For dieselheads - The truth about Soltron - Page 2

jwalker · 26 February 2007, 11:52

As a continuation of the first test I added some more Soltron...lots more. This is what happened.
Day 8.

jwalker · 26 February 2007, 11:54

Day 9.

jwalker · 26 February 2007, 11:58

Day 10.

jwalker · 26 February 2007, 12:02

After comments here, I started a new test. More realistic proportions of water/diesel/bug to keep Mr Polwart happy, a double dose of Soltron to start as recommended on the package and the container kept in the dark to keep Mr Soltron happy.

Day 1.

jwalker · 26 February 2007, 12:03

Day 2.

jwalker · 26 February 2007, 12:03

Day 3.

Jelly · 26 February 2007, 15:53

Hi JW
Interested in your results, I had a major problem with Bug when I first got my boat , but after a good clean of the tanks and treating it with soltron every time I've seen no evidence of it even with finer filters. I'm also not filling up at the marina pumps but the odd drum I've had sitting about at home, due to only recently getting the steering rebuilt!
Rgds
James

jwalker · 26 February 2007, 16:23

Hi Jelly, I've not had bug in the boat tank but I've been very careful about contamination. I get my diesel in bulk and this bug appeared last summer. It appeared in both the bulk tank and jerry cans which I'd filled from the bulk tank. The jerry cans were left full to the brim for several months and there was considerable water and bug in all of them despite filling them through a water separating filter. Far more water was present than could be accounted for by condensation alone. I reckon diesel is capable of holding microscopic sized droplets of water in suspension for a fair length of time and these had settled out to form the water/diesel barrier. I've no doubt the bug arrived with the fuel and I'd guess it's almost impossible for the bulk suppliers to keep at bay.

bedajim · 26 February 2007, 17:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwalker

Ok James. Will do. The diesel filters I use have a hole size of 2microns so if there is a match for that it would be good.

The standard we keep is 50, 35, 25 & 10 micron I'll send some of each in the post

The 10 micron will block very quickly and the cake will act as a filter as it blinds

James

Paul F · 26 February 2007, 18:33

Not sure if its of any help.
There is always some water suspended in diesel as it clings to other surfactants in it, even warships suffer from it for their gas turbines.
When they take on fuel, they do a quick last by putting so many mills of distilled water in to a graduted tube and then top up with diesel sample. give a good shake and see how much the water interface has increased, when settled if it is over a cetain amount (very small) then they wont embark it becuase of the bug (MBG)that will grow from it (sorry cant rem exact figures).
The bug mainly grows in static diesel ( hence why they recirculate all tanks and use tanks in last embarked first order)
If your using the your fuel alot then the risk is less as the tank gets recirced on constant refilling.
Once MBG is in a tank its very hard to get rid of as it grows up the sides of the tank and the best way would be to clean the tank(if that can be done).
That is also why you see tank cleaning vessels alongside warships as tanks are cleaned on a rota every time they are in for a period to reduce the risk of MBG.
Paul

codprawn · 26 February 2007, 19:18

Aviation fuel is always tested for water content - any present and the whole batch is rejected - apparently squaddies in Germany used this to great effect - no prizes for guessing what they used instead of water in the bowser.......

alt · 27 February 2007, 00:06

Hi guys,
Very interesting thread! I have a Panther 19SC with a 100ltr diesel tank. IT's a 2004 boat with only 150 hours on it (125 of those put up by me)

I always topped up the tank after use, so rarely was there much of the tank with air. The longest may have been 5-7 days during the summer. She is currently topped to the max for the winter.

Should I be concerned about contaminated fuel? For a small time user like myself, after how long should I consider cleaning out the tank? I guess it's the one good thing about having a small tank, regular top ups!

jwalker · 27 February 2007, 11:48

Day 4.

jwalker · 27 February 2007, 11:52

Plainly, Soltron has no useful effect against bug growth. To be fair, Soltron does not claim to do this so I'll try putting it through a filter, which is Soltron's claim.

PBO has an article about fuel additives in the April issue which is available in a couple of days. It might make interesting reading.

Matt · 27 February 2007, 11:58

Looks like a rather nasty movement - have you seen the doctor?

Jelly · 27 February 2007, 12:42

April PBO just dropped through door and it has a report on the top 10 additives, soltron not in the recommended list but I have not read the article yet.

jwalker · 27 February 2007, 13:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

Looks like a rather nasty movement - have you seen the doctor?

Yeh, he didn't think Soltron would help.....

Paul F · 28 February 2007, 22:55

Will wait for write up in mag, but i dont think there is any additive that will get rid of it, break it down and prevent it yes.
Paul

jwalker · 01 March 2007, 16:08

A big thanks to Bedajim for supplying the filter medium.

The results: I filtered the whole contents of the jar through the 70 micron material, followed by the 35 micron material and then, finally, through the 10micron material. The fitrate was then poured back into the jar and photographed.

70microns.

jwalker · 01 March 2007, 16:09

35microns.