Diesel fuel is the life-blood of a diesel engine. Without the fuel to make it go, you just don't go.
Although diesel fuel problems are not thought of much in truck, construction equipment, RVs or other land based equipment, it's use in marine equipment is much more tentative. Diesel fuel is a haven for microbial contamination that can wreak havoc on fuel filters, pumps and injector systems.
The February issue of Motorboating & Sailing Magazine addressed this issue and explained the effects of diesel fuel contamination in a way that points up the importance of diesel fuel maintenance.
John Clemans, the author, relates his experience with a Hatteras convertible that spends its winter cruising the Bahams, but spends most of the rest of the time idle in Ft, Lauderdale. Recently, not far into the trip, only 150 miles, the port engine lost throttle. Even though the fuel filter was changed just before the beginning of the trip, an inspection of the filter showed the element was dirt. Installing a new one did not help much. Further inspection disclosed extensive gook in the fuel lines. Not being overly prepared for such a major undertaking at sea (much the same as a remote stretch of an interstate highway) the ordeal promped further investigation.
| Quick Tips from Power Boating & Sailing Magazine |
| Install a fuel/water separator in your diesel fuel system if you do not have one. Drain off accumulated water on a regular basis. |
| Try to find a reliable source of clean, "dry" fuel - a place where the tanks are fairly new and fairly large, and where commercial boats tend to fuel up. Ask the marina what kind of filtration equipment it has. It should have a filter with a hydroscopic element. If your fuel/water separator needs draining frequently, consider trying a new fuel source. |
| Tank vents and tank fills allow more water intrusion than you might imagine. Check that they're properly positioned and sealed. |
| Adding a fuel stabilizer is esential to the maintenance of fuel quality during use and, especially, storage. |
| Don't turn your boat into a fuel storage tank. Use it. Make sure that fuel flows on a regular basis. No product or device can do its job in constantly stagnant fuel. Algae-X has systems that recirculate the fuel without turning on the engine. |
| Have fuel tested for stabiity, particulate and microbes if you're storing your boat. Unstable fuel invites carbon formation, which leads to engine wear. Always top off tanks. |
| In boats with multiple tanks, one tank (a forward one, for instance) is often used only on occasion. When fuel is circulated from this tank problems suddenly occur. Don't let one tank become a "storage" tank. |
| As a rule, use more biocide in warmer months, unless the boat will sit idle. Microbial contamination slows during the winter. |
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Contaminated fuel is simply caused by water. Fuel/water separators are critical on diesel-powered equipment, but boats tend to have more of a problem as condensation is a much more prelavent. In addition, the water often comes into the tank with the fuel. Even in the best of controls will allow water to pass into your tank. Some water is present in the best of fuel and it often separates out when hot fuel cools down. Keeping the fuel tank filled reduces the occurrence of condensation.
Often parallel systems are installed for quick change over in boats, but too often this factor is ignored on trucks and equipment. Many other emergency applications, such as back-up power diesel generators at industrial, hospital or emergency service centers, suffer from the same problem without the quick diagnosis found at marine facilities due to the common nature of the problem in such areas.
The Powerboats & Sailing article describes how fuel/water separators remove minuscule solid contaminants and are able to purge diesel fuel of water because the fuel is lighter. There are several systems on the market, and this adequately addresses the root cause, but water still gets through. Water is incompressible and will crack or break whatever is trying to compress it. The most common cause of failure in injector pumps and nozzles is water. It can turn to steam and blow off injector tips. Its other detriments are more subtle, because they derive not from the water itself, but from what the water nurtures.
Contact of fuel and water provides an environment for micro-organisms, present in the water and the fuel to proliferate like magots on a dead animal, and begin to "eat" diesel fuel. Powerboats & Sailing calls this microbial contamination or breakdown. These microbes are bacteria, fungus and other types of molds and yeasts. They weren't what clogged the filter and fuel lines, however. It was actually a byproduct of their feasting, namely, sludge.
The chemical process that results in sludge involves enzymes that cause chemical changes, one of which is the formation of long carbon chains that form clusters. It involves electrical energy and the polar nature of molecules and the presence of paraffin in diesel fuel. It can not only clog filters and gas lines, but also causes corrosion, incomplete combustion, black smoke and increased operating costs.
The electrical nature of the molecular formation of sludge, and of the cell structure of microbe themselves, has let to the development of "magnetic fluid conditioning" as a sludge buster. The Algae-X unit incorporates this technology and are installed in the fuel line between the tank and the primary filter to disrupt microbial activity, prevent clogged filters and reverse the process of sludge formation.
As explained in the Powerboating & Sailing article, a maintenance-free Algae-X unit changes kinetic energy (motion) into electric energy in a magnetic-field chamber, disturbing the delicate electrical balance of microbes' cell membranes and combating the formation of sludge. Based on the principal of induction, this process helps lessen contamination while preventing the root cause of the contamination itself. This provides optimal fuel quality, extends engine life, reduces maintenance and breakdowns, eliminates fuel treatment requirements and saves money. Controlling the microbe growth controls the sludge, and it's the sludge that causes the problem. Larger units are also available for fuel tank systems.
Pecuniary, Inc., has been a distributor of the Algae-X units since 1997.
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