Random question - BioBor?

I meant to add some BioBor to my fuel. Wanted a full tank over the winter (urban legend has it a full tank cuts down on water thru condensation, although Maine Sail has another opinion...), and planned to put the right amount (for a full tank) before I filled, so that the incoming fuel would mix it about.

But I forgot.

And now that the tank is full, I cannot open the inspection port (which means I can't add it there and stir it around)

If I just pour the appropriate amount in through the deck-fill... will it self-mix into the fuel in the tank?

Or will it have... diminished utility (or worse) if there is no way to uniformly distribute it through the fuel that is in the tank?

BioBor

If the boat is not stored on the hard there will be enough motion through several months to disperse the additive through the fuel.....my best guess!!!!!

Use oil change vacuum pump to remove some fuel.

You could use one of those vacuum pumps that sucks out old motor oil from the diesel to suck out enough fuel to allow access through the inspection port. I did remember to add both the Biobor JF AND the Star*Tron Enzyme fuel treatment (as recommended in Practical Sailor) in late September so it would be well mixed in before I hauled and topped off.
Than I topped off right up the fill pipe without thinking... in spring I want to use the vacuum pump to remove the bottom couple of inches of fuel and any water or whatever from the tank via the inspection port. So I guess I will need to get a long peace of tubing for my vacuum pump and suck out enough fuel to allow access to to the inspection port!

Alternative suggestion - use the boat It's not that cold up here!

I don't know about the product but if you can talk to the BioBor people you can ask whether it is "fully miscible" with diesel fuel. If so you should be fine.

Paul
E29 "Bear"

Great idea!

bolbmw said:

Alternative suggestion - use the boat It's not that cold up here!

Click to expand...

I was out on Tuesday - it was gorgeous and I couldn't resist (....okay, I didn't try all that hard to resist.)

another way to mix would be to add biobor and then mix using bubbles. insert hose into tank thru deck fill and blow, if you have access to a air pump from a fish tank you can let it run for a while, but a few lung fulls of air will do the trick as well as sailing it around for a while. bubbles mix things up well, try it next time in your dark and stormy with a straw! Physics is fun!!!!

Well if you can rig it, I would suck out a gallon or so of diesel and thoroughly mix the BioBor into that gallon. Then add that gallon back to the tank and forget about it.

paul culver said:

I don't know about the product but if you can talk to the BioBor people you can ask whether it is "fully miscible" with diesel fuel. If so you should be fine.

Paul
E29 "Bear"

Click to expand...

I agree with Paul. It is probably completely miscible and you should not worry about it. Maybe you could email Biobor for confirmation.

just add it and your done

from the biobor website "Biobor JF is an effective microbiocide because of its equilibrium solubility in both fuel and water under conditions of fuel storage."

It is probably going to be fine....but just let me put my chemist hat back on to point out that even if something is soluble or miscible, that still doesn't mean that it will readily mix under all conditions. A teaspoon of turbinado sugar or molasses will ultimately dissolve in a glass of water, but it still takes a LOT of agitation to get it to dissolve in a glass of ice tea. And remember this stuff needs to get everywhere to be effective.

Adding biobor for storage

u079721 said:

It is probably going to be fine....but just let me put my chemist hat back on to point out that even if something is soluble or miscible, that still doesn't mean that it will readily mix under all conditions. A teaspoon of turbinado sugar or molasses will ultimately dissolve in a glass of water, but it still takes a LOT of agitation to get it to dissolve in a glass of ice tea. And remember this stuff needs to get everywhere to be effective.

Click to expand...

The stuff is interesting though in that it only takes .5 oz to treat 40 gallons, so when I add .5 oz for winter storage to my full 22 gallon tank I am effectively doing what they call a shock treatment.

Which I assume is fine, since I never use more that 10 gallons in a season, so I do not get to the bottom of the tank. I add the 10 gallons at storage time with jerry cans and a shaker pump, after adding the biobor to the first jerry can.