So, I'm at the point of doing my fuel system, as the mechanic is coming
Saturday to do the servicing of the engine and align the tranny with
me.

At the St. Pete Strictly Sail last week, I saw a presentation on "fuel
polishing" which was really a pitch for Algae-X. The rep claimed that
Cummins diesels now puts them on all their engines after convincing
proof following too many clogged-filter episodes, and that the CG uses
them on all their ships (which the website doesn't validate, though
there is a testimonial from a Coastie and a Cummins guy).

Visiting the website provides some interesting testimonials, including
a nice pictorial by a dual tank, dual engine, tester. Testimonials
include several large users. Sunsail was among them, and I have a
question in to my Sunsail contact in Tortola - if it's real, despite
there being no reference to it on their website, I think I'd buy it.
However...

Of concern, nearly all the successful users also cited adding some fuel
treatment to the system - thus, I don't know if that's at root of the
success, or, if the assertions of the magnetic system breaking up the
clumped stuff (claimed to be asphalts, paraffins, and other long-chain
un-distillates), which then burns (vs collecting on the filters, being
discarded, losing energy from those otherwise broken-up and now
combustible stuff in the process). Many of them also cited several
tankfuls before reaching equilibrium, which might merely be new fuel.
However, one of the typical citations is reduced injector
loss/increased time between change/service, and in some cases, zero
filter change (one of the points made in the presentation's ostensibly
technical presentation was that what clogs filters is asphalts, etc.
and that microorganisms, if not precipitated from dead critters, passes
through filters and is burned) following initial "polishing").

Googling Algae-X and other key words led to a government site which had
done much magnetic (and other mileage-enhancing) gadget testing
(albeit, since it was auto oriented, prolly for gas engines), and found
no benefit to them. That it was relevant to mileage claims (vs
contaminant elimination) further leads me to at least partly discount
that.

There's also a Navy site which addresses additives, but not
"conditioners" such as Algae-X.

Of course, much hyperbole exists, with the emphasis on "hype," in the
anecdotal repertoire of the internet. Lots of heat and little light.
Not the first user report (that I found, at any rate) other than on the
company website. Plenty of non-users slamming it.

So, to the point. Who here has installed Algae-X and with what result?
If positive, neutral or negative, how was that view reached?
Empirical? Gut feel? Some data? Rigorous documentation?

So, again, if you've (or, your best buddy, on whose boat you're a
regular and intimately familiar with the outcome) installed this, I'd
like to hear about it.

At the risk of sounding pedantic (well, I _do_, so, "at the risk of
offending those who object"), please, no hype, or slams unless you've
used it to failure. Also, please don't reply unless you're one of the
folks in the preceding paragraph or asking clarifying questions.
Nobody will learn anything from that and it will be one of those 90+
message threads which has only 5 on point. I'm currently very short on
time and can't afford to wade through the mudslinging...

Thanks.

Other interested parties may wish to examine
http://www.algae-x.net/test_reports.htm, their test reports, and
http://www.algae-x.net/customers_marine_endorsement.htm, including the
pictorial mentioned above, titled "snake oil chronicles." I'm not sure
I like his testing modus, but it's pretty good for non-lab work. A
discussion of why this is supposed to work can be found at
http://www.algae-x.net/pdf/Tech_P_Effects_Mag_Field.pdf There's also
a report by a lab, taking a known contaminated fuel batch, showing the
kind of results claimed by the company, but at this writing I'm not
easily able to put my hands on it...

L8R

Skip, also fighting a fuel leak which will most likely involve cutting
the sole - and then, some horrible-to-contemplate resolution in the FRP
tank

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery!
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

In rec.boats.cruising Skip Gundlach wrote:

:So, to the point. Who here has installed Algae-X and with what result?
: If positive, neutral or negative, how was that view reached?
:Empirical? Gut feel? Some data? Rigorous documentation?

If it worked, they'd cite a real test, done by an independent lab,
with a large sample size, and an explanation of the method used. They
don't. They cite a bunch of internal stuff, a report commisioned by
them that doesn't really show anything useful, and a bunch of
meaningless other stuff. The fact that they don't show off a good lab
report suggests the reason they don't is that they don't have one to
show off.

