Water in my Diesel Tank

[rnjpinz]

I have gotten water in my diesel tank. Fortunately I have 2 tanks. One is clean. The fuel in the other tank is cloudy. 100 gallons. I know how and when the water got in. It's been a day. I am currently running a small diesel transfer pump to pull the fuel out from the bottom of the tank and back into the tank through a Mr. Funnel. It has picked up some water. Not a big problem doing this. If I run this long enough will my fuel become clear again? I am too far from home and don't want to mess up my injectors. I have added Biobore for biologics. I also have a dual Racor system that filters my fuel.
Any suggestions are appreciated.

Bob

[undercutter]

Do you have dip sticks on your tanks?

Yes or no, you need to let the water settle out for some period of time with the boat not rocking to much. Then if you have access to a drain at the bottom of the tank then you can dump the water that settles to the bottom. You have to restrict the flow to a minimum otherwise clean fuel from above the drain will run out instead of water flowing from horizontally from the bottom of the tank.

If you have dip sticks you can feed the long tube from a vacuum pump that has a minimum 5-6L reservoir and suck directly from the bottom of the tank. These hand pumps are great for this and oil changes in hard to reach places as well.

In either case, fuel removed from the tank can be allowed to settle out in a container and separated so that the clean fuel can be put back in the tank if there is sufficient quantities to warrant.

Your next defence is of course you Racors which are meant to collect water from the fuel prior to your primary engine and genes filters. These clear glass filtres have a drain to remove the water and should be drained periodically if water is present.

You have to be careful depending on where you are as in some places they will sell you diesel cut with palm oil. This results in a cloudy mixture and can't be separated out the same way.

[Pete7]

Bob, not sure the funnel filter will be effective enough. The water should be sat at the bottom of the tank. Any chance of opening an inspection hatch and looking inside to see how bad it is at the bottom of the tank. I have filtered a tank by emptying it into plastic drums and letting it settle before returning it back to the tank. However, I had time on my hands to let it all settle.

How about using a CAV filter after the pump to extract the water from the diesel.

[rnjpinz]

Fortunately, I I have 2, 4 inch inspection plates on top of the tank. I am drawing from the bottom. I know it is only a few gallons out of 100. I pumped out 5 gallons and disposed of it at the marina. Running it through the filter has made the whole tank cloudy again. Right now I think it may be best to let it sit and draw out another 5 gallons and then check the color again. A local here says he can put it in plastic drums and let it sit as you said. Problem is the drums would have to sit in my cockpit. Marina rules. Not sure I want to do that yet. I have thought about putting a second filter on the return line.

I know about palm oil. Dodged it all throughout Indonesia. Got lucky.

Thanks for your input.

Bob

[undercutter]

Originally Posted by rnjpinz

Fortunately, I I have 2, 4 inch inspection plates on top of the tank. I am drawing from the bottom. I know it is only a few gallons out of 100. I pumped out 5 gallons and disposed of it at the marina. Running it through the filter has made the whole tank cloudy again. Right now I think it may be best to let it sit and draw out another 5 gallons and then check the color again. A local here says he can put it in plastic drums and let it sit as you said. Problem is the drums would have to sit in my cockpit. Marina rules. Not sure I want to do that yet. I have thought about putting a second filter on the return line.

I know about palm oil. Dodged it all throughout Indonesia. Got lucky.

Thanks for your input.

Bob

I picked up this pump recently in Oz and it is the next best thing to gravy. A wonderful tool for pulling water out of a fuel tank. With the tubes you can see what you are pulling out and they are stiff enough to be able to work the ends where you want them. I wouldn't go to sea without one now. Great for getting the last drop out of engine trays, bilges, whatever. You can even put them down the dipstick tube to drain the oil. Works great for pulling antifreeze from low in the block without any mess.

[rnjpinz]

Pete,

Like your pic of setup. Send it to me in Thailand. Just kidding of course. The pump I am using is a diesel fuel pump for a truck. Pumps approx. 20 gallons an hour. Not sure there would be enough pressure. Maybe so.

The Mr. Filter or Baha filter is not doing the job. Whole tank is milky now. Got very little water out. I am going to let it set over night and regroup for plan B. What ever that maybe.

