OK on Bosch high volume return .... But what is the return *volumetric flow @ 60%* ... cant calculate the dilution until I know this.
Is fuel "polishing" worth the trouble??
- Thread starter jibes138
- Start date
- Status
PREVENTION is cheaper!!!! Only keep enough fuel in your tank for a couple of months of normal use. It takes time to grow all of that crud. Also fresh fuel is better. I sail all year round so I don't empty my tank for the winter. But if I did not sail during the winter I would empty my tank each fall so that there would never be old nasty fuel growing slime in my tank. Nothing can grow in a dry tank!!!! Condensation is NOT a problem in a small 20-30 gallon DIESEL tank. OLD fuel is a problem in any tank. There is no reason to keep a tank full unless you anticipate motoring a lot. If you want to motor a lot add FRESH fuel just before your trip. Then keep the tank about 1/4 full. It has worked for me for the last 6 years with no problems and no water in my filters.
Normal fueling and filter chanages work well.
All the postings on this subject have covered about everything. In my case:
- 1984 fuel tank with 3000 hours when I bought in in 1998 and had the fuel polished (pumped out and pressure sprayed back in a few times).
- In 2003 at 4500 hours I polished the fuel with a home maade system just pumping fuel back and forth for a while. I got a few ounces of water and some 'stuff'.
- I sail all over Florida, up to the Charleston, up to Galveston, over to the Bahamas often.
- I never filter my fuel and have had 2 occaisions where blockage was a problem and that was from very rough sea and low fuel level.
- I watch my Racor primary filter closely and change the filter when I see 'stuff' in there. I change my secondary filter, 2 micron, with every other oil change.
I currently have about 7000 hours on this fuel tank and it is 25 years old. Is there 'stuff' in there that would choke an engine, sure. Can you eliminate it, sure. Are you anal enough to actually do it and is it worth the time and money, no. To believe this just try to keep your Jerry cans clean and see how that works and then imagine what is happening down below in your fuel tank.
I try to never run below 1/4 tank in calm seas and when going off shore I keep it above 1/2. When getting tossed about I shhut off the engine and use those 'emergency white things' attached to those pole sticking up.
All the postings on this subject have covered about everything. In my case:
- 1984 fuel tank with 3000 hours when I bought in in 1998 and had the fuel polished (pumped out and pressure sprayed back in a few times).
- In 2003 at 4500 hours I polished the fuel with a home maade system just pumping fuel back and forth for a while. I got a few ounces of water and some 'stuff'.
- I sail all over Florida, up to the Charleston, up to Galveston, over to the Bahamas often.
- I never filter my fuel and have had 2 occaisions where blockage was a problem and that was from very rough sea and low fuel level.
- I watch my Racor primary filter closely and change the filter when I see 'stuff' in there. I change my secondary filter, 2 micron, with every other oil change.
I currently have about 7000 hours on this fuel tank and it is 25 years old. Is there 'stuff' in there that would choke an engine, sure. Can you eliminate it, sure. Are you anal enough to actually do it and is it worth the time and money, no. To believe this just try to keep your Jerry cans clean and see how that works and then imagine what is happening down below in your fuel tank.
I try to never run below 1/4 tank in calm seas and when going off shore I keep it above 1/2. When getting tossed about I shhut off the engine and use those 'emergency white things' attached to those pole sticking up.
Always you used your boat engine more than 100 hours a year. That is a very important fact as many boats are not motored that much a year. I use my boat on average two weekends a month and motor about an hour each trip. 15 minutes to get out and put up the sails and another 15 minutes at the end of the day. So except for a trip I average about 24 hours a year. At a quart an hour that is only about 6 gallons of fuel a year. If I kept my tank full my average fuel age would be 4 years old!!!!! Looking around the docks many boats are not used as much as I use my boat. I bet some have fuel that is on average 6 years old.
Fuel Polish
Unless you have done something you shouldn't have, like filling the fuel tank with water, polishing could cause more problems than it solves.