:So, again, if you've (or, your best buddy, on whose boat you're a
:regular and intimately familiar with the outcome) installed this, I'd
:like to hear about it.

:At the risk of sounding pedantic (well, I _do_, so, "at the risk of
ffending those who object"), please, no hype, or slams unless you've
:used it to failure. Also, please don't reply unless you're one of the
:folks in the preceding paragraph or asking clarifying questions.
:Nobody will learn anything from that and it will be one of those 90+
:message threads which has only 5 on point. I'm currently very short on
:time and can't afford to wade through the mudslinging...

On the other hand, since it seems like you've decided that you want
one it won't hurt anything but your wallet to buy one.

On 12 Nov 2006 10:10:05 -0800, "Skip Gundlach"
wrote:

So, I'm at the point of doing my fuel system, as the mechanic is coming
Saturday to do the servicing of the engine and align the tranny with
me.

At the St. Pete Strictly Sail last week, I saw a presentation on "fuel
polishing" which was really a pitch for Algae-X.

I think the only honest answer is that the jury is still out on
Algae-X. The discussion has been going on for years now. Some people
have claimed to get positive results but their claims have always been
of a subjective nature. There have never been certified results from
a reliable source that I am aware of. Without certified results I
find it hard to believe that either the navy or USCG would sign up.

That said, I can tell you from experience what does work. My tanks
and fuel were in really lousy condition 2 years ago when I started.
We now have parallel Racors and vacuum guages on each engine. The
Racors can be switched in and out with ball valves on the input and
output of each filter, allowing filter elements to be hot swapped
underway. I also installed a fuel polishing system that allows the
fuel to be continuously circulated through the Racors when I'm at the
dock. I use Biobor fuel conditioner in the recommended quantities,
carry a good supply of spare Racor filter elements, check the vacuum
guages every few hours when underway, and drain a fuel sample from the
bottom of the Racor bowl at every filter change. Since doing all of
that we've had zero problems.

Skip Gundlach wrote:
At the St. Pete Strictly Sail last week, I saw a presentation on "fuel
polishing" which was really a pitch for Algae-X.


Algae-X has nothing to do with fuel polishing.

Wayne.B wrote:
I think the only honest answer is that the jury is still out on
Algae-X.

That's one way to put it. Another way is to say that nobody
has ever been able to show that having your fuel run between
two magnets has any positive benefits at all.

.... Without certified results I
find it hard to believe that either the navy or USCG would sign up.


I think that unless there's a MIL-SPEC on it, then claims
that it's used by any Federal agency are kind of dim.

Let me put it this way... not too many years ago, I did
engineering work by contract on several Navy and MSC ships.
They did not have anything installed anywhere in any
engineering system that was not type approved by NAVSEA (the
gods of marine engineering). No Gulf Coast filters using
toilet paper, no spinning magnets, no little crystal pyramids.




That said, I can tell you from experience what does work. My tanks
and fuel were in really lousy condition 2 years ago when I started.
We now have parallel Racors and vacuum guages on each engine. The
Racors can be switched in and out with ball valves on the input and
output of each filter, allowing filter elements to be hot swapped
underway. I also installed a fuel polishing system that allows the
fuel to be continuously circulated through the Racors when I'm at the
dock. I use Biobor fuel conditioner in the recommended quantities,
carry a good supply of spare Racor filter elements, check the vacuum
guages every few hours when underway, and drain a fuel sample from the
bottom of the Racor bowl at every filter change. Since doing all of
that we've had zero problems.

Bingo!

But hey, if you spend an extra 50$ on some new-age feel-good
doohickey for your fuel system, you could probably save on
some of those 7$ filter elements

DSK

"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
ups.com...
So, I'm at the point of doing my fuel system, as the mechanic is coming
Saturday to do the servicing of the engine and align the tranny with
me.

At the St. Pete Strictly Sail last week, I saw a presentation on "fuel
polishing" which was really a pitch for Algae-X. The rep claimed that
Cummins diesels now puts them on all their engines after convincing
proof following too many clogged-filter episodes, and that the CG uses
them on all their ships (which the website doesn't validate, though
there is a testimonial from a Coastie and a Cummins guy).

