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Diesel fuel additive


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Having installed an additional filter and water trap to my Perkins diesel and being finally satisfied with the whole fuel delivery system, the next thing taxing the dusty recesses of my ancient brain is diesel fuel additives.

I have always used additives and when I purchased my current vessel a couple of years back she came with half a bottle of fuel conditioner - age unknown, which I have been dutifully adding at each refuelling.

The questions are (1) is there any particular brand regarded as superior? (2) do additives have a shelf life, especially once opened and (3) once the fuel is treated does it stay treated ie if it stays in your task for some months is that OK or does it need an extra dose of additive?

As always, thanks.

Chris

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Google "snake oil" and you will get the answer. If diesel fuel needed something else to make it great the fuel companies would have added it (last thing I read was that Shell etc. don't actually have a sideline overhauling injectors). A couple of years ago I installed fuel computers on some larger vessels purely to test additives for a client. He couldn't understand why his ships showed no benefit at all with additives but his L200 truck seemed to show improvements. I pointed out to him that I maintained his ships whilst some dodgy mechanic maintained his ute.

In short, additives can mask or temporarily cure symptoms of poor diesel engine maintenance but they are not a substitute for a proper maintenance programme and are effectively money wasted via the exhaust.

The only additives I recommend are a pure biocide to kill the dreaded bug if you have it(but you will still get blocked filters until the bug has died and been passed through the engine) and possibly some ethanol to absorb water in the tank that cannot be mechanically removed.

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:D What he said !

Best way to keep diesel bug out is to keep tanks full.

Reduce condensation (or any water). Including getting fuel from a well maintained supply line.

A fuel scrubber is a worth while investment. Simple to make and takes out excess moisture and crap.

If you are going very remote and are getting fuel from drums etc...consider setting up your own pump with filter and water trap to stop the nasty before it gets into your tanks.

Once the bug is in it can be a long processes to get rid of. Use a filter system regardless that takes common filters. You can then buy them very cheaply , will have lots on board and think nothing of changing them..

 

cheers

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Thanks for that guys. I have never used anything and never had a problem so occasionally worry that I should be. Now I'll stop worrying.

BTW - get most of my diesel from the local gas station and jug it to the boat (number of reasons), always thought that might help me avoid dodgy fuel (if the gas stations sold dodgy fuel there would be dead trucks all over our highways).

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Buying fuel from the local servo, use one that has a good turnover, diesel isn't normally a problem but super or ultra can be as not many folk buy and it seems to get stale quite quickly, I have had 2 tankfulls of Caltex 96? (red) from the local and both caused problems! another rider had a similar experience from another nearby (G.A.S.) service Stn. Both instances came right with the subsequent fill being 93 (green).

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What do you think is in that fuel 360 stuff?

Red flag when all the results are based on anecdotal evidence only!

Probably a mix of biocide, ethanol and some sort of lubricant like power steering fluid. Pretty much what all the additives are.

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Agreed with all that. Another point is that if you have fibreglass tanks, they are much less prone to condensation than SS ones, and, therefore, provided the fuel is clean etc, less prone to Diesel bug.

 

While in dodgy places, we used to often get fuel from barrels, and it would have water, sand, and other crap in it. We used a water seperator filter, like this

As an initial filter, then a water seperator/filter, then the engine filter. We still got a small amount of water in the water trap, and that filter was regularly full of crap. The primary engine filter rarely had anything. Good, clean fuel is essential!! Additives (except sometimes a biocide) are not. IMO.

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Thanks for the replies.

I think I used the wrong word in that 'additive' implies that I want to enhance the properties of the fuel to deal with some engine problem or other. This is not the case. I maintain my engine very well - no expense spared, even to the extent of washing it down frequently and giving it a hug now and then. Consequently it runs very sweetly and I want to keep it that way. We cruise full time for three months over summer, use very little diesel but nonetheless have slack tanks for extended periods as opposed to pressed up when laid up over winter. So, slack tanks means the possibility of condensation, fuel\water interface and therefore diesel bug etc. I believe that there are products that have a biocidal action and also cause any condensation to mix with the diesel. This is what I am interested in. From the previous replies I understand that such a product may be of benefit, so the three questions remain. (1) is their a recommended product to accomplish this (2) since I would use very little, does it have a shelf life, and (3) once mixed with the fuel, does the products action in the fuel continue for an extended period of time in the tank?

