Josh,
I always fill my tank up at the end of the season to keep condensation down. A half full tank will “make water” with the daily heating and cooling cycles. Jake Jake Brodersen C&C 35 Mk-III “Midnight Mistress” Hampton VA From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Josh Muckley via CnC-List Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2017 12:25 To: C&C List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: Josh Muckley <muckl...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Stus-List Anyone had experience with Starbrite Star Tron Fuel Tank Cleaner? Some people get touchy about running questionable fuel through the tank of their beloed diesel truck. Besides getting stuck on the side of the road could be worse than getting stuck dead in the water. At least in the water we still have our primary means of propulsion. Now if this is just an end of year routine and there is good faith in the cleanliness of the diesel being transferred to the truck then there is absolutely no problem. It will probably never matter to most of us but some marinas offer off road diesel which hasn't had a DOT tax. This diesel is died red so that inspectors can catch you using "off road" in your car or truck. Typically passenger vehicles don't get their tanks "dipped" so we'll probably never get caught but just know that it is a possibility. The most critical part of most diesel engines is the fuel injectors or HP fuel pump. They both have extremely tight tolerances to ensure proper spray pattern, pressure, and volume are achieved. That's why we have so many fuel filters, often running as fine as 2 microns. A proper injector or HP pump cleaning is equivalent to a rebuild and may not be effective without replacement parts. Your home fuel oil furnace burner has orifices in an easily replaced nozzle and the filtering recommendation is 50 microns, 25 times larger than that of our engines. Furnaces also have considerably more room for a larger capacity filter or more of them. In a dilution is the solution situation the home tank is also considerably larger so 40 gallons gets spread out further. On the topic of additives: One of the problems facing our older engines is ULSD (Untra Low Sulfur Diesel) which is being sold at the pumps. Sulfer is a lubricity additive that is supposed to ensure low friction and low wear on those tight tolerance parts I mentioned earlier. Our older engines where not designed with this lower sulfer concentration in mind. An off the shelf additive that gets high marks across the Internet and one from which I've been able to see a performance improvement is Opti-Lube. It is relatively inexpensive and IMO anyone with a diesel should consider adding it to their treatment plan. In 5 seasons of operation I've never used a biocide and never needed to change my fuel filters. I run 2 micron in both the primary and secondary and I have a vacuum gage which I monitor for filter fouling. I use 60 to 80 gallons per season and end the season with ~1/2 tank (~20gal). I freshen up the tank by filling it at the beginning of the following season. I do try to use a filter funnel to remove moisture when I can. The funnel slows things up so it works best with a jerry can. Depending on the situation I fill the can from the gas station OR fuel dock. Sometimes when pressed for time or very low fuel in the boat tank I just fill straight from the dock, no funnel, no jerry can. http://opti-lube.com Josh Muckley S/V Sea Hawk 1989 C&C 37+ Solomons, MD
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