Fuel polishing

[Messi]

So i have a 1988 41c that was onland about 4-5 years. Looks to have had about 300 gallons in the tank. The is some water, whioch i think is probably condensation. There is also some snot in there.

Im thinking to see if they can clean/polish.

Questions.

The best point of entry seems to be the fuel gauge, at the front of the tank. I fear that with the boat blocked bow up, the majority of the water will be at the bck of the tank, or do they have a low point/sump under the gauge, and pick ups?

Would I be better to do this in the water? I think the movement of the boat in the water would also help to allow the yick, to be sucked up better.

I was thinking maybe two runs through the polisher, and then frequest racor changes. Am I way off base?

Thanks

 

[Captain Ralph]

45 years or 4 to 5 years? Either way, get it pumped out for waist.

Ask the tech who is going to clean the tank how much fresh fuel he wants in the tank. Usually about 4 inches.

Access can be thru the sender or pull the connect plate(s) up.
On a glass tank, these bronze plates are what the fills, pick-ups, returns and vents connect to the tank thru. If your lucky, you will have 2 of these plates.

Do it correctly up front and not worry about it for a long time to come.
Good reliable fuel is the blood of a boat.

 

[Avenger]

45 year old fuel? If you think you're going to burn it you're very optimistic.

 

[Pascal]

How old is the fuel? I guess the 45 years is a typo …. If more than a couple of years old, i m not sure I d want to keep it.

You may need to reblock the boat so stuff moves forward to the pick up. When I repowered I had about 50 gallons left in each tank but because the boat was bow high, water and stuff remained in the aft tank. Not much but enough to force me to pump and clean it again. Lesson learned.

 

[bigbill]

hatteras tanks have baffles in them, it will be pretty hard to get to all areas of the tank from only one point of entry

 

[SKYCHENEY]

It will burn. I know a guy who found an old underground tank at a contractors yard. The fuel was about 30 years old. They had it tested and the lab said it was okay. They filtered it, added some cetane boost, and burned in their trucks without issue. These were not new engines that require ultra low sulfur fuel, but older, pre-emission engines.

 

[Freeebird]

hatteras tanks have baffles in them, it will be pretty hard to get to all areas of the tank from only one point of entry

This ^^^

I’m assuming 45 is 4 to 5. I’ve delivered boats with fuel that old, and even with polishing, I was changing filters and cleaning out bowls daily. That was in smooth water. Rough water definitely makes things worse.

Unless you can polish it yourself, I honestly don’t think it’s worth paying a lot more for that vs using lots of filters.

 

[Boatsb]

Do it right. I hire a company to remove and assess the fuel and either dispose of or polish it. They have far better gear than a home made system and the ability to evaluate it.

Dirty fuel is never good. Don't take chances.

 

[Play'N Hooky Too]

hatteras tanks have baffles in them, it will be pretty hard to get to all areas of the tank from only one point of entry

Do you know if the baffles extend the full height of the tank or are they open at the top?

 

[Captain Ralph]

hatteras tanks have baffles in them, it will be pretty hard to get to all areas of the tank from only one point of entry

Yes, But getting the connection plates off gives you room to get an arm in and with a copper tube wand over, under and around the baffles. I have done this on Hatts and Bertrams.

You can not clean a tank by sending a pair of hoses down a fuel level sender hole.

Yes, this is expensive also. Lot of labor before and after the pump runs.
Constantly changing filters is not a fix but an expensive patch that will never fix the issue.

After a few boats, including mine, I quit doing this and connected my customers with a tech that did it full time. My knees, back and lungs could not take the abuse.

 

[rsmith]

It will burn. I know a guy who found an old underground tank at a contractors yard. The fuel was about 30 years old. They had it tested and the lab said it was okay. They filtered it, added some cetane boost, and burned in their trucks without issue. These were not new engines that require ultra low sulfur fuel, but older, pre-emission engines.

Cheyenne mountain which was the famous NORAD underground facility that was always depicted in nuclear war movies has limestone caverns filled with millions of gallons of diesel. The fuel had been pumped in in the 50’s. Up until the Obama administration when the facility was shut down and NORAD moved to Peterson AFB the generators were run weekly. And that fuel was 50+ years old.

 

[rob71]

After a year of dealing with dirty tanks (professionally polished a couple of times).
I added access hatches to clean out my tanks. The baffles went side to side and top to bottom with only triangle openings on each corner. Opening up 2 hatches per tank gave adequate access to brush clean them.
10 + years and no problems since.

 

[rsmith]

Do you know if the baffles extend the full height of the tank or are they open at the top?

The baffles I’ve seen have a v cut in the center and all four sides. So there is a strong attachment point to the top bottom and sides. These baffles have to be strong so that the fuel sloshing around in rough weather doesn’t break them loose. It’s the crap on the bottom that you want to get out. From what I’ve seen the stuff stuck to the top sides and baffles is a stick gooey crud that isn’t going to come out with polishing.

 

[Pascal]

Just pumping the water and crap from the bottom helps. That’s pretty easy to do with a piece of copper pipe some flexible hose and a small pump. Done bother filtering it, just trash it. Yes there will be more stuff trapped in remote corners but at least the bulk of it will be cleared out. The piece of copper allows you to suck at the very bottom, lower than the pick ups. Repeat after every run for a while

 

[Avenger]

Secondhand story from my technician, but he was once called in for a DD powered standby generator where the fuel was so old the engine wouldn't start. Hooked up a small container of fresh fuel and it fired right up. Once it was warmed up and running it would burn the old gack, but it wouldn't light up cold.

Since the OP hasn't clarified I'd say 4-5 years old, dump some additive in it and see what it does. 45 years old?,... Keep my number handy for when you need new injectors.

 

[rsmith]

Secondhand story from my technician, but he was once called in for a DD powered standby generator where the fuel was so old the engine wouldn't start. Hooked up a small container of fresh fuel and it fired right up. Once it was warmed up and running it would burn the old gack, but it wouldn't light up cold.

Since the OP hasn't clarified I'd say 4-5 years old, dump some additive in it and see what it does. 45 years old?,... Keep my number handy for when you need new injectors.

Sounds like back in the French fry oil craze. They started on diesel but switched to the fry oil once running. It was a strange thing to walk past a Mercedes diesel and it would smell like MacDonalds

 

[Avenger]

Sounds like back in the French fry oil craze. They started on diesel but switched to the fry oil once running. It was a strange thing to walk past a Mercedes diesel and it would smell like MacDonalds

Right. They did that because the fry oil had to be well over 100° just to flow. And woe unto you if you shut the engine down on fry oil instead of flushing it with diesel. Once it cooled down it would glue all the injection components and you couldn't get it to pump anymore. But this stuff was so stale it just refused to ignite.

Also, the fry oil had a tendency to be hygroscopic and the water was rough on injection components as well.

 

[Messi]

Thanks all for the advise.

Yes, its 4+ year old fuel.

I did suck a bunch of yick out of the bottom of the tank with a pipe, and pump, and a racor. I ran about 50 gallons.

The boat seems to run on the fuel.

i'm thinking of doing one complete punp out, and seeing how it is.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

A half horse gear type pump with two antique Detroit fuel filters (at 20 micron) in series for 1/2 hour on each tank. Fuel went in BLACK and returned to the tanks as RED.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nQDnMrjybw Thats 5 year old fuel with seawater and fuel algae feces in the tank. Thats the black gunk. Running the rivers from NOLA to Chicago was a breeze, like make 2 filter changes, but a little rolling around on the lake loosened up the junk making a polish job necessary.