If you want to clean your tank, an old trick that works well for me is: Run the tank until there is only 10% of the fuel remaining, Count out 100 steel screws and drop them in the tank, slosh the tank around (great time to let the kids jump around on the boat) then suck the fuel out of the tank, put in a couple gallons of fresh fuel and repeat until the fuel you suck out is clean.
To remove the 100 steel screws stick a magnetic retriever into the tank. Make sure you count 100 screws, you don't want to leave any in the tank.
The sloching of the screws and the fuel will scrub the bottom of the tank, where all the gunk sticks.
Make sure to have a second person count the screws with you, leaving a steel screw in your tank in really bad.
Unless you have done something you shouldn't have, like filling the fuel tank with water, polishing could cause more problems than it solves.
If you want to clean your tank, an old trick that works well for me is: Run the tank until there is only 10% of the fuel remaining, Count out 100 steel screws and drop them in the tank, slosh the tank around (great time to let the kids jump around on the boat) then suck the fuel out of the tank, put in a couple gallons of fresh fuel and repeat until the fuel you suck out is clean.
To remove the 100 steel screws stick a magnetic retriever into the tank. Make sure you count 100 screws, you don't want to leave any in the tank.
The sloching of the screws and the fuel will scrub the bottom of the tank, where all the gunk sticks.
Make sure to have a second person count the screws with you, leaving a steel screw in your tank in really bad.
I'll chime in...
by saying that I built my own fuel polisher when my Raycor started clogging on a motor back up the Bay two years ago. A churning following sea stirred up the soup and lead to the clogging.
A recycling polishing system didn't make sense as you would continue to filter a portion of the fuel in the tank already cleaned without the assurance of being able to clean it all. It will probably work well once all the fuel has been "cleaned" and the tank cleaned out.
The system I built utilizes a 15 GPM gear pump and a 10 mic water separating commercial fuel filter. Fuel is run through the filter on the way out of the tank and again through it going back into the tank. All fuel gets double filtered that way.
Like Joe Mullee, I also bought three yellow five gallon jerry cans and pumped all my on-board fuel into them before opening the tank and cleaning out the accumulation of 25 years. Yes, I highly recommend the SeaBuilt tank access ports as Joe mentioned.
I have used this system to clean the fuel of three other boats at my marina, all with positive results. None of them created an access port and cleaned out their tanks too, however. Using reinforced clear hose allowed the process to be evaluated as to results. Fuel comes out of the tank a "burgundy" and returns to the tank a "blush". The last little bit taken out is usually almost black in color, proof positive that there is real gunk in the tank bottom.
Warren, Roger, and Rich all make excellent points. It's up to each sailor to evaluate those points in light of their needs and expectations. Rich's recycling time point is well taken.
For those that want to try building a polisher, once again here is a picture of the one I built. Also, a picture of the SeaBuilt access port installed.
by saying that I built my own fuel polisher when my Raycor started clogging on a motor back up the Bay two years ago. A churning following sea stirred up the soup and lead to the clogging.
A recycling polishing system didn't make sense as you would continue to filter a portion of the fuel in the tank already cleaned without the assurance of being able to clean it all. It will probably work well once all the fuel has been "cleaned" and the tank cleaned out.
The system I built utilizes a 15 GPM gear pump and a 10 mic water separating commercial fuel filter. Fuel is run through the filter on the way out of the tank and again through it going back into the tank. All fuel gets double filtered that way.
Like Joe Mullee, I also bought three yellow five gallon jerry cans and pumped all my on-board fuel into them before opening the tank and cleaning out the accumulation of 25 years. Yes, I highly recommend the SeaBuilt tank access ports as Joe mentioned.
I have used this system to clean the fuel of three other boats at my marina, all with positive results. None of them created an access port and cleaned out their tanks too, however. Using reinforced clear hose allowed the process to be evaluated as to results. Fuel comes out of the tank a "burgundy" and returns to the tank a "blush". The last little bit taken out is usually almost black in color, proof positive that there is real gunk in the tank bottom.