Visiting the website provides some interesting testimonials, including
a nice pictorial by a dual tank, dual engine, tester. Testimonials
include several large users. Sunsail was among them, and I have a
question in to my Sunsail contact in Tortola - if it's real, despite
there being no reference to it on their website, I think I'd buy it.
However...

Of concern, nearly all the successful users also cited adding some fuel
treatment to the system - thus, I don't know if that's at root of the
success, or, if the assertions of the magnetic system breaking up the
clumped stuff (claimed to be asphalts, paraffins, and other long-chain
un-distillates), which then burns (vs collecting on the filters, being
discarded, losing energy from those otherwise broken-up and now
combustible stuff in the process). Many of them also cited several
tankfuls before reaching equilibrium, which might merely be new fuel.
However, one of the typical citations is reduced injector
loss/increased time between change/service, and in some cases, zero
filter change (one of the points made in the presentation's ostensibly
technical presentation was that what clogs filters is asphalts, etc.
and that microorganisms, if not precipitated from dead critters, passes
through filters and is burned) following initial "polishing").

Googling Algae-X and other key words led to a government site which had
done much magnetic (and other mileage-enhancing) gadget testing
(albeit, since it was auto oriented, prolly for gas engines), and found
no benefit to them. That it was relevant to mileage claims (vs
contaminant elimination) further leads me to at least partly discount
that.

There's also a Navy site which addresses additives, but not
"conditioners" such as Algae-X.

Of course, much hyperbole exists, with the emphasis on "hype," in the
anecdotal repertoire of the internet. Lots of heat and little light.
Not the first user report (that I found, at any rate) other than on the
company website. Plenty of non-users slamming it.

So, to the point. Who here has installed Algae-X and with what result?
If positive, neutral or negative, how was that view reached?
Empirical? Gut feel? Some data? Rigorous documentation?

So, again, if you've (or, your best buddy, on whose boat you're a
regular and intimately familiar with the outcome) installed this, I'd
like to hear about it.

At the risk of sounding pedantic (well, I _do_, so, "at the risk of
offending those who object"), please, no hype, or slams unless you've
used it to failure. Also, please don't reply unless you're one of the
folks in the preceding paragraph or asking clarifying questions.
Nobody will learn anything from that and it will be one of those 90+
message threads which has only 5 on point. I'm currently very short on
time and can't afford to wade through the mudslinging...

Thanks.

Other interested parties may wish to examine
http://www.algae-x.net/test_reports.htm, their test reports, and
http://www.algae-x.net/customers_marine_endorsement.htm, including the
pictorial mentioned above, titled "snake oil chronicles." I'm not sure
I like his testing modus, but it's pretty good for non-lab work. A
discussion of why this is supposed to work can be found at
http://www.algae-x.net/pdf/Tech_P_Effects_Mag_Field.pdf There's also
a report by a lab, taking a known contaminated fuel batch, showing the
kind of results claimed by the company, but at this writing I'm not
easily able to put my hands on it...

L8R

Skip, also fighting a fuel leak which will most likely involve cutting
the sole - and then, some horrible-to-contemplate resolution in the FRP
tank

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery!
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain


I purchased new in 1996 a twin diesel cruiser (Cummins 420 Diamond Edition)
and put approximately 60 hours a year on it over the next 10 years (doesn't
sound like much but at 20 knots that is give or take 1000+ miles each year).
From my initial fill up I added the proper amounts of preservative/biocide
(Biobor and others). After three years I experienced severely clogged fuel
filters (black gunky stuff). Subsequently had the fuel polished and (at the
recommendation of the local Cummins distributor) installed Algae-X filters
on both main engine fuel lines while continuing the biocide/preservative
addition at EVERY fuel fill up. No subsequent problems were experienced.
Boat is on the Great Lakes and sits in indoor heated storage @ 50 degrees F
for 6 months a year; probably ideal conditions for biological growth and
"molecular agglomeration".