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First prize is a condensate drain at the lowest point of your tank. If you have this then you don't need to worry about water in fuel. If you don't have a drain at the lowest poiunt then think abouat a small pump down the filler etc. to see if you can pump out the lowest point. If all else fails a pure biocide and some pure ethanol is all you should need. Maintenance dosing of biocide is OK but can prove costly if you use a lot of fuel.

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The best thing to do if your worried about diesal bug is install an inline device (can't remember the name) that uses light to kill any nasties in your fuel before it goes into the engine. Using additives will shorten the life of your engine.

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All diesel needs "help". That's why we have filters on our engines. Do you put snake oil in your truck? Can it sail home if the engine stops? NZ has enough competition to make sure its fuel standards are up to spec. Vanuatu has only one supplier and they have supplied dodgy product (petrol) in the past that an additive wouldn't have made a difference to.

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NZ Diesel is one of the highest quality ones in the world and thus one of the most expensive. Diesel also has the advantage of being a very "simple" fuel, as in, the range of Hydrocarbons that make it up. There is only one "additive" used in Diesel which is a Winter additive to reduce waxing. Petrol on the other hand, is complex and has all sorts added at the Refinery, to make it Petrol.

With time, ALL Fuels oxidize and for long term storage, a stabilizer can be god to add to ensure the Fuel remains in good condition in the tank. Petrol goes "off" very quickly, mainly because many of the Hydrocarbons that make it up are highly evaporative. But there is no real Stabilizer for Petrol and long term storage is not really advisable.

Diesel Bug is of two different types. Algae and Bacteria. Bacteria being the most common. The issue with both is that once you have them, there is no Light, Magnet, or Biocide that will destroy them to make them into something that can then pass through a filter and then the injector. You can kill them both with additives, but the gunk remains and only a filter can stop it traveling through the system.

UV light, if powerful enough, will Kill Bacteria, but probably not Algae. But you can be assured it does not remove it.

The MagFilter is the biggest crock of s....snake oil you can come across. Expensive and a complete waste of money.

The first best thong you can do is as PW has mentioned. Create a means in your fuel tank for water to run too, with the ability to bleed it off from the tank.

Second best and equal with first is having good Fuel filters and ensuring the elements are replaced often.

Third best is to use a Fuel additive with a Biocide, purely to help stop anything growing in the Tank should the conditions arise for it to grow. But any additive should be used as a last resort.

Additives, or most of them, will not shorten the life of the engine. But many will not help the engine either and there are one or two that can cause a Boat engine to glaze.

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All good stuff thank you, and based on the replies I have sorted out my course of action.

I am now happy with my filtration, having a CAV filter and water trap as a secondary, and the engine mounted filter as the primary. The fuel tank is only 30 litres and has no drain, but I have one of those dandy 6 litre hand operated vacuum pumps so it will be easy to insert the suction hose into the tank a few mils from the bottom and suck out a bit of fuel - hopefully from past experience, uncontaminated. I should do this 2 - 3 times a year? I will continue my practice of refueling via a filter funnel. As mentioned earlier, we will spend much of the summer with slack tanks so I would like a maintenance biocide added as a precaution and this presents a bit of a problem. Every single product promises the most amazing benefits to my engine I wonder how the thing ever ran at all without them - is there a simple preventative biocide that I can add to my tank without all the additional bovine excrement?

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BC-250 is distributed in NZ by Salt-away and is available in several Chandleries. It has a dose rate of 1:2000 for clean tanks as a preventative and 1:1000 for initial dosing to kill known Bug. 500ml Retails for just under $18.00, so I would assume a 1ltr would be around the 30

 

I use this stuff.

Easy to measure and has a ratio of 1:1000, although 1:2000 can be used for clean tanks as a preventative. http://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/online- ... 0402#Cross

$37.00 at SC

 

Or another I have used is the Morey's Diesel Smoke Killer & Fuel Conditioner, also available from Supercheap. Ratio of 1:650

$25.88 at SC.

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Yesterday I sucked out a few litres from the bottom of the tank. As far as I can tell from peering down the filler hole with a torch, the bottom of the tank is shiny and the sucked up diesel is absolutely pristine.

FWIW, the fuel additive that came with the boat, and I have continued to use is called Fuelmaster.

I would attach the data sheet I found online but I don't knowhow to do it.

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