Water in Fuel took us down - Fuel Polishers

Thanks, I will check it out.

Hi Kurt,

Let's assume you've resolved your water ingress problem and turn to fuel polishing.

Remember that your engines are probably the best polishing systems and are already on board. Excess fuel drawn by the engine fuel pumps will have already been filtered before being returned to the tanks.

Real polishing is where any water, diesel bug and debris that's settled on the bottom of a tank is removed. This takes knowledgeable pipe installation and powerful pumping to stir everything up before being drawn off, filtered and returned, polished. BTW, a centrifuge filter is by far the best but many use Racor filters.

Hence, the method of piping and pumping is absolutely crucial and something which is often overlooked by the sellers and installers of polishing systems.

To be effective, you want the outflow from the polisher to be powerful and aimed at the bottom of the tank to create a real stir. The draw should be about halfway up the tank.

Given time, all the muck your engines and common polishing systems you can buy cannot reach, will have been polished.

Piers

"Excess fuel drawn by the engine fuel pumps will have already been filtered before being returned to the tanks."

With some engines , yes , with others the fuel return is simply internal pump leaks , a teaspoon or two an hour.

The real solution is a Marine Fuel tank, with a sump that can be bailed or drained , instead of a low cost box of fuel.

The design was well known 80+ years ago.

Opening a fuel box and scraping the gunk works better than a spray and a hope , as baffles can defeat much of the spray.

" BTW, a centrifuge filter is by far the best."

The centrifuge needs intake piping larger than the biggest chunks in the fuel box.

1982 Grand Banks will most likely have the Ford Lehman which does not return much fuel at all. The engines themselves will not do it.
Separate system is better or modify the tanks with a drain port. It will tell you if contamination is present although it may not be able to get it all. If low enough the contamination can be detected before it reaches the engine fuel pickup if checked often enough.
Most of us do well with GOOD and adequate filtering. A single Racor may be good enough or not good enough. But with some care & thought you can be well protected.

Go to Seaboard Marine and read his suggestions. www.sbmar.com. and learn. Even Tony points out you do not have to junk what you have but modify to substantially improve
what you have. He has the experience to know better than most of us.

News from 2018, currently underway in Canary islands. We have removed the Centrifugal separator from France Hélices....
I only use the GFC bypass as prefilter + fuel polishing systems GFC when in the marina or at anchor, and of course, good additive as Grotamar 82 well used here in Europe.

Thieving Paste changes color when it contacts water. If you can stick your tank, do so before and after taking on fuel. You measure both the fuel taken on and the water mixed with it. Much better to know when tied up at the dock than when engines quit. I'm guessing that most boats don't allow this.

Although its a PIA because the fill rate is slow a Baja or similar filter will catch most of the water BEFORE it gets into the tank.

Best to fill during the slow time at the marina.

Filling more often allows for the slow fill, and potable water can be filled , and the trash taken off.

Or take a sample at the beginning or ending of fueling and check for clear and bright.

If you are getting a slug of water from a source, it often occurs at ether end of the fueling operation.

Worked for many decades in aviation.....except one time for a buddy of mine....no sample after the fueling and thats when the water came through. But that was the only time in 20 years I heard of it happening to a aircraft crew.