On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:10:22 -0500, DSK wrote:

But hey, if you spend an extra 50$ on some new-age feel-good
doohickey for your fuel system, you could probably save on
some of those 7$ filter elements

Clean filter elements and a built in fuel polishing system are cheap
insurance against an unsheduled shut down in my opinion. Skip has a
sailboat so at least he has redundant propulsion. Judging from the
stories I hear from people almost everyone, sail or power, has
experienced a shutdown at one time or another from dirty fuel. One of
my neighbors with a 40 something motor sailor told me that he and his
wife stopped going to the Bahamas because they lost power everytime
they crossed the gulf stream.

That's the problem with dirty fuel; it almost always hits you in
marginal conditions when you are least prepared to deal with it.

Hi, David, and welcome to the group.

I presume you're new here, or you'd know me fairly well, what with my
having posted actively here for over 10 years...

David Scheidt wrote:

On the other hand, since it seems like you've decided that you want
one it won't hurt anything but your wallet to buy one.

QED. I come here for information. There are many instances where my
information quest has led me to abandon something I thought was a good
idea. OTOH, I regard Algae-X with a high degree of skepticism which,
if it didn't come through in my post, illustrates yet again my
shortcomings as a writer.

What I didn't elaborate upon, as it wasn't relevant to the discussion
at hand, is that I'll have both a fuel polishing (in the usual sense of
the word, but who assigned that label, anyway? Is it bright, now?)
system, with a pump running through rather large filters, 30 and
10microns in series, with a vacuum gauge to monitor their condition,
feeding a dual (parallel) Racor setup so in the unlikely event of
fouling once I've finished, I can switch on the fly. Before those
there will be a small priming pump so in the even more unlikely event
of needing to bleed, it will be easier than with the manual pump on the
side of the engine.

So, back to the story, I'm looking for real-world, owner-installed,
data. Without it, I'll not spend the (admittedly trivial in the scheme
of things in our refit) bux to get it.

Yet, of course, the first three posts in the topic following mine do
exactly what I'd pleaded not to do - pontificate, hyperbolate, lecture
and otherwise tell me all the reasons it won't work without having done
so themselves.

Or, in the Island Packet mailing list which I also visit, despite
having not bought one, due to the high ratio of signal to noise, I got
this, also nearly immediately:

************
Skip,

We have had an Algae-X for 6 years now and have never had a problem
with fuel. The sound you hear is me knocking on wood.

We have left Likeke at different marinas for months at a time with a
full fuel tank and no additives in tropical weather with no problem. We
have bought fuel up and down the ICW, the Bahamas, throughout Central
America and Panama and rarely used our WM "Baja" filter. Even bought
some off a shrimp boat in the Vivorillos on our trip south with no
problem. We've been through 1,900 gallons with it on the boat.

We have also noticed a reduction in exhaust soot and only have to
lightly clean a small portion of our transom on occasion. The engine
seems to run very nicely as well.

I once talked to a fellow sailor who had been to the Mack Boring Temple
of the Diesel Gods and he asked about the Algae-X. They apparently
recommended using it, although they, too, had no idea how it really
works.

So, I guess it was worth the $125 we paid for it back when we didn't
know any better. It may be all smoke and mirrors, but at the end of the
day, it does seem to work. Either that or we've been unusually lucky
when it comes to clean fuel.


Randy Rickard
s/v Likeke IP380-48
Currently resting in Bocas del Toro, Panama after the Admiral redid
it's
teak (down to bare wood) waiting for it's crew to come back from the
US and
grandkids in mid-January to head to the San Blas and beyond.

*************

So, now that the group has had its projectile vomiting, who has used
these, and what has been the results?

Sheesh.

L8R

Skip, relieved to find that my expectations were upheld in such
immediate fashion, but depressed to find no valid information here

PS this was written just before Fred's - _thank you_, for *real-world
input*! I'm off to continue trying to find the fuel leak...

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery!
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

On 12 Nov 2006 15:30:03 -0800, "Skip Gundlach"
wrote:

What I didn't elaborate upon, as it wasn't relevant to the discussion
at hand, is that I'll have both a fuel polishing (in the usual sense of
the word, but who assigned that label, anyway? Is it bright, now?)
system, with a pump running through rather large filters, 30 and
10microns in series, with a vacuum gauge to monitor their condition,
feeding a dual (parallel) Racor setup so in the unlikely event of
fouling once I've finished, I can switch on the fly. Before those
there will be a small priming pump so in the even more unlikely event
of needing to bleed, it will be easier than with the manual pump on the
side of the engine.

