I'm just starting to see some signs of something that looks like alge on the
walls of my Racor sediment bowl so I decided it was time to put something in
the tank to get ahead of the problem before there is so much that killing it
produces a mass of sludge to clog the filters.

After looking at the dire poison warnings on many of the bottles, I bought
Starbritte StarTron. The enzyme approach seems to make sense. According to
the brocure on the bottle, it seems to prevent the alge from clumping rather
than killing it.

I did the research after since I needed to fill the tank and, with my
economical engine, there may not be another fill this summer.

The research:

Found this site which look good and has some testimonials from reputable
sounding people:

http://www.priproducts.com/default.htm

They say:

"Soltron, also re-packaged as Startron, is composed of odorless mineral
spirits, a form of high-grade kerosene. Soltron makes the bold claim that
the product contains biological enzymes that "eat" impurities in fuel
including microorganisms, hence improve fuel stability. Fact is, enzymes are
amino acids - not living organisms that "eat". Chemically, amino acids are
typically not capable of surviving in a hydrocarbon base, including
petroleum fuels. While Soltron provides "testimonials" from individual
users regarding product effectiveness, independent laboratory testing for
fuel stability tells a completely different story.
We had Soltron independently tested by Saybolt - Core Laboratory, a well
respected international petroleum testing laboratory that routinely conducts
petroleum testing for major refiners. The industry standard ASTM-D2274
testing provided the following results. In summary, Soltron failed to
improve fuel stability. In fact, it made the fuel, a California Air
Resources Board mandated low-sulfur diesel (0.02%), less stable."

Of course, they also say not to believe anything you read on a website
(except theirs).

I'm sure this is the kind of thing where there are as many opinons as
posters to this newsgroup but, the questions of the day a

Is all this stuff snake oil?

Is putting powerful and dangerous biocides in the tank and pulling the
sludge out with the filters the only option? (In between major fuel
polishing episodes.)

Does anyone know a qood source of objective information about what works and
doesn't?

--

Roger Long