|
|
12-05-2018, 05:46 AM
|
#2
|
Guru
City: Narragansett Bay
Vessel Model: Grand Banks 36 Classic #715
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 1,856
|
I hate to be critical but after 40 years in and around the auto business, working with gasoline and diesel, any product like this is snake oil until proven otherwise. However I am always willing to listen as I like quick fixes as much as the next guy. Just my 2 cents.
|
|
|
12-05-2018, 05:48 AM
|
#3
|
Guru
City: Fort Myers, FL... Summers in the Great Lakes
Vessel Name: Slow Hand
Vessel Model: Cherubini Independence 45
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 12,818
|
Think I would rather remove the impurities through polishing than try to treat them away. Didn't see anything in the blurb about treating or removing water.
Ted
__________________
Blog: mvslowhand.com
I'm tired of fast moves, I've got a slow groove, on my mind.....
I want to spend some time, Not come and go in a heated rush.....
"Slow Hand" by The Pointer Sisters
|
|
|
12-07-2018, 01:56 PM
|
#4
|
Guru
City: Between Oregon and Alaska
Vessel Name: Charlie Harper
Vessel Model: Wheeler Shipyard 83'
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 3,021
|
Whether you do it yourself or hire a fuel polishing company, cleaning the fuel/tank is two parts. One is a fuel treatment and the other pumping the fuel, many times, thru a Racor like filter that traps water and debris.
Treatment alone will not work unless you have an engine like Detroits that circulate much more fuel than they burn. Or add a fuel pump to circulate fuel thru your filter. For example, my Detroit mains pump 35 gallons/hr but burn 4 each. So 70 gallons/hr are filtered and 60+ gallons/hr returned to the tank.
I've used many fuel conditioners. The best is Archoil AR6200. I use it in my Ford truck and the injectors are at nearly double the expected life. It's also recommended by Jay Leno's garage. A side benefit is better mileage. In my Detroits I get about 4-6% better mileage, quicker starts, easier starts in very cold weather, etc. And my tanks are always clean.
|
|
|
12-12-2018, 11:25 AM
|
#5
|
Guru
City: San Francisco
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 3,089
|
There are a number of additives that claim to reduce fuel consumption by 5% or more. I found that by using 20 of them, I had to stop every couple of days and pump the excess fuel out of the tank or it would overflow.
|
|
|
12-12-2018, 12:24 PM
|
#6
|
Guru
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 5,034
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by DDW
There are a number of additives that claim to reduce fuel consumption by 5% or more. I found that by using 20 of them, I had to stop every couple of days and pump the excess fuel out of the tank or it would overflow.
|
On a serious note, I have used "sludge breakers" in my home heating oil tank, and it DID work to some degree. Some were better than others.
I used to "dip" the tank because the gauge didn't work, and I could feel the difference.
__________________
Jay Leonard
Ex boats: 1983 40 Albin trunk cabin, 1978 Mainship 34 Model 1
New Port Richey, Fl
|
|
|
12-12-2018, 02:58 PM
|
#7
|
Enigma
City: Slicker?
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 16,540
|
Greetings,
Mr. FF. Seriously? I mean SERIOUSLY? Surely a man of your experience already knows the answer. I've been reading your posts for over 10 years now and you're the LAST person I would have ever thought might consider such an "elixir". NO sarcasm.
Other than something like Bio-Bor your mantra has always been filter, filter, filter. What gives?
|
|
|
12-12-2018, 07:56 PM
|
#8
|
Guru
City: Fort Lauderdale. Florida, USA
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 21,449
|
I immediately think "Snake Oil" but one day there will be one that truly works as well as advertised.
I once was in Mississippi and the local Lagoons (where sewage goes) had turned over and all the sewage had risen to the top preventing sun from treating the lagoon. Nearly lost. We brought in a chemist with his magic elixir. I saw him drop one single drop into a jug from the lagoon and it was 100% clear. Hired immediately and he took drums of it and poured them into the lagoon and saved it. Amazing to see.
