Diesel tank cleaning and fuel polishing - case study
by Rares Badrea
in Blog
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We have been called few weeks ago on a diagnosis for a diesel engine not starting on a beautiful 30ft wooden boat in Sydney Harbor. The boat was not used for more than a year, recently refueled and after few hundred meters/few minutes engine died and wouldn't start. Sounds familiar?

We attended the vessel and diagnosed the problem: water in fuel, all the way to the diesel engine pump. There was a water drain fitted to the bottom of the tank but was not functional so the water accumulated at free will in the tank for the past year. Also the fuel pick up line was in the wrong spot so we installed a new custom stainless one.

 Fuel pick up

The boat was not fitted with a fuel gauge so the only way to tell how much fuel is in the tank was by guesstimating. So we also fitted a brand new custom fuel sender Fuel sender

and of course a new fuel gauge to match the instruments on the dashboard

Fuel gauge

To prevent future problems we fixed the water drain system from the tank and installed a Racor primary fuel filter water separating unit with clear bowl for extra protection

Primary filter

While we were at it we also serviced the engine and checked over all the electrics and systems. According to the customer, after the job was completed the engine run smoother like never before. That is because we eliminated all the water from the tank (free water) and also emulsified water in solution that can be anywhere between 5-15%! That is right for a 100 liter tank you can have 5 liters of water that will not go to the bottom of the tank and will stay in solution to be burned in combustion. This is one of major factors that reduce the engine life (that is why a truck engine that runs dry diesel averages 12.500 hours of operation while a marine engine only around 2.500)

In most of the boats the removal of the tanks for cleaning (as it is usually done) it is very expensive, impractical or impossible. We have the solution to clean your diesel tank on the spot (mooring, marina berth, slipway, etc) and it is done usually in one day at a fraction of a cost. We are also able to install/modify your tanks as necessary by adding fuel pick-ups, water drain points, fuel senders, automatic water draining systems, antimicrobial non-chemical fuel treatment and more

Tanks

 

On all our installations we use only marine grade stainless steel or aluminium components for long lasting service life. 

If you have a problem with your fuel tank or unsure about the quality of your diesel, give us a call as for a limited time we offer FREE FUEL SAMPLE ANALYSIS, we came to you test your fuel quality and if we find problems we give you the right corrective action, all for FREE.

Give us a call now on 0435028029083

or fill in the CONTACT FORM and we will get back to you in no time.