Draining the fuel tank

[kerrye]

Your wrote "I don't think that's "algae " or anything growing". All the links indicate that stuff growing in diesel is a common and serious problem. I saw similar stuff growing in my diesel as I did in my maple syrup. Both are fungi.

[JT48348]

I also said this: I'm not saying micro organisms can't grow in diesel. I'm saying the majority of what you're seeing is not micro organisms. It's diesel deteriorating to something else. The notion of runaway micro organisms is what drives the after market diesel additive industry.

The science is very clear. If you place that black gunk under a micro scope it's not an organism. It's petroleum by products.

Only 1-5% of the contaminants are actually a micro organism.

[Beta Don]

I saw similar stuff growing in my diesel as I did in my maple syrup. Both are fungi.

Apples and oranges though and completely unrelated - You would *expect* to see all sorts of things 'growing' in maple syrup as it contains all the necessary elements to support life. You certainly would *not* expect to see those same things 'growing' in diesel fuel which is toxic to 99% of all known life forms

With diesel, you don't see any of this in a new car, truck or boat - What we have is definitely related to the fact that we have a tank which has sat idle for years and years with old fuel in it. The old fuel 'looks' great when we drain the tank, but it's obvious that it's not the same as new fuel. I didn't even consider trying to burn my 12 year old fuel in any engine and I sure wasn't going to try using it in my boat

At any rate, clean your tank as well as you can, install a good filter which uses inexpensive replacement elements (like the Racor 500 which uses $10 filters) and then buy several elements and change them regularly. I *think* after many hours of regular use, your tank will eventually clean itself . . . . I hope

Don

[kerrye]

Well it's pretty clear from the science that fungi grows in diesel fuel. If you read the material in the links it's not necessarily how long the fuel has been sitting in a tank but whether or not the fuel picked up fungi spores somewhere between the time it was manufactured and the time it entered your tank. I've been driving diesels and an active participant in diesel car forums for 16 years. People get the 'black gunk' in their tanks even when their fuel has not sat for any period of time since they are running thru a tank of fuel a week. The first sample I mentioned which had what I believe to be fungi hanging in it, I shook hard in the bottle and it broke up the hanging film That same bottle now has small black specks in the bottom of it. I don't know what these black specks are since I haven't put them under a microscope or subjected them to chemical analysis but it is reasonable to think that they are the remains of the broken up hanging film. It wouldn't surprise me if they included deteriorated diesel fuel. But there has to be some additional 'stuff' in there since to my knowledge, deteriorated diesel does not turn into a filmy defined hanging slime which resembles fungi.

[Beta Don]

Well it's pretty clear from the science that fungi grows in diesel fuel.

I agree with that much - And adding a biocide 'algae preventer' stops it (I've always used Biobor JF in anything which doesn't get run regularly) which prevents the growth AND the mud from forming - I used it in my sailboat religiously for about 10 years - Never added fuel without adding Biobor

I've never used it in my 10 year old diesel lawn tractor, but then it seldom sits idle for more than a couple months. I changed the fuel filter on it for the first time last year at about 400 hours and it still appeared clear inside

Don

[kerrye]

There's a good picture of the kind of thing I saw in my fuel bottle on this page although what I saw in mine was much smaller, maybe a couple of inches long from top to bottom. It kind of reminded me of tadpole eggs in their slime in a pond. http://www.tradeboats.com.au/tradeaboat ... iesel-bug/

[JT48348]

Does it it seem weird to you that everyone cited as an expert touting the microbe theory is in some way related to the diesel biocides industry? This article is essentially covert advertising masquerading as a trade publication.

You should put ur fungus under a microscope.

[kerrye]

Here's a comprehensive analysis by Dow:

http://www.hpcdfuel.com/pdf/DOWfuel_training.pdf


The reason that the analysis are often done by the sellers of biocides is that they are the ones trying to figure out how to the solve the problems. Also notice the link I posted with the abstract of the article in International
Biodeterioration analyzing the fungi not done by the biocide industry. I would put my fungus under a microscope if I had one.

[JT48348]

$50 or less. Walmart or Hobby Lobby

The Dow one is good. Here's another one

http://www.crcao.org/reports/recentstud ... %20667.pdf


So I'm curious your thought process. If you have micro organisms as you say and you treated with biocides they should die and go away. But that didn't happen. They reportedly grew in your diesel container.

If you have micro organisms, they're still only 1-5% of the composition if your contaminants. Aren't you worried about the other 95% of contaminants in your diesel?

You do acknowledge the difference in the diesel quality since at least 2006 and the fact that it breaks down over time?

Seems like worrying about the micro organisms should be relatively far down on the worry list.

1. Start with good fresh diesel
2. Start with a clean tank, lines, filter
3. Reduce external water intrusion to fuel
4. THEN worry about microbes.

If a person hasn't done 1-3 then it's silly to worry about #4.

[kerrye]

Where did I say that the biorganisms didn't die and go away? I think it is likely that the black specks at the bottom of my 5 gallon buckets are dead fungi. Same with the black specks at the bottom of the sample bottle.
Diesel has changed a lot since 2006 and it's caused a lot of problems. One of the first noticeable effects in the old MB diesel community was rapid failure of the injector return lines. Yes, diesel does break down over time.
The reason to be concerned about microorganisms is that they grow, often times fast and can cause repeated problems. Here's a good example: http://mercedesforum.com/forum/other-25 ... ues-50109/
I never wrote that worrying about microorganisms should be at the top of anyone's list. On the other hand, if you actually see fungi in your fuel, then microorganisms should move to the top of your list.
It's always best to have fresh clean diesel. But, the optimal circumstances rarely exist.

[kerrye]

The last article you linked, calls what I saw in my fuel a 'biofilm', a sticky slimy substance containing biomass.

[Sunsetrider]

Late to this but for a reason. When changing my Racor filter in May the gunk was unacceptably multitudinous. This is year three with the Manatee for me and goodness knows what lies in the tank - I filled it 2 years ago and there is about 3 inches of fuel still in there (the gauge is long dead). So I pulled the tank right out and sent it to the rad people for flushing and "coating" (??). the dregs in the tank when pulled looked like a mixture of maple syrup and 2-stroke oil. Yikes. So new filter (again) and have a happy feeling inside!

[JT48348]

Curious did you install inspection ports in your tank?

[Sprig1]

I did in mine. I also just got new fuel lines from injector pump to tank.

[JT48348]

That looks good. Looks like you made alum ports and bolted them down. That's my plan