I have no doubt that chemicals can be developed to remove impurities from fuel. However, the trick is to do so without changing the makeup of the fuel itself. Still waiting on that solution.
|
|
|
12-12-2018, 10:04 PM
|
#9
|
Guru
City: Italy
Vessel Name: Didi Mau
Vessel Model: Currently looking for next boat
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 1,081
|
This sounds about right. It was the second review of three product on Amazon:
I ordered this Diesel treatment to clean up the tank and to prevent corrosion of my aluminum tanks. After ordering, I decided to do some investigating about it. One very interesting review of fuel additives by Practical Sailor, which does not accept advertisements reported "While the product has its supporters, it was the only product tested that made corrosion worse than the control, and it was the only product that induced pitting in the aluminum sample" Naturally, I'm not going to add this to my tanks... incidentally I have ordered many items from Amazon over the years, had to return a few of them, after all this is mail order, NEVER having to pay return postage. Well that seems to be a thing of the past on Amazon. I was required to pay the return postage. Three things I've learned from this...
1- Always investigate BEFORE ordering.
2 From now an READ the return policy for every item ordered, this is mail order, sometimes the product is not what it seems.
3- I will definitely be re-assessing my trust in ordering things on Amazon.com.
P.S. I am a Prime Amazon customer.
|
|
|
12-12-2018, 11:33 PM
|
#10
|
Guru
City: Fort Lauderdale. Florida, USA
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 21,449
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordon J
2 From now an READ the return policy for every item ordered, this is mail order, sometimes the product is not what it seems.
3- I will definitely be re-assessing my trust in ordering things on Amazon.com.
P.S. I am a Prime Amazon customer.
|
Note that the product didn't come from Amazon. That's why the reviewer had to pay postage.
As a side not, this customer clearly likes to return items. Amazon has a return rate between 5 and 15% on most products. However, that rate is nearly 30% on clothing, shoes and jewelry. Unfortunately, customers expect everyone to allow you to return anything. Brick and Mortar is more like 2-3% returns. Returns are a huge threat to profitability of online business.
|
|
|
12-13-2018, 07:02 AM
|
#11
|
Guru
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 22,553
|
"Other than something like Bio-Bor your mantra has always been filter, filter, filter. What gives?"
With a 6-71 DD that pumps 20gph and burns 3gph , and monel tanks with a low point drain , changing filters on time works for me.
I read of folks that have dirty fuel in the tank , with contaminated side walls that add bug bodies as the boat moves.
I know of one fellow with bad TT tanks that simply emptied all the diesel and poured in a few gallons of cleaner (Zep ?) from home depot waited a week pumped it all out , flushed with water and has had no further fuel problems.
The cleaner & water actually cleaned the tank!
My thinking with this stuff is house fuel is filthy compared to diesel , so perhaps this product breaks the gunk into chunks.
Chunks are really easy for any filter to block , a house furnace uses small, usually cotton filter, that seems to work for a year .Thousand or more gallons.
For a fellow with a marginal , usually un cleanable , box of fuel , the low cost of the product might be all that's needed to slowly clear the bug bodies from the tank.
Sure beats paying a dock walker a buck a tank gallon to swish the fuel around with a pump and filter that might clean some fuel, but do almost nothing to clean the tank.
Not a panacea , maybe it wont work , but it should do no harm and the price is right.
|
|
|
12-13-2018, 08:54 AM
|
#12
|
Senior Member
City: Boston
Vessel Name: Rose Mary
Vessel Model: 42 Grand Banks Motoryacht - 1985
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 271
|
My alternative to fuel polishing:
Use the engines and change the filters once in a while.
|
|
|
12-13-2018, 08:58 AM
|
#13
|
Guru
City: San Diego
Vessel Name: Circuit Breaker
Vessel Model: 2021..22' Duffy Cuddy cabin
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 6,691
|
__________________
Done with diesel power boats! Have fallen in love with all electric!