Warren, Roger, and Rich all make excellent points. It's up to each sailor to evaluate those points in light of their needs and expectations. Rich's recycling time point is well taken.
For those that want to try building a polisher, once again here is a picture of the one I built. Also, a picture of the SeaBuilt access port installed.
Attachments
Fuel Polishing?
I've been following this topic with interest, for a number of reasons, including Moonsailor's reply. I'm glad we didn't get into the water condensation issue.
In mid January I broke my leg skiing and didn't, for obvious reasons, get down to the boat. My regimen is to refill our fuel tank when it gets to half full. Our fuel gauge is broken and I don't intend to fix it until immediately before I (ever!!!) sell the boat because we keep a fuel log that shows that we use less than half a gallon of fuel per hour, so we use the hour meter as our fuel gauge.
Rather than keeping a small amount of fuel I like to maintain a minimum of half or so because we never know when we're going to have to motor for longer stretches for, say, ocean trips. 10 gallons left is 20 hours of motoring at 5 knots is 100 miles. That's enough for me, but why less? Some of our racer friends use Moonsailor's idea, less is more for less weight, and they've never reported fuel problems either. It's a personal preference, not necessarily a program for success.
We normally use the boat weekly, and do a refill every few months, more than most average Joe Boater. We do over 200 hours a year. Given my injury, I was concerned about "old" fuel. When we returned to the boat a few weeks ago and started using it again, we have had no problems with fuel at all.
My conclusions are:
-- get good fuel :: we use the same refill station on the water all the time and have never had trouble with fuel in the eleven years we've had this boat
-- the age of the fuel doesn't matter, at least for our four month detour, and from what I've read here, others have had longer time between uses and the fuel is fine; works for diesel, we'll see later this summer whether our gas tank for the dinghy, stored since last year, is just as fine; the "impending doom" of using old fuel may just be another one of those urban myths
-- change your fuel filters reasonably regularly; because I was "afraid" of fuel bleeding I didn't change the filter the first two years we owned the boat and everything still worked just fine - kinda filthy when finally removed
-- learn to bleed your engine, it ain't that hard and many are self bleeding anyway
-- your engine already polishes it own fuel by running it because of the fuel return line: another great reason to use your boat more often!
I've been following this topic with interest, for a number of reasons, including Moonsailor's reply. I'm glad we didn't get into the water condensation issue.
In mid January I broke my leg skiing and didn't, for obvious reasons, get down to the boat. My regimen is to refill our fuel tank when it gets to half full. Our fuel gauge is broken and I don't intend to fix it until immediately before I (ever!!!) sell the boat because we keep a fuel log that shows that we use less than half a gallon of fuel per hour, so we use the hour meter as our fuel gauge.
Rather than keeping a small amount of fuel I like to maintain a minimum of half or so because we never know when we're going to have to motor for longer stretches for, say, ocean trips. 10 gallons left is 20 hours of motoring at 5 knots is 100 miles. That's enough for me, but why less? Some of our racer friends use Moonsailor's idea, less is more for less weight, and they've never reported fuel problems either. It's a personal preference, not necessarily a program for success.
We normally use the boat weekly, and do a refill every few months, more than most average Joe Boater. We do over 200 hours a year. Given my injury, I was concerned about "old" fuel. When we returned to the boat a few weeks ago and started using it again, we have had no problems with fuel at all.
My conclusions are:
-- get good fuel :: we use the same refill station on the water all the time and have never had trouble with fuel in the eleven years we've had this boat
-- the age of the fuel doesn't matter, at least for our four month detour, and from what I've read here, others have had longer time between uses and the fuel is fine; works for diesel, we'll see later this summer whether our gas tank for the dinghy, stored since last year, is just as fine; the "impending doom" of using old fuel may just be another one of those urban myths
-- change your fuel filters reasonably regularly; because I was "afraid" of fuel bleeding I didn't change the filter the first two years we owned the boat and everything still worked just fine - kinda filthy when finally removed
-- learn to bleed your engine, it ain't that hard and many are self bleeding anyway
-- your engine already polishes it own fuel by running it because of the fuel return line: another great reason to use your boat more often!