Sounds to me like you've got all of the important stuff covered
already.

snip
Yet, of course, the first three posts in the topic following mine do
exactly what I'd pleaded not to do - pontificate, hyperbolate, lecture
and otherwise tell me all the reasons it won't work without having done
so themselves.

Sorry Skip, but I'm always willing to share what has worked for me,
call it what you will.

************
Skip,

We have had an Algae-X for 6 years now and have never had a problem
with fuel. The sound you hear is me knocking on wood.

We have left Likeke at different marinas for months at a time with a
full fuel tank and no additives in tropical weather with no problem. We
have bought fuel up and down the ICW, the Bahamas, throughout Central
America and Panama and rarely used our WM "Baja" filter. Even bought
some off a shrimp boat in the Vivorillos on our trip south with no
problem. We've been through 1,900 gallons with it on the boat.

We have also noticed a reduction in exhaust soot and only have to
lightly clean a small portion of our transom on occasion. The engine
seems to run very nicely as well.

I once talked to a fellow sailor who had been to the Mack Boring Temple
of the Diesel Gods and he asked about the Algae-X. They apparently
recommended using it, although they, too, had no idea how it really
works.

So, I guess it was worth the $125 we paid for it back when we didn't
know any better. It may be all smoke and mirrors, but at the end of the
day, it does seem to work. Either that or we've been unusually lucky
when it comes to clean fuel.


There have always been Algae-X success stories out there. I assumed
you had already run across them since it has been actively debated for
a long time.

My attitude in your case is why not? You've already done the
important stuff in my opinion and the Algae-X magnetic system
certainly can't hurt anything other than instill a dubious sense of
over confidence.

"Skip Gundlach" wrote:
What I didn't elaborate upon, as it wasn't relevant to the discussion
at hand, is that I'll have both a fuel polishing (in the usual sense of
the word, but who assigned that label, anyway? Is it bright, now?)

Actually, yes. "Bright" is a technical descriptor for fuel
oils. The opposite of laden with sediment.


system, with a pump running through rather large filters, 30 and
10microns in series, with a vacuum gauge to monitor their condition,
feeding a dual (parallel) Racor setup so in the unlikely event of
fouling once I've finished, I can switch on the fly.

Sounds like a good enough set up, but why not use 2 micron?
Unless you like changing filter elements when you don't have
to, there is no reason for using "big then little" elements.
And to polish the fuel, you should use 2 micron. Fuel
injector pumps are very sensitive critters.


Yet, of course, the first three posts in the topic following mine do
exactly what I'd pleaded not to do - pontificate, hyperbolate, lecture
and otherwise tell me all the reasons it won't work without having done
so themselves.


So I guess you don't want my opinion of whether rubbing
incense on a voodoo doll can cure cancer, either?

In my post, I was countering some of the common false claims
that non-MIL-SPEC equipment is in fact MIL-SPEC'ed.


Wayne.B wrote:
Sorry Skip, but I'm always willing to share what has worked for me,
call it what you will.


Good IMHO.

DSK

I've got a 17 year old Catalina 36. Earlier this year, I had to
replace the fuel tank due to a pinhole leak in the bottom. I pumped
all the fuel into 6-gallon fuel cans and noticed no "crud" in the fuel,
nor on the bottom of the tank (now replaced).

The boat has never had biocide in the tank and has never had the fuel
polished. I do keep the tank as full as possible during the winter
months to minimize condensation in the tank and replace both fuel
filters once a year. Never had a problem.

But I have talked with people on the dock that swear by biocide because
they have never had a problem with their fuel. I guess it's the
placebo effect.

dudley
..
Fred Miller wrote:
"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
ups.com...
So, I'm at the point of doing my fuel system, as the mechanic is coming
Saturday to do the servicing of the engine and align the tranny with
me.