|
|
|
12-13-2018, 10:16 AM
|
#14
|
Grand Vizier
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,815
|
Not sure there is an "instead" for fuel polishing if your tanks are large enough, but in terms of additives that actually seem to work, Optilube stands out. In the only objective wear test I've seen, it came out at the top of the additive list. And, if Amazon reviews are a metric, people using it seem to agree. I can't tell you whether it does what it says it does or not, anymore than I can tell you whether Rotella is better or worse than Mobil1 other than by looking at empirical testing. Based on that, Optilube seems to work.
https://www.amazon.com/Opti-Lube-XPD...ct_top?ie=UTF8
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/76-...y-results.html
__________________
"Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis." - Jack Handey
|
|
|
12-13-2018, 10:25 AM
|
#15
|
Senior Member
City: Boston
Vessel Name: Rose Mary
Vessel Model: 42 Grand Banks Motoryacht - 1985
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 271
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Westiculo
My alternative to fuel polishing:
Use the engines and change the filters once in a while.
|
I shouldn't publish such an uninformative post.
I added biobor and fuel stabilizer when I bought the boat. The biobor caused a lot of shit to break up and clogged stuff up. A few filter changes and a tank later, my fuel system is pristine and has been every since.
I continue to add them every time I fill up. I figure the engine only uses about a quarter of the fuel it pulls from the tanks, the rest is returned to the tank nice and clean.
|
|
|
12-13-2018, 07:17 PM
|
#16
|
Dauntless Award
City: Wrangell, Alaska
Vessel Name: Dauntless
Vessel Model: Kadey Krogen 42 - 148
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 2,820
|
That stuff does not say it can "polish" your fuel.
They are not mutually exclusive.
I put Stabil in the tank when I refuel, if I am not going to use that fuel in the coming weeks, but I still polish my fuel.
|
|
|
12-13-2018, 09:06 PM
|
#17
|
Guru
City: Stuart FL
Vessel Name: Lucky Lucky
Vessel Model: Pacific Mariner 65
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 2,759
|
Caterpillar tech told me not to add anything to my fuel, period.
__________________
Howard
Lucky Lucky
Stuart, FL
|
|
|
12-13-2018, 10:51 PM
|
#18
|
Guru
City: Between Oregon and Alaska
Vessel Name: Charlie Harper
Vessel Model: Wheeler Shipyard 83'
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 3,021
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmason
Caterpillar tech told me not to add anything to my fuel, period.
|
That's really smart. If your fuel sets for any length of time, you'll be breeding organisms in your tank. Probably gaining water, too. The diesel of today is crap. It has almost none of the lubrication properties older diesel formulas had. Many of the additives in older diesel are no longer legal. Additives that slowed pump and injector wear, fuel stability and others. I always use an additive when fueling. In 60 years on the water I've never had a diesel fuel problem. But it seems like, a couple times a year, someone is posting about a totally preventable fuel problem.
I know some of you are tired of my posts about Archoil products. But they work. I recently received a link to a video from powerstrokehelp.com. That shop specializes in Ford Powerstroke diesel repair. I found them looking for help in solving injector problems in my Ford diesel. They recommended Archoil. And that did solve the injector problems, increased my mileage and made cold winter starts easier. Something that stood out in the video was the shop owners statement that since turning his customers on to Archoil, their injector sales dropped 80%. It can be bought from him, Archoil.com, Amazon, and probably ebay.
If you're interested in the video it's here:
Also Jay Leno's Garage has a video on Archoil. The work truck he's standing in front of went almost 800,000 miles on the original diesel engine.
|
|
|
12-14-2018, 06:02 AM
|
#19
|
Guru
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 22,553
|
"I continue to add them every time I fill up."
Practical Sailor suggests changing bug killers at times as the bugs can evolve to live with different biocides.
Darwin in your fuel tank!
|
|
|
12-14-2018, 06:16 AM
|
#20
|
Guru
City: Edgewater, MD
Vessel Name: Catalina Jack
Vessel Model: Defever 44
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,585
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmason
Caterpillar tech told me not to add anything to my fuel, period.
|
And is this tech an expert in fuel science?
|
|
|
|
|
Thread Tools |
Search this Thread |
|
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Trawler Discussions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|