Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

Egregious · Jul 30, 2010

Haha, I knew I'd start a spirited discussion by mentioning the Algae-X unit.* I'm with Marin, if it ain't hurting anything just leave it.** Something nobody has mentioned is that they reccomend that you use the Algae-X "fuel catalyst", which is probably nothing more than fuel conditioner with some biocide thrown in.* Some perceived improvement *might* be atrributed to the fuel treatment.

The PO of my boat also apparently liked to use "Marvel Mystery Oil" since I found about a case of it stored in the forward cabin.

I'm not going to form any decisions yet...* I've had people swear that a raw egg can stop a small radiator leak.* I'd like to see for myself.

skipperdude · Jul 30, 2010

Black pepper works on radiator leaks also.
Sort of like blood platelets the little chunks just plug the hole.
It'ell get you home.

SD

-- Edited by skipperdude on Friday 30th of July 2010 10:37:16 AM

RickB · Jul 30, 2010

Peter B wrote: these algae probably consume/absorb ferrous metal in minute quantities from the fuel, if an iron tank anyway, and from the other iron tanks the diesel is stored in.

You* will probably enjoy this paper:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19928449
<a title="Revista de biología tropical.">Rev Biol Trop.</a> 2009 Sep;57(3):489-504.
<h1 class="title">Bacterial contamination of automotive fuels in a tropical region: the case of Costa Rica.</h1>The abstract mentions sulphate reducing bacteria as the predominate strain, which makes sense, or at least scents.

I don't see any strains that typically accumulate more ferrous compounds than hemoglobin though and while I am far from being qualified to argue microbiology with a medical professional, I don't hear too much about red blood cells detonating during*voyages through the Gaussian caves.

The very name of the magnetic devices is misleading. Algae is a photosynthetic life form and needs light to survive. The worst biological mats I have encountered in diesel fuel originated deep within the bowels of a ships bunker fuel tanks that haven't seen light in any form for several years.

RickB · Jul 30, 2010

skipperdude wrote:

Sort of like blood platelets the little chunks just plug the hole.

There really is a 6 degrees of separation thing in this thread ... eggs, blood platelets, magnets*...* Egg whites are rich in albumin, albumin is one of the ingredients in some *fire fighting foam formulas as is blood because the albumin and fibrinogen in whole blood helps to stabilze the foam by stengthening the "cell walls"

So, if your radar catches fire, use dry chemical, not foam, because the magnetron might turn the foam back into smelly liquid**

RickB · Jul 30, 2010

Peter B wrote:

Actually Rick, It's just possible that what you just said, although in jest, might just have hit on how the damn things do work.

I just wrote a long response and it seems to have vanished! Some sort of stray magnetic field I'm sure!

Anyway, I am hardly qualified to debate with a medical professional* on matters of microbiology but there are a couple of points I will argue.

One, the microbial mat found in diesel tanks is not algae, it is bacteria. Mostly sulphate reducing bacteria (hence the stench) and the rest a soup of more or less common critters.

"A total of 149 bacterial strains were isolated, 136 (91.3%) Gram positive and 13 (8.7%) Gram negative. The most frequent genera were Staphylococcus (24.0%), Micrococcus (21.9%), Bacillus (18.8%) and Kocuria (11.5%) among Gram positive bacteria and Pseudomonas (7.3%) among Gram negative bacteria."*

Algae is a photosynthetic critter, it needs light to survive. The worst bacterial mats I have ever had the misfortune to encounter grew in the Stygian darkness of a laid-up freighter whose bunker tanks had not seen*a photon in*any form in many years.

The bacteria which contaminate fuel do not*accumulate iron. They certainly accumulate much less than red blood cells which are rich in Fe contained within the hemoglobin which is why they are rust red. I haven't heard of many patients returning from a voyage through the Gaussian Straits as anemic corpses.

** http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19928449

*

Anode · Jul 30, 2010

Coming to your Marina soon!

The Magnetrons

Featuring

Fibri Nogen - Singing her famous hits!

with

Al Bumin at the Piano.

skipperdude · Jul 30, 2010

That cracks me up.

SD

RickB · Jul 30, 2010

They were here last week*and*played in front of a huge plasma screen. But I thought the crowd was rather anemic.

Woodsong · Jul 31, 2010

I must applaud this forum for it's ability to gently hijack a thread in such a good manner- I think I will like it here!

Had a diesel mechanic come out today to look @ the engines. He felt like they were running very good. He thought the excess steam could be due to needing a new impeller and the reduced flow of water from a worn impeller or resulting in the steam???

FF · Aug 1, 2010

Put your hand in the exhaust stream of water.

Most is barely warm at idle , if yours is almost boiling , a better water flow will be needed.

Smoke on start is no big deal, IF it stops in under a min.

Smoke can indicate poor compression , the most common cause , and it will clear up at operating RPM.

Watching the engine circ water temp gague is the easiest way to judge the compression .

If it doesn't clear up till over 140F , its usually rings time!

Perkins 135hp diesel questions (slight smoke)

Egregious

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skipperdude

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RickB

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RickB

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RickB

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Anode

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skipperdude

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RickB

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Woodsong

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FF

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