Fuel Quality
I drive my diesel pickup about 500 miles a week maybe up to 700 miles a week. It is a ford F250 with the 7.3L engine. Since I go through a tank of diesel a week I have never had to worry about "old" fuel in my truck. I always drive it to close to empty to make sure I suck up as much of the bottom of the tank as possible to keep from having too much build up. The manual says to change the fuel filter every 15K miles. They are expensive and I've had a bad experience with aftermarket parts (caused a breakdown once) so I stick with Ford parts for the filter and change them between 15K and 25K miles. Here are my observations:
I have had the fuel filter water warning light come on once in 140,000 miles. This means enough water accumulated in the filter to be about a quarter inch deep. My hypothesis is this was from a bad tank of fuel, not from condensation given the regualr use. Whenever I change the filter I am amazed at the sludge and slime both on the filter elements and at the bottom of the bowl. I always clean the filter housing thoroughly, put in a new filter and on my way. Another data point regarding the fuel quality, depending on where I get the fuel my truck will either start very easily, one or two revolutions, or the starter will crank for a few seconds, maybe ten turns to start. It doesn't matter what "brand" I buy the results always vary, I can definitely notice a difference in the fuel quality and the engine performance from tank to tank. So I submit that a large amount of water and sludge and other "stuff" is intorduced into your boat tanks from the original fuel. For those filtering their fuel before putting it in the tank I think it is a good idea. When I fill my tank I use a 5 or 6 gallon jerry jug, I use one of those fuel lines for an outboard motor with the squeeze bulb and I put the long hose end in my tank fill and the short end in the jug. I start a siphon and keep the short end off the bottom. So the flow is very slow and the water in the fuel and any crud stays on the bottom of the jug. When the jug is 3/4 empty I stop the flow and use the next jug the same way. I then pour the rest in my truck tank where it will be used in a few days. I think I will buy a filter and add it to the siphon as an improvement. Since I rarely need more than 15 gallons to fill a half empty tank the extra time to fill it won't matter much and won't require pumps and power. SO no matter what you will probably get water and crud in your tank, either by growing it yourself or your friendly neighborhood gas station.
Probably best to empty the tank a few times a year, pour the fuel in your diesel pickup and fill it with fresh fuel. Oh yeah, Buy a diesel pickup so you have a place to get rid of your old fuel.
I drive my diesel pickup about 500 miles a week maybe up to 700 miles a week. It is a ford F250 with the 7.3L engine. Since I go through a tank of diesel a week I have never had to worry about "old" fuel in my truck. I always drive it to close to empty to make sure I suck up as much of the bottom of the tank as possible to keep from having too much build up. The manual says to change the fuel filter every 15K miles. They are expensive and I've had a bad experience with aftermarket parts (caused a breakdown once) so I stick with Ford parts for the filter and change them between 15K and 25K miles. Here are my observations:
I have had the fuel filter water warning light come on once in 140,000 miles. This means enough water accumulated in the filter to be about a quarter inch deep. My hypothesis is this was from a bad tank of fuel, not from condensation given the regualr use. Whenever I change the filter I am amazed at the sludge and slime both on the filter elements and at the bottom of the bowl. I always clean the filter housing thoroughly, put in a new filter and on my way. Another data point regarding the fuel quality, depending on where I get the fuel my truck will either start very easily, one or two revolutions, or the starter will crank for a few seconds, maybe ten turns to start. It doesn't matter what "brand" I buy the results always vary, I can definitely notice a difference in the fuel quality and the engine performance from tank to tank. So I submit that a large amount of water and sludge and other "stuff" is intorduced into your boat tanks from the original fuel. For those filtering their fuel before putting it in the tank I think it is a good idea. When I fill my tank I use a 5 or 6 gallon jerry jug, I use one of those fuel lines for an outboard motor with the squeeze bulb and I put the long hose end in my tank fill and the short end in the jug. I start a siphon and keep the short end off the bottom. So the flow is very slow and the water in the fuel and any crud stays on the bottom of the jug. When the jug is 3/4 empty I stop the flow and use the next jug the same way. I then pour the rest in my truck tank where it will be used in a few days. I think I will buy a filter and add it to the siphon as an improvement. Since I rarely need more than 15 gallons to fill a half empty tank the extra time to fill it won't matter much and won't require pumps and power. SO no matter what you will probably get water and crud in your tank, either by growing it yourself or your friendly neighborhood gas station.