At the St. Pete Strictly Sail last week, I saw a presentation on "fuel
polishing" which was really a pitch for Algae-X. The rep claimed that
Cummins diesels now puts them on all their engines after convincing
proof following too many clogged-filter episodes, and that the CG uses
them on all their ships (which the website doesn't validate, though
there is a testimonial from a Coastie and a Cummins guy).

Visiting the website provides some interesting testimonials, including
a nice pictorial by a dual tank, dual engine, tester. Testimonials
include several large users. Sunsail was among them, and I have a
question in to my Sunsail contact in Tortola - if it's real, despite
there being no reference to it on their website, I think I'd buy it.
However...

Of concern, nearly all the successful users also cited adding some fuel
treatment to the system - thus, I don't know if that's at root of the
success, or, if the assertions of the magnetic system breaking up the
clumped stuff (claimed to be asphalts, paraffins, and other long-chain
un-distillates), which then burns (vs collecting on the filters, being
discarded, losing energy from those otherwise broken-up and now
combustible stuff in the process). Many of them also cited several
tankfuls before reaching equilibrium, which might merely be new fuel.
However, one of the typical citations is reduced injector
loss/increased time between change/service, and in some cases, zero
filter change (one of the points made in the presentation's ostensibly
technical presentation was that what clogs filters is asphalts, etc.
and that microorganisms, if not precipitated from dead critters, passes
through filters and is burned) following initial "polishing").

Googling Algae-X and other key words led to a government site which had
done much magnetic (and other mileage-enhancing) gadget testing
(albeit, since it was auto oriented, prolly for gas engines), and found
no benefit to them. That it was relevant to mileage claims (vs
contaminant elimination) further leads me to at least partly discount
that.

There's also a Navy site which addresses additives, but not
"conditioners" such as Algae-X.

Of course, much hyperbole exists, with the emphasis on "hype," in the
anecdotal repertoire of the internet. Lots of heat and little light.
Not the first user report (that I found, at any rate) other than on the
company website. Plenty of non-users slamming it.

So, to the point. Who here has installed Algae-X and with what result?
If positive, neutral or negative, how was that view reached?
Empirical? Gut feel? Some data? Rigorous documentation?

So, again, if you've (or, your best buddy, on whose boat you're a
regular and intimately familiar with the outcome) installed this, I'd
like to hear about it.

At the risk of sounding pedantic (well, I _do_, so, "at the risk of
offending those who object"), please, no hype, or slams unless you've
used it to failure. Also, please don't reply unless you're one of the
folks in the preceding paragraph or asking clarifying questions.
Nobody will learn anything from that and it will be one of those 90+
message threads which has only 5 on point. I'm currently very short on
time and can't afford to wade through the mudslinging...

Thanks.

Other interested parties may wish to examine
http://www.algae-x.net/test_reports.htm, their test reports, and
http://www.algae-x.net/customers_marine_endorsement.htm, including the
pictorial mentioned above, titled "snake oil chronicles." I'm not sure
I like his testing modus, but it's pretty good for non-lab work. A
discussion of why this is supposed to work can be found at
http://www.algae-x.net/pdf/Tech_P_Effects_Mag_Field.pdf There's also
a report by a lab, taking a known contaminated fuel batch, showing the
kind of results claimed by the company, but at this writing I'm not
easily able to put my hands on it...

L8R

Skip, also fighting a fuel leak which will most likely involve cutting
the sole - and then, some horrible-to-contemplate resolution in the FRP
tank

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery!
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain


I purchased new in 1996 a twin diesel cruiser (Cummins 420 Diamond Edition)
and put approximately 60 hours a year on it over the next 10 years (doesn't
sound like much but at 20 knots that is give or take 1000+ miles each year).
From my initial fill up I added the proper amounts of preservative/biocide
(Biobor and others). After three years I experienced severely clogged fuel
filters (black gunky stuff). Subsequently had the fuel polished and (at the
recommendation of the local Cummins distributor) installed Algae-X filters
on both main engine fuel lines while continuing the biocide/preservative
addition at EVERY fuel fill up. No subsequent problems were experienced.
Boat is on the Great Lakes and sits in indoor heated storage @ 50 degrees F
for 6 months a year; probably ideal conditions for biological growth and
"molecular agglomeration".