De-bug Filter Any Good?

[reiner]

I found this "De-Bug" filter the PO must have fitted in our boat.I did some googling and it has some magnets inside which supposed to kill bugs in my diesel.
I am a bit suspicious when I looked at the debug web page and see pages after pages where the company is telling me how well it works.
So my question is does it work or should I toss it? I don't really want something in line with my fuel filter that doesn't work and could cause me grief one day.
Cheers
Reiner

[Hudson Force]

I would be highly suspicious of the effects of this device. If it is a filter, as identified, then the fuel passing through, known as the filtrate, should leave behind what is not able to pass the filter. If you do not have a collection of material that remains in the device that needs to be periodically removed; then, there is no filtration occuring! If the device is advertised as killing microbes as they are headed for the combustion within your engine, and not filtering them; I would question how the diesel engine would respond differently combusting microbes that are dead instead of alive.

[Lancerbye]

This is the same as the Algae-X devices sold at boat shows etc. I also remember the magnetic devices that increase your fuel economy. I have 2 such devices installed in my boat and have thought of removing them since this is pure snake oil sales stuff. However they are not blocking fuel flow and to remove them would still leave me having to replace my long fuel lines or installing a connecting union (still leaves 2 joints for possible leaks) so I have procrastinated for the last six years and will probably do nothing to these devices unless they start being a problem. Sometimes doing nothing is the easiest route.

[svinshallah]

I remember a test by Practical Sailor a number of years ago reporting that they couldn't find that these units do anything. If magnetic fields of any reasonable strength could kill bacteria, all the people who were magnetic bracelets for arthritis would have their hands fall off.

[RaymondR]

The magnets won't kill or remove the bugs however they might collect any ferrous particles resulting from wear in the engine.

If you could get it through the fuel system without causing problems the engine would probably be quiet happy to burn up the bugs along with the diesel. The getting fuel with bugs to flow through the system without causing all sorts of mischief on the way is the reason we have to remove them.

[scheerboat]

Re the de bug If u think it is snake oil The quick answer is to put it in line after ur fuel filter and before ur engine and if it works as advertised it will do its job at that point at very least it will catch any ferrous particles a good thing u think and if it works as they say it will clean ur fuel tanks as it will remove the biological organisms from returning to ur fuel tank by way of ur injector fuel return line does this make sense why remove it if it is not restricting anything and if u look up the cost the items are very pricy

[Ballsnall]

Diesel bug is very expensive to treat because the quality additives are expensive. I can assure you this is snake oil because if it worked it would be use everywhere.

As this is an inline unit it can not treat fuel bug because it only acts after the fuel tank where the bug grows. It would make more sense to use it in a fuel polishing system but that is not how it is marketed. Red flag.

Tried and true methods work which are a minimum of 2 stage filtration for normal diesels and 3 stage filtration for common rail diesel. For larger vessels with dual tanks then a fuel polishing system is optimal.

Keep the water out of your tanks and treat aggressively at any sign bug.

[HeinSdL]

Well...

I came across this device 10 years ago (product from NZ) and decided to put it in line with an electric fuel conditioning pump. So the set up is that the electric pump will basically circulate fuel from tank back to tank through a regular filter + this magnetic device. It was sold as something which breaks the microbes apart thereby making them small enough to pass through the engine filter and get burnt up in combustion.

I installed it because at worst it would be a harmless, albeit useless, addition to the fuel system but because my fuel tank is completely inaccessible (why oh why...) I did want to try anything to avoid bacteria growth.

So when does the fuel flow through the magnetic filter:
1. either with the engine running and with the system configured in such a way that the fuel passes through the magnetic filter or,
2. with the electric conditioning pump running using a slightly different configuration

The former option is obviously used with the boat in the water and the engine is used as needed.

The latter option I use during my long weekends on board during very lengthy periods during which the boat is decommissioned on the hard (up to 9 months in hot Mediterranean conditions, ideal for bacteria growth), I simply run the electric pump for a couple of days non-stop.

So what happened. As mentioned there is no way to look inside the tank but I am in possession of a rather hefty diesel conditioning system (for use in my house which still has oil heating) and I decided to drag that to the boat last year. With that device it was possible to place the suction end all the way into the tank and move it around scraping along walls etc.

Turned on the device and, having circulated the entire tank contents perhaps 10 times in 30 mins, there was not the slightest contamination present. I do not use any additives but so far I seem to have remained bug free. Oh and the tank is completely full, always except when the boat's in service.

[Ballsnall]

Originally Posted by HeinSdL

there was not the slightest contamination present. I do not use any additives but so far I seem to have remained bug free.

There you go, proof magnets kill fuel bug and this product is absolutely legit.

[HeinSdL]

Originally Posted by Ballsnall

There you go, proof magnets kill fuel bug and this product is absolutely legit.

Did you read that in my post? I seem to have missed that declaration I made.

I said at worst it does nothing, that I do claim. But maybe/probably it was another set of circumstances which kept the fuel clean, I don't know. Or maybe it helped, that I don't know either. In any case do go easy on the sarcasm, it's slightly annoying.

[scheerboat]

That is awesome that is whst i was saying snake oil or not by leavening it in line in the system it is not going to hurt anything i was not suggesting u iliminate ur regular filters if u already h as ve it why remove it and as ur engine runs it basicaly polishes the fuel by ur engine return line