty fuel that is a few months old. For people that put up their boats for the winter it would probably be a good practice to empty the tank at the end of the season and start each year with fresh clean fuel. Tom
Air holds very little water even when relative humidity is 100%. Air doesn't expand and contract that much especially in a boat that is sitting in the water. If you have water in your fuel it most likely got there when you refueled or through your refueling port. Keeping the tank less than half full helps to make sure that your fuel isn't several years old. Letting dirty old fuel sit in your tank for several years is a great way to have crud form in your tank. If you check around probably the worst tanks are ones where the owner rarely uses the boat and always keeps the tank full. Even if I am absolutely wrong about condensation having a 1/4 tank of dirty fuel is better than having a full tank of dirty fuel. And dirty fuel that is several years old has to be worse than dirty fuel that is a few months old. For people that put up their boats for the winter it would probably be a good practice to empty the tank at the end of the season and start each year with fresh clean fuel. Tom
Fuel Pump on without engine on?
How do you turn the pump on with the engine off? My fuel pump is the one with the little arm on it that the engine pushed up and down to pump - it is a Yanmar. Is there a way to pump the fuel without the engine going?
How do you turn the pump on with the engine off? My fuel pump is the one with the little arm on it that the engine pushed up and down to pump - it is a Yanmar. Is there a way to pump the fuel without the engine going?
If you do not have an electric pump,
you cannot cycle the fuel without running the engine. You can get an electric fuel pump and some old furnace fuel filters and make a polishing system yourself for removing water and gunk. It requires a little mechanical and plumbing skill and can be a little messy so prepare for that. Put the filters in series with a fine filter (Racor?) as the last stage. Run it until you are satisfied. You can also take the boat out with a partially full tank and let it slosh around while running this setup to help clean out the stuff stuck on the sides of the tank. If you need the engine to get back into your slip, you might want to have a secondary tank which you can switch to for "insurance". That is a good idea anyway.
you cannot cycle the fuel without running the engine. You can get an electric fuel pump and some old furnace fuel filters and make a polishing system yourself for removing water and gunk. It requires a little mechanical and plumbing skill and can be a little messy so prepare for that. Put the filters in series with a fine filter (Racor?) as the last stage. Run it until you are satisfied. You can also take the boat out with a partially full tank and let it slosh around while running this setup to help clean out the stuff stuck on the sides of the tank. If you need the engine to get back into your slip, you might want to have a secondary tank which you can switch to for "insurance". That is a good idea anyway.
Electric fuel pump
My fuel tank is higher than the engine so gravity carries fuel to my engine driven fuel pump. Some systems require an electric fuel pump in addition to the engine driven pump. Fuel pumps are pretty cheap so you could buy and install one to circulate fuel through a filter and back to the tank. Almost any marine or auto supply source should sell electric fuel pumps. Try JC Whitney.
My fuel tank is higher than the engine so gravity carries fuel to my engine driven fuel pump. Some systems require an electric fuel pump in addition to the engine driven pump. Fuel pumps are pretty cheap so you could buy and install one to circulate fuel through a filter and back to the tank. Almost any marine or auto supply source should sell electric fuel pumps. Try JC Whitney.
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