Probably best to empty the tank a few times a year, pour the fuel in your diesel pickup and fill it with fresh fuel. Oh yeah, Buy a diesel pickup so you have a place to get rid of your old fuel.
I have a 1985 Hunter 34 with a 25 gallon fuel tank. I have had the fuel polished three times over the last 10 years since I purchased the boat. Cost $200 each time. The company injects air with the fuel and causes a partial cleaning type action in the tank and continues the process, periodically changing filters until no more water and dirt is removed. Each time after cleaning I have taken extended trips and did not want to have to change fuel filters prior to normal maintenance changing. My friend would rather change his filters. I think he spends more on filters then what I spent on polishing. You pay your money and take your choice.
My experience with fuel polishing has been a good one. When we bought our boat in 2007 it had sat at dock for 7 years without moving even though the engine was routinely run. The fuel polisher we hired remove the guage from the top of the tank and then proceeded to pump the content of the tank through a filter system he had brought dockside. The return, at very high pressure was moved in order to dislodge as much of the built up crud that had accumulated in the corners over the years. After three filter replacements and approximately 2 hr of pumping he finally declared the fuel to be clear. Shortly thereafter we left for the Bahamas in a largely untested boat but we never had any fuel difficulties either that year or the next when we headed down to the Virgin Islands. I would recommend that any boat owner that has a boat that has been sitting around for a while or never had its tank cleaned avail themselves of the services offered by a reputable fuel polisher.
Tony G
keep it simple. for 35 years with 2 sloops i have:
1.Never cleaned the diesel tanks.poor cleaning will shake up the "bottoms"
2.I always use top quality diesel.
3.Every 5 years, before the season starts, i pump out the bottom 1/3rd of the tank which is where the heavier water goes.i allow the water from the pumped out material to settle to the bottom of the other tank and pour the good diesel back into my on board tank.
4.Never had a water problem--35 years
Tony G
PS i don't know what fuel polishing is.
keep it simple. for 35 years with 2 sloops i have:
1.Never cleaned the diesel tanks.poor cleaning will shake up the "bottoms"
2.I always use top quality diesel.
3.Every 5 years, before the season starts, i pump out the bottom 1/3rd of the tank which is where the heavier water goes.i allow the water from the pumped out material to settle to the bottom of the other tank and pour the good diesel back into my on board tank.
4.Never had a water problem--35 years
Tony G
PS i don't know what fuel polishing is.
We had our tank cleaned and judging by the look of the red colored pudding that was pumped out of the bottom of the tank, I decided to just got rid of the old fuel. Our original motivation was that someone had unscrewed our fuel cap and there was no way to know if somebody may have played a bad joke on us. Better to be safe than sorry.
20 hours later and the "new" fuel has caused no problems. I now have a very clean tank.
20 hours later and the "new" fuel has caused no problems. I now have a very clean tank.
