Some people get touchy about running questionable fuel through the tank of their beloed diesel truck. Besides getting stuck on the side of the road could be worse than getting stuck dead in the water. At least in the water we still have our primary means of propulsion. Now if this is just an end of year routine and there is good faith in the cleanliness of the diesel being transferred to the truck then there is absolutely no problem.
It will probably never matter to most of us but some marinas offer off road diesel which hasn't had a DOT tax. This diesel is died red so that inspectors can catch you using "off road" in your car or truck. Typically passenger vehicles don't get their tanks "dipped" so we'll probably never get caught but just know that it is a possibility. The most critical part of most diesel engines is the fuel injectors or HP fuel pump. They both have extremely tight tolerances to ensure proper spray pattern, pressure, and volume are achieved. That's why we have so many fuel filters, often running as fine as 2 microns. A proper injector or HP pump cleaning is equivalent to a rebuild and may not be effective without replacement parts. Your home fuel oil furnace burner has orifices in an easily replaced nozzle and the filtering recommendation is 50 microns, 25 times larger than that of our engines. Furnaces also have considerably more room for a larger capacity filter or more of them. In a dilution is the solution situation the home tank is also considerably larger so 40 gallons gets spread out further. *On the topic of additives:* One of the problems facing our older engines is ULSD (Untra Low Sulfur Diesel) which is being sold at the pumps. Sulfer is a lubricity additive that is supposed to ensure low friction and low wear on those tight tolerance parts I mentioned earlier. Our older engines where not designed with this lower sulfer concentration in mind. An off the shelf additive that gets high marks across the Internet and one from which I've been able to see a performance improvement is Opti-Lube. It is relatively inexpensive and IMO anyone with a diesel should consider adding it to their treatment plan. In 5 seasons of operation I've never used a biocide and never needed to change my fuel filters. I run 2 micron in both the primary and secondary and I have a vacuum gage which I monitor for filter fouling. I use 60 to 80 gallons per season and end the season with ~1/2 tank (~20gal). I freshen up the tank by filling it at the beginning of the following season. I do try to use a filter funnel to remove moisture when I can. The funnel slows things up so it works best with a jerry can. Depending on the situation I fill the can from the gas station OR fuel dock. Sometimes when pressed for time or very low fuel in the boat tank I just fill straight from the dock, no funnel, no jerry can. http://opti-lube.com Josh Muckley S/V Sea Hawk 1989 C&C 37+ Solomons, MD On Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 8:11 AM Hoyt, Mike via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Why not empty into jerrycans and run in a diesel truck? Given that the > truck goes through a lot more fuel it should not hurt the truck > > > > *From:* CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] *On Behalf Of *Josh > Muckley via CnC-List > *Sent:* Monday, January 30, 2017 9:48 PM > *To:* C&C List > *Cc:* Josh Muckley > *Subject:* Re: Stus-List Anyone had experience with Starbrite Star Tron > Fuel Tank Cleaner? > > > > FYI that engine burns roughly 1 gallon per hour and the fuel tank capacity > is roughly 40 gallons. So you're potentially facing a considerable amount > of run time just to get rid of the old fuel. > > > > After recircing it for the desired time, you might just consider disposing > of the fuel. It can usually be disposed of the same as any used motor oil. > > > > I would be torn about wasting all that fuel and would base my decision on > how bad the results of the recirc were. I'd also consider how well the > engine runs on the old fuel and how much you actually have. A quarter tank > (10 gal) of fuel is at lot less to dilute out than 3/4 of a tank (30 gal). > > > > For the delivery trip you would be well served by keeping a 5 gallon jerry > can of diesel and ~10ft of 1/4 inch fuel hose. If something goes wrong you > you can plumb a suction from the fresh diesel can. Just in case. > > > > Josh Muckley > > S/V Sea Hawk > > 1989 C&C 37+ > > Solomons, MD > > > > On Jan 30, 2017 8:30 PM, "Bruce Whitmore via CnC-List" < > cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > Out of an abundance of caution, given that the boat I am buying has been > started, but not substantially run (other than for our survey) for about 5 > years, I would like to be extra-cautious about potential fuel tank > contamination. > > > > I think that the tank is about half-full. At the suggestion of one of our > contributors here, I will patch in a 12v. pump and recirculate the fuel > through my Racor filter for a number of hours in an attempt to polish the > fuel. > > > > That said, do you think I am better off trying to burn off the old fuel as > much as possible before putting in new (if of course the engine appears to > be running well), or dillute the old stuff with new? > > > > Finally, does anyone here have experience with Starbrite Star Tron Fuel > Tank Cleaner? While its NOT cheap, I'd rather start off with as clean a > fuel system as possible. The reviews seem to be good (and Practical Sailor > rated their biocide highly), but I don't believe everything I read on the > 'net... :) > > > > Thanks in advance! > > > > Bruce Whitmore > > (847) 404-5092 (mobile) > bwhitm...@sbcglobal.net > > > _______________________________________________ > > This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you > wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: > https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > > All Contributions are greatly appreciated! > _______________________________________________ > > This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you > wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: > https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > > All Contributions are greatly appreciated! >
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