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red-neck fuel-tank cleanup?

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
I have never run my fuel level below half a tank in the past 3-1/2 years. I've basically topped up my tank at the end of each season, added some BioBor, checked/drained the Racor bowl and called it good.

As a result, I have no idea what (if anything) might be lurking in the bottom of my tank.

One of the items on my spring list this year is to do... "something" about that, under the theory that it is preventive maintenance. But what that something is, is not clear. I don't really feel like extracting a whole tank of fuel in order to see if I have a problem.

It occurs to me that I have one of those oil-change pumps, basically a 4-quart vacuum canister with a long hose for sticking down a dipstick hole. and sucking out oil.

Which started me thinking.... I could pump up the vacuum on that that thing, stick the hose down into the bottom-most corner of my fuel tank, and extract whatever is there. Bonus points for the fact that the canister is clear, so I could let the extracted stuff sit and see if there is water, sediment, growy-things, whatever.

Good idea? Horrible idea? Ineffectual idea?

Bruce
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
I sorta thought that's what the bowl on the bottom of the Racor fuel filter was for? I put a valve at the bottom of the bowl so I can drain it off once in a while (dedicated tuna can stashed nearby for that purpose.)

Here's what I got out of the (gasoline) tank, at the time I installed the Racor. Haven't seen anything visible since.

DSC_0003.jpg

BTW, I guess I haven't come close to draining the tank either. After careful measuring, I've determined that my tank actually holds 17 gallons, but when the gauge reads empty, it takes 12 gallons to fill. So some of those weekends weren't as perilous as they appeared at the time.
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
I sorta thought that's what the bowl on the bottom of the Racor fuel filter was for?

Yes, but...my "thinking" (?) is that there could be some stuff in the bottom corner, where it would not normally be accessible to the pickup tube, but which might have been lurking there for years and could be stirred up and sucked through the filter when the boat is jostled by wind/waves.

Probably a non-issue, but... it's the not-knowing-what's-there that has this on my mind. In the middle of a rough passage where I really-really want my motor to run is exactly the time I most want the fuel filter to NOT be clogged by stuff I could have easily removed at the dock...
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Hi,

For the same reasons I have tried to put a long plastic hose down the diesel deck fill to get to the bottom of the fuel tank to see what I can pull up from there. Whether there are baffles in the way, or perhaps the hose curls up once in the tank I'm not sure, but I was not able to make this work. A better way might be to remove the pick up tube that is screwed into the fuel tank, which goes to within about an inch of the bottom and sucks the fuel out when the fuel pump activates. By removing that tube I think you would get more direct access to the bottom of the tank, close to where the tube sucks the fuel out.

I have not done this myself, as I have not had a fuel problem in 13 years of owning this boat despite being in rough waters on many occasions, have been religious about adding biocide and lubricity additives. So for now, I monitor my Racor filter carefully, but even there I don't get any sediment or water, so I think I'll leave well enough alone. We'll see....

Frank
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
...way might be to remove the pick up tube that is screwed into the fuel tank, which goes to within about an inch of the bottom ...

I have the good fortune of having a PO who installed a nice big inspection port in the top of the tank. When the lid is off I can see all the way to the bottom corner of the tank. I just can't tell if there's anything there I need to worry about. So, if the stick-a-tube-down-there-and-see-what-comes-up idea isn't too terribly stupid, I have an easy way to make it work.

B
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Bruce, if you have easy access to the bottom corner, I would suggest pulling some fuel from the lowest section of the tank to see if you get sediment or water. I would be a bit cautious not to dislodge any crusty stuff at the bottom of the tank if there is some, or to drop tools into the tank while you are working on it.

However, I'm just a passionate sailor, not a marine mechanic!

Frank
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Most of our tanks probably look like mine after 30+ years. (The photo is Thelonious II before I cleaned the tank).

But if you don't see obvious glop like this, no problem.

Cleaning the tank through the inspection port(s), or installing inspection ports, is prudent, but I have come to think I worried too much.

Changing filters is an inconvenience, but that's what they're there for.

The problem is that access to our fuel filters is lousy.



1-residue ERicson 38 fuel tank.JPG
 
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debonAir

Member III
I have two fuel filters in series. The first is right up front near the oil filter and easy to get to. I figure it protects the hard-to-get-to one and if there is a major dislodge of gunk in the tank it would take the brunt and I could replace it with the spare at sea... which reminds me, I need to get another spare, and probably get a tool to fit the bleed screw (which is now a bolt for some reason, probably access) to bleed after a filter swap at sea.
 

u079721

Contributing Partner
I sorta thought that's what the bowl on the bottom of the Racor fuel filter was for? I put a valve at the bottom of the bowl so I can drain it off once in a while (dedicated tuna can stashed nearby for that purpose.)

Here's what I got out of the (gasoline) tank, at the time I installed the Racor. Haven't seen anything visible since.

View attachment 26864

BTW, I guess I haven't come close to draining the tank either. After careful measuring, I've determined that my tank actually holds 17 gallons, but when the gauge reads empty, it takes 12 gallons to fill. So some of those weekends weren't as perilous as they appeared at the time.