Diesel Fuel stability
Diesel fuel can be degraded in several ways in use. A recirculating system can pick up and emulsify water, it can get warm and degrade by oxidation or can transfer warm fuel back to a wet tank that encourages biofilm formation at any fuel water interface present. Properly formulated chemical additives can address these problems by stabilising the fuel to oxidation with a hindered phenol antioxidant (the same material added to high spec aviation fuels). Biostatic additives based on boron can prevent biofilm formation that form at the water fuel interface - they live in the water and feed on the hydrocarbons. Silicone and non-silicone antifoams can prevent or break emulsification of the water with the fuel to prevent vapour locks and water injection degrading performance. Then there are additives that can help keep the injector nozzels clean to maximise power and fuel economy. If a properly formulated additive package is added in the proper proportions the tank will stay clean and even small amounts of water contamination can be tolerated. So you don't need expensive filtration that clog to keep the system clean - but you do need to use a properly formulated product from a respectable supplier. And yes I am a chemisit that used to formulate fuel addiives for a major (two letter named) petrochmical company.
Diesel fuel can be degraded in several ways in use. A recirculating system can pick up and emulsify water, it can get warm and degrade by oxidation or can transfer warm fuel back to a wet tank that encourages biofilm formation at any fuel water interface present. Properly formulated chemical additives can address these problems by stabilising the fuel to oxidation with a hindered phenol antioxidant (the same material added to high spec aviation fuels). Biostatic additives based on boron can prevent biofilm formation that form at the water fuel interface - they live in the water and feed on the hydrocarbons. Silicone and non-silicone antifoams can prevent or break emulsification of the water with the fuel to prevent vapour locks and water injection degrading performance. Then there are additives that can help keep the injector nozzels clean to maximise power and fuel economy. If a properly formulated additive package is added in the proper proportions the tank will stay clean and even small amounts of water contamination can be tolerated. So you don't need expensive filtration that clog to keep the system clean - but you do need to use a properly formulated product from a respectable supplier. And yes I am a chemisit that used to formulate fuel addiives for a major (two letter named) petrochmical company.
Tenacious
Since the cleaning of the fuel takes place through the sending unit port I took advantage of this opportunity and replace the digital system, which never worked on my boat, with an analog unit and installed an analog gauge in the cockpit. If you do this remember the fuel tank is not a perfect rectangle so an indication of 1/2 tank is not one half of the tank capacity.
You are exactly correct. I built a system using a diesel transfer pump and the largest Racor fuel filter available. I have a Hunter 426AC. In my first attempt I used the hose leading to the Racor filter to suck out the crud in the forward port side of the tank just below the fuel pickup tubes and pulled out a very large amount of algae. On that attempt I just returned the filtered fuel to the tank through the sending unit port which is also where the fuel is removed. One year later I had the same problem so I transferred all of the fuel into fuel cans, and once again had some algae in the fuel tank. I then removed the tank, cleaned and dried it and replaced the fuel tank. Using a new Racor filter I transferred the fuel in the cans back into the clean fuel tank
Since the cleaning of the fuel takes place through the sending unit port I took advantage of this opportunity and replace the digital system, which never worked on my boat, with an analog unit and installed an analog gauge in the cockpit. If you do this remember the fuel tank is not a perfect rectangle so an indication of 1/2 tank is not one half of the tank capacity.
I bought a HR35 that had been little used for several years. As soon as the water got a little rough one or the other filter wuold clog and wife would sail while had my head down in the engine. After that happened twice in one day, once in front of a tanker in the Golden Gate we decided to get the fuel polished. A senior couple spent much of a summer day with their pump, industrial sized filter with suction line and wand and removed about a quart of dead algae. I had used al;gaecide. The best $300 we ever spent on a boat. Used the boat a lot including Mexico with no more filter problem. I think our fuel is 100 million years old.
Last edited:
The 'two letter' petrochem (Australian Div.) use to publish and highlight proper fuel storage, tank cleaning, etc. etc. These publications were 'outstanding'. This URL is no longer 'active' ... where can one find an archive of: http://www.bp.com.au/fuelnews/ADF1402.pdfAnd yes I am a chemisit that used to formulate fuel addiives for a major (two letter named) petrochmical company.
