Re: Paranoia about the D3-110 Volvo Penta - diesel bug
Paul Dowd and Sharon Brown
Hi all,
My dip stick tells me I have a fairly thick coat of sludge at the bottom of the tank. I have just done a short but fairly rough passage, motor sailing, with 170 litres in the tank, and did not have any fuel problem. I have been aiming to get it as low as I can before figuring out how to clean the tank. Presumably I should suck out the remaining fuel – about 150 litres now – then use some combined mechanical/chemical means of cleaning the bottom. Not really sure how to go about that so any advice would be well appreciated.
Cheers, Paul S/Y Ya Fohi - Amel 54 #98
From: main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io <main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io> On Behalf Of Dan Carlson
Hi Scott, I really can't say what I do is right, but here are a few things that seem to work for me so far. 1) I try to use more than half the tank before refueling to replace the old with fresh. That is dependent on having it available when you need it, but we are in the Caribbean. 2) we have avoided biodiesel. 3) I use StarTron treatment as that has been what was available when I have needed to replenish. 4) I leave the tank full during the off season to reduce condensation from air that enters thru the vent during the daily temperature cycles. 5) I have inspected my tank twice in 4 years when there was less than 200 liters in the tank (I could not see the bottom of the tank when there was more than 200 liters). The walls and floor we're shiny, but both times there were several small 50cm2 patches of slime on the floor. I attached a 2 meter length of small fuel hose to my fuel dipstick with a couple zip-ties and then stuck the end of the hose into the slime spot and sucked it up with a 5 liter vacuum fluid (oil)extractor. 6) I also shine a light thru the racor bowls regularly to monitor if any sludge is getting into them.
The risk of running the fuel tank low is that rough seas will break loose and break up any accumulated sludge.
Best regards, Daniel Carlson on sm #387, sv BeBe
On Sun, Feb 9, 2020, 9:28 AM Scott SV Tengah <Scott.nguyen@... wrote:
-- Cheers Paul Ya Fohi - Amel 54 #98
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