Fuel polishing and tank cleaning - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Mr. Sandman · 11-16-2009, 02:48 PM

I have been reading a lot about cleaning fuel tanks lately . Is there a local guy that does in the MA? That is comes to the boat and kills the bugs in the fuel and cleans the fuel? I saw something a few months ago on a TV show that had a guy with a portable set up that had a nice system that added something to the fuel that killed all the stuff that grows in there, then mixed the tank while filtering the fuel with filters of finer and finer filtering until yo had a clean tank with clean fuel. Has anyone done this here? Was it expensive?

Moses · 11-16-2009, 04:23 PM

Not sure re making house calls but lately I've been getting any Yamaha work done by Atlantic Boats, Inc in Wareham. They have a service I use in spring where they cycle what ever gas is in your tank through multiple filtering systems and put it back in. Not bad for $100 and I believe they stated this price was fixed regardless of fuel tank size or amount of gas within.

Mr. Sandman · 11-16-2009, 04:35 PM

That is exactly what I am looking for... I may swing by in the spring and see if they can do it.

Van · 11-18-2009, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Sandman

I have been reading a lot about cleaning fuel tanks lately . Is there a local guy that does in the MA? That is comes to the boat and kills the bugs in the fuel and cleans the fuel? I saw something a few months ago on a TV show that had a guy with a portable set up that had a nice system that added something to the fuel that killed all the stuff that grows in there, then mixed the tank while filtering the fuel with filters of finer and finer filtering until yo had a clean tank with clean fuel. Has anyone done this here? Was it expensive?

Curious,,,,what grows in fuel? I've never heard of that.
If you mean bacteria or mold, sounds fishy.
What could they feed on?
I will ask a microbiologist here at work...

Van · 11-18-2009, 08:53 AM

I think it referes to heavier fuels diesel etc..

Biological slime is caused by the degradation of fuels through the action of bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, or fungi such as Cladosporium resinae and Candida tropicalis. Water in the fuel supplies nutrients and plays an important role in the metabolism of the micro-organisms, making it easier for growth to accelerate in the hydrocarbon phase. Middle distillates originating from naphthenic crude oils are particularly sensitive to this phenomenon because of their tendency to solubilize relatively large quantities of water during the refining process. At temperatures above 20°C these type distillates can hold up to 300 ppm or more of soluble water. However, once the fuel temperature decreases (usually long after leaving the refinery) the water becomes less soluble, and comes out of solution as a haze or opacity. The formation of free water droplets thus initiates conditions for the onset of bacterial activity.

PRBuzz · 11-18-2009, 09:03 AM

Bacteria and fungi are very good once established at creating their own micro-environments and being able to thrive in places you would never imagine. Decontamination of such established slimes takes much harsher treatments than you can imagine: killing the outer layer(s) of the slime colony actually protects the inner sides. Ethanol in gas or the gas itself can serve as the only food source.

Mr. Sandman · 11-18-2009, 09:43 AM

Bottom line is that if your boat sat for a while particularly in a warm region, you have something growing in your tank. Alot of the stuff will adhere to the walls of the tank, when you move the boat it breaks free and gets picked up in the filters, clogs them up and well, you know the rest.
They have stuff that you can add to the fuel that will kill everything in the tank...however the dead bodies sink to the bottom so you need to filter them out.

Big boats carrying large quantities of fuel (mainly trawlers and comm boats) have on board fuel polishing systems. These essentially filter the fuel (or polish) constantly, 24/7 , ensuring that your fuel is in top condition.

I picked up a boat that has been sitting for a while in Florida and I just know there is bad %$%$%$%$ in that tank (diesel) and before I run it I want the tank and fuel cleaned. It is a larger problem with diesel than gas but I have heard it can happen in both fuels.

I had read about this and was just wondering if anyone did it up here.

Swimmer · 11-18-2009, 12:31 PM

Did you trailer it back or have it shipped up here Sandman?

Mr. Sandman · 11-18-2009, 01:01 PM

A little

but funny you ask...It was picked up today! And will be here in a few days. (I hope!) The last time I was down there I put a GPS tracking device on it. I got an email this morning from the device!

Unit 3783 is in motion near:

Lat = XX
Lon = XX ( I put the XX's)

So I fired up the software and I am watching it LIVE (a few minutes delayed actually) Below is a snipit of the screen.. This is really cool!

Of course I didn't tell the driver that this is on there. I decided to do this after seeing a TV show about a guy who was being ripped off (tools from store) and embedded one of these in the tool...then gave the info to the police and they nabbed the guy.

MakoMike · 11-20-2009, 05:09 PM

Sandy,
It might be cheap insurance to have the cleaning polishing done. Do you know if the previous owner used bio-bor or a similar additive? That stuff does a great job at keeping the fuel from developing any growth.

Mr. Sandman · 11-20-2009, 09:33 PM

This guy did nothing. The boat sat. Most stuff just doesn't work from non-use. I know that fuel has been siitting there for a while. Looking at the twin racors, the first one looks really dark.
When I was down there he added some fuel and it ran OK but I would like to know it's a clean tank.

Life is gonna change for that boat.

numbskull · 12-04-2009, 08:18 AM

When is the first cod trip?

Mr. Sandman · 12-04-2009, 08:32 AM

likwid · 12-04-2009, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Sandman

Big boats carrying large quantities of fuel (mainly trawlers and comm boats) have on board fuel polishing systems. These essentially filter the fuel (or polish) constantly, 24/7 , ensuring that your fuel is in top condition.

Alot bigger than that, comm boats go through fuel alot quicker than big yachts etc. and don't need fuel polishing systems. Fuel polishing systems are good if you're carrying 1000+ gallons of diesel then its rotating between 2 tanks while being filtered constantly.

Anything smaller than that? Not really worth it, throw some stabilizer in there and keep cleaning your filters. You'll be fine.

Mr. Sandman · 03-02-2010, 09:29 AM

Well after talking to a couple folks who do this and reading more about it...I am going to just have the fuel that is in there pumped out and disposed of properly and start with a full tank of fresh fuel. I think some of the fuel that is in there has been in there for more than a year or two, perhaps longer. I know some fresh fuel was added just before my sea trial but this thing sat around for a while in the hot sun. The last thing I want is to have all the new filters get clogged up with contaminants from the old fuel.
The cleaning/polishing thing sounds like a good idea but I think some of the fuel that was in there is kinda stale and in order for my own peace of mind I am just going to remove it all and start over with quality marine diesel.

Think spring, it is coming

MakoMike · 03-02-2010, 09:59 AM

Make sure you add bio-bor to the new fuel.

Mr. Sandman · 03-02-2010, 11:28 AM

will do. I want to make sure I kill anything that is alive in there and filter out it's remains in the next tank.