Not worth it for most sail boats
The size of the fuel tank in most smaller sail boats does not justify the cost of polishing the fuel. A few years ago I had a problem with my diesel engine dying, sometimes at the most inappropriate times. I tried just about everything but could not find the problem. One time I had to be towed back to the dock because I couldn't even reprime the fuel it was so badly clogged. The mechanic told me I needed to have the fuel polished and that if I did my problem would be gone - forever. I suggested that we simply drain off the 10 or so gallons of fuel into cans in fill up with clean fuel - no he said it needs to be polished. The fuel polishing service had to be brought in from many miles away and wow, cost me $350.00 to polish 10 gal of fuel, but of course I would never have a problem again right!! Wrong. Sailing home, just before entering Howe Sound the engine died again. I managed to sail back to the marina under very light winds and in desperation I pulled things apart and finally found the real problem. A small screen inside the top of the intake tube had plugged solid. After a short amount of motoring the small amount of debris was drawn tight against the screen gradually killing the fuel to the engine. I removed the screen, installed a very good quality Racor water separator / primary filter and ensure the fuel is clean. That was about 5 years ago and I have never had a problem since. If you have hundreds of spare bucks that you want to give away then go for the polishing. My recommendation is that you ensure you have clean fuel to start with, keep water from getting into the tank and have a water seperator /filter to remove what little water and debris does get through. You won't have a problem and you will save money.
The size of the fuel tank in most smaller sail boats does not justify the cost of polishing the fuel. A few years ago I had a problem with my diesel engine dying, sometimes at the most inappropriate times. I tried just about everything but could not find the problem. One time I had to be towed back to the dock because I couldn't even reprime the fuel it was so badly clogged. The mechanic told me I needed to have the fuel polished and that if I did my problem would be gone - forever. I suggested that we simply drain off the 10 or so gallons of fuel into cans in fill up with clean fuel - no he said it needs to be polished. The fuel polishing service had to be brought in from many miles away and wow, cost me $350.00 to polish 10 gal of fuel, but of course I would never have a problem again right!! Wrong. Sailing home, just before entering Howe Sound the engine died again. I managed to sail back to the marina under very light winds and in desperation I pulled things apart and finally found the real problem. A small screen inside the top of the intake tube had plugged solid. After a short amount of motoring the small amount of debris was drawn tight against the screen gradually killing the fuel to the engine. I removed the screen, installed a very good quality Racor water separator / primary filter and ensure the fuel is clean. That was about 5 years ago and I have never had a problem since. If you have hundreds of spare bucks that you want to give away then go for the polishing. My recommendation is that you ensure you have clean fuel to start with, keep water from getting into the tank and have a water seperator /filter to remove what little water and debris does get through. You won't have a problem and you will save money.
If you never sail in wind or waves, and can always sail or swim home, fuel polishing is not worth the expense. Subscribe to any sailing rag, and they will periodically run a story of heroic adventure reguarding engine failure at a critical time. With diesel engines, the most common failures are with fuel, or cooling. To the trained scientist this indicates a clear course of action. Diligent and rigorous maintenance of you fuel and cooling systems increases your odds of living through your next adventure, and making it home with your boat.
I am on the same page as 'Roger Long' in his previous post.
