"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
The sediment bowl on the Shelco filter I put in for my fuel polishing (or
Pre-filtering, whatever you want to call it) system doesn't drain
completely. I took it out of the boat today, poured off the fuel (Not a
drop of water BTW), and scraped out the stuff in the bottom:

http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Crud.jpg

Wow. I was saying a while ago that didn't think the system was necessary
for the cruising I do now. I would have agreed with anyone who said it
was a hobby affectation. I still wouldn't say "necessary" is quite the
right word but I sure am glad I have it just for tootling around in Maine.

This is the left overs from about 100 gallons of fuel purchased during the
year and isn't all off it since a gust of wind blew the plate over. About
half of the fuel was road diesel purchased at a high volume gas station.
Sure, the Racor could have dealt with this stuff and I could have dealt
with the Racor but, why? There was not a speck in the Racor bowl it
looked just like it did when I changed the filter and filled the sytem
last spring. Having this crud removed from the system in a way that makes
having to deal with it's disposal underway vanishingly unlikely is great.

--
Roger Long

I just attended a diesel seminar on Saturday put on by one of the local
yards. That black crud looks very similar to the bacteria that they showed
us. Is that what you have? You might want to look at it under a microscope.
If so, they recommend a biocide (any will do, mentioned was Biobor) and then
fuel polishing to remove the dead from the tank, since many tanks can't be
removed and cleaned easily. The fuel polishing issue seems to be important
to them for used boats that are recently purchased or ones with a continuing
problem vs. doing it on a regular basis for most boats.

According to the yard manager, who has about 30 years experience, one should
top off the tank as much and as often as possible as any condensation is
ultimately bad. He keeps a jerrycan with fuel in his lockbox, so that when
he returns and has only used a small amount, he can top it off.

FYI, all #2 is identical, at least per state. You want to ensure that your
diesel has the right cetane number, typically in the 48-51 range, and if
yours is like ours in California (41 - mandated by state law), then you can
get a stanadyne additive to bring it up. Apparently, many of the long haul
truckers fill up in Nevada before they cross the border, since Nevada serves
the good stuff.

He also recommeded a dual primary system if you sail offshore.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com