Do you run a Meth lab in your basement? What are you doing with a separation funnel? (Which is not typical boating gear!) ; )
 
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toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
Do you run a Meth lab in your basement? What are you doing with a separation funnel? (Which is not typical boating gear!) ; )

Um, no I run an environmental lab in my lab building. Most of the time these days, I'm using those to measure octanol:water partition coefficients, but it's just general labware, really. The right tool for the job, I thought...
 

patrscoe

Member III
It is coincidence that this thread came up. While transporting my sailboat from Annapolis to the southern portion of the Chesapeake Bay to my home port about 3 weeks ago in a terrible 20 to 25 kt head wind (with 35 plus gust) for about 20 hours, the engine was running excellent, keeping about 4.5 to 6 kts of speed, even pounding in 5' to 7' waves but as the winds and waves finally settled down and with very calm waters.... within the very last 2 hours of my 20 hr trip, I notice that my engine was not producing the same speed... thinking to myself.. calm waters and I am only doing 5 kts but my RPMs are in the 2500 range vs 2200..? I was thinking that seems odd but I was extremely tired motoring all night long so I said to myself, only a few more hours so I motored towards my marina and about 1,000 yards from my marina, my engine just died.... I turned around, ready to put my anchor in the water to figure this out and then about 2 minutes later, I tried starting the engine again and to my surprise... it started right back up, I motored to the marina and into my slip as quick as possible.

Conclusion:
I had a half a tank in Annapolis and right before I left, I filled up the tank. The time I got to my marina, waters were finally calm but I started to lose power, more and more as I got closer to my marina and the engine finally stalled out with just under a half a tank. The heavy weather stirred up mock and dirt at the bottom of the tank and clogged my pickup line. When the engine stalled due to the lack of fuel, the suction on my pickup line stopped and the debris or mock must of dropped from my pickup line and the engine started up. I did check my fuel filters (Racor as a primary and at the engine) but hard to tell how they look as they are in a canister.

I removed the pickup assembly and suction out some fuel at the very bottom of the tank and put in a glass jar over night. In the morning, I could see the mock or whatever grows in diesel settle. After extensive research on polishing and cleaning your tank... I purchased (through Amazon) a fuel pump, filter assembly with a 30 micron and 10 micron filters, 50 micron strainer and hoses... I attached a 24" long copper tube, ran it into the tank where the pickup assembly was located, attached to a clear 3/8" hose, ran the hose into the 50 micron strainer, then into the temporary filter assembly with a 30 micron filter, then into the pump and back into the tank. Ran for 2 hours plus, change the 30 micron filter to a 10 micron, cleaned the strainer and ran for another 1 1/2 hrs. I took a baseline of the fuel before and after, and it does not even look like the same fuel.
I changed my primary Racor filter and the Universal engine filter, and treated the fuel again with Biobor.... Seems to run well but I guess time will tell or when I run into heavy weather again. Looking back, although I was quite upset seeing my marina insight but falling short from a long trip, I am fortunate that my engine did not stall out 2am in the morning while I was in the middle of the bay in 20 kt head winds.
 

Glenn McCarthy

Glenn McCarthy
This is on my to-do list. I would doubt the fuel tank has been cleaned in 42 years. I have looked into something called "Fuel Polishing" where a company comes out, sticks a pressurized jet of fuel into your tank to stir things up, and runs the fuel through filters (replacing them as they go) until the filters are clean. I haven't priced it out yet, but found a number of companies in Chicago who do this (for trucks and others with fuel tanks). There are some youtube videos of people who set up their own system DIY.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
FWIW, the idea of "polishing" 10 or 20 gallons of five-year-old diesel doesn't appeal to me (It would for 100 gallons).

I just pump it out and throw it away--at the oil recycle station--and replace with new.

Our filter systems polish diesel fuel continually and return it to the tank.

Now here's a question: how long do particles remain suspended in diesel fuel?

If they settle out pretty fast, only to be stirred up again by a heavy weather passage, then cleaning the tank, not the fuel, seems more logical.
 
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Glenn McCarthy

Glenn McCarthy
I don't get why, but sediment occurs in the bottom of all fuel tanks. We carefully clean the fuel cap each time, we use a funnel with a small screen in it when fueling. And still, dirt accumulates in the bottom of the tank.

One writer in this thread shared the experience that sailing in rough water stirred up the sediment, the engine was slowing entering the harbor and died before he got to the dock. I had a very similar situation - rough weather, engine died after running for 15 minutes. Ever since, if possible, I have pulled the tank out (empty) poured in a quart of fuel, swirled it, dumped it and kept doing it until the fuel comes out clean. I need 100% confidence in rough weather that the engine is going to run flawlessly.

This will get done on our boat, I've just got so many other projects to get finished first.
 

JSM

Member III
Two years ago I pulled the tank on our 34-2 to have some broken mounting tabs re-welded and the tank cleaned. In order to empty the tank I bought a cheap 12V diesel transfer pump and by removing the fuel gauge was able to easily pump out the tank into 5 gallon cans. Couldn't believe the crap that came out. Since then I have been de-fueling the boat at haul out in the fall and storing the treated fuel in the 5 gallon cans.
In the spring I "rinse" the tank out by pumping in 5 gallons of fuel with the transfer pump thru the fuel gauge mounting hole moving the hose around as much as possible to stir up any crud and then reverse polarity on the pump (at the battery) and suck out the fuel and inspect it in a bucket.
Maybe a bit overkill but one less thing to worry about .
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
A diesel-fuel transfer pump is a great investment, and I sure wish I'd had one when removing 40 gallons for the inspection port installation.

Siphon didn't work very well, oil-change vacuum pump took forever, $10 drill-bit pump was ineffectual, and so on.
 

CPeregord

Sailing Reckless
Inspection Port on Fuel tank?

Does anyone know how to install an inspection port on my fuel tank?
I know for sure I have crud in the bottom of my tank and would love to clean it out. Like some of you I've just been relying on my fuel filter to do the job and changing it out frequently. Am I right to believe that I would just cut a hole in the top on the low side of the tank? Then get a metal cover larger than the hole I cut out and screw back down? Would I then need to use gasket sealer to get it airtight?
Thanks!
 
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