We have owned our 1985 Slocum 43 for 3 years, and we have had the fuel "polished" twice. From these posts it is clear "fuel polishing" means different things to different people. The company that does it for us comes to our slip with a boat and pump. Goliard has two Tanks totalling 130 gallons. He pumps all the fuel from one tank through his three stage filter system into the second tank. Then removes the inspection cover and sprays and brushes as much crud as he can out of the first tank. Next he pumps all the fuel back through the three filter system into the first tank and manually cleans the second tank. The first time it was REALLY bad so he changed and cleaned the filters and ran all the fuel back through again. Was it worth it? Do it once and you will know. Our boat was running fine. The RACOR filters were clean with no restriction. MARINELUBE got a couple of shovels full of sediment, rust flakes, and crud out of the tanks. When I read these storties of rigging failure, or Man Overboard in rough weather, where the engine fails that "had been well maintained" and was "running perfectly" I know it could have happened to Goliard. We sail in San Francisco Bay, and the California Coast. We regularly see 30 plus knots in "the chute". To the north we have the potatoe patch. 5-6 hours south we have Pillar Point (home of the Mavericks Big Wave Surf Competition). We sail in wind and waves most of the time. If we are not rail down with spray on the dodger, we don't consider it sailing. Lots of things can go wrong out there. Fuel polishing is just one more thing to stack the odds in your favor. Like Life Jackets and a good VHF.
Mark Wieber (www.goliard.us.com)
I am on the same page as 'Roger Long' in his previous post.
We have owned our 1985 Slocum 43 for 3 years, and we have had the fuel "polished" twice. From these posts it is clear "fuel polishing" means different things to different people. The company that does it for us comes to our slip with a boat and pump. Goliard has two Tanks totalling 130 gallons. He pumps all the fuel from one tank through his three stage filter system into the second tank. Then removes the inspection cover and sprays and brushes as much crud as he can out of the first tank. Next he pumps all the fuel back through the three filter system into the first tank and manually cleans the second tank. The first time it was REALLY bad so he changed and cleaned the filters and ran all the fuel back through again. Was it worth it? Do it once and you will know. Our boat was running fine. The RACOR filters were clean with no restriction. MARINELUBE got a couple of shovels full of sediment, rust flakes, and crud out of the tanks. When I read these storties of rigging failure, or Man Overboard in rough weather, where the engine fails that "had been well maintained" and was "running perfectly" I know it could have happened to Goliard. We sail in San Francisco Bay, and the California Coast. We regularly see 30 plus knots in "the chute". To the north we have the potatoe patch. 5-6 hours south we have Pillar Point (home of the Mavericks Big Wave Surf Competition). We sail in wind and waves most of the time. If we are not rail down with spray on the dodger, we don't consider it sailing. Lots of things can go wrong out there. Fuel polishing is just one more thing to stack the odds in your favor. Like Life Jackets and a good VHF.
Mark Wieber (www.goliard.us.com)
If you have a small tank (20-40 gal) and you use the boat regularly, and buy fuel from a reputable marina, you should be ok with your existing fultration system. If you have a large tank and don't use the boat very often a polishing system is a good idea. I don't use it on my Hunter 34 as I use the boat frequently and buy quality fuel. I did install a polishing system on a Island Packet 42 with 16o gal tank. this boat sits for long periods of time and the fuel becomes stagnent. Water intrusion happens with condensation and cannot be stopped. Polishing is vital to keep the large tank clean and free of water and alge. It is set up on a timer to run 2 times a week while the boat is sitting. It is also a back-up system if the primary fuel pump should fail while motoring.
I think that my fuel tank is small enough(20 gallons) and easily accessible that I could just remove the tank and use a pressure washer off of the boat. Or reading the cost of fuel polishing just buy a new tank.
Another cost effective option would be to remove water from the bottom of the tank on a regular basis. The bacteria/algea etc need water to grow. So pumping the bottom of the tank regularly should keep the tank dry. IMHO the most important thing is to keep the tank mostly empty...a few months supply of fuel so that there is less time for stuff to grow. Fuel polishing just seems too expensive and relatively ineffective.
Another cost effective option would be to remove water from the bottom of the tank on a regular basis. The bacteria/algea etc need water to grow. So pumping the bottom of the tank regularly should keep the tank dry. IMHO the most important thing is to keep the tank mostly empty...a few months supply of fuel so that there is less time for stuff to grow. Fuel polishing just seems too expensive and relatively ineffective.
- Status