Bob

[rnjpinz]

Undercutter,

Is that an oil pump for changing your oil? If so I have see something similar to that. Would work.

Bob

[undercutter]

Originally Posted by rnjpinz

Undercutter,

Is that an oil pump for changing your oil? If so I have see something similar to that. Would work.

Bob

Exactly, Where are you in Thailand.

I had the same issue due to my own stupidity and the unit worked like a charm. I just let the water settle out, stuck the tube to the bottom and pulled out all the water. The suction is fairly slow so the actual fuel pulled out was minimal. It also managed to pick up a lot of other crud that was in the bottom of the tank including some gasket material from the inspection cover. I have dipsticks on my tanks and was able to access through them avoiding removal of the inspection covers themselves.

[rwidman]

Since running water through your engine can cause some serious damage, I think it's time to call in a pro. A person or company with the ability to clean your tank (and fuel) effectively. Usually they will advertise under "fuel polishing" or "fuel tank cleaning".

Also, if you are trying to get water out of the fuel, you shouldn't have added chemicals first, you should have waited until you got out all the water you could.

[captstu]

As you have discovered, the emulsion (cloudy fuel) goes right thru the Baha filter. Let it settle overnight and pump it SLOWLY through a racor with a filter raiting that is significantly higher than the pump rating - otherwise it just mixes up and goes through the Racor like the Baha.

I use a small, electric, fuel pump that is very common on inexpensive automobiles. About $10 in the states - runs on 12 volts and takes a day or so to clean 50 gallons of fuel. Works like a charm.

Barrow one of a neighborhood car. :-)

[MYTraveler]

A friend had this problem (but he only had 1 tank). His solution was to pump from the bottom of the tank into a 55 gallon drum, then let the fuel/water separate in the drum. After a day, he pumped the fuel from the top of the tank back into the tank, until only water was left behind, which he then disposed of properly. He repeated this process until no water was separating to the bottom of the drum. It took him a couple weeks of pumping every day or two (he had to remove about 100 gallons of water from a 600 gallon tank than had about 300 gallons of fuel), but he solved his problem. I am not sure how he drew from the very bottom of the tank, but know he did not use the in-place fuel pickups, which were elevated off the bottom and would not have drawn the bottom inch or so of water.

[zeehag]

check your deck fitting--the O ring may have disintigrated or broken,. allowing lotsa water into tanks. i emptied out 30 liters water and 40 liters dead fuel when i emptied my tanks searching for the water ingress..

[Symphony]

Originally Posted by captstu

As you have discovered, the emulsion (cloudy fuel) goes right thru the Baha filter. Let it settle overnight and pump it SLOWLY through a racor with a filter raiting that is significantly higher than the pump rating - otherwise it just mixes up and goes through the Racor like the Baha.

I use a small, electric, fuel pump that is very common on inexpensive automobiles. About $10 in the states - runs on 12 volts and takes a day or so to clean 50 gallons of fuel. Works like a charm.

Barrow one of a neighborhood car. :-)

Hey Capt Stu- sounds good . how do you route this pump filter etc set up?

Good luck to the OP. Sounds like it will end up being a learning experience at the worst

[cal20dennis]

Originally Posted by rnjpinz

I have gotten water in my diesel tank. Fortunately I have 2 tanks. One is clean. The fuel in the other tank is cloudy. 100 gallons. I know how and when the water got in. It's been a day. I am currently running a small diesel transfer pump to pull the fuel out from the bottom of the tank and back into the tank through a Mr. Funnel. It has picked up some water. Not a big problem doing this. If I run this long enough will my fuel become clear again? I am too far from home and don't want to mess up my injectors. I have added Biobore for biologics. I also have a dual Racor system that filters my fuel.
Any suggestions are appreciated.

Bob

[jacktheflyer]

Originally Posted by rnjpinz

I have gotten water in my diesel tank. Fortunately I have 2 tanks. One is clean. The fuel in the other tank is cloudy. 100 gallons. I know how and when the water got in. It's been a day. I am currently running a small diesel transfer pump to pull the fuel out from the bottom of the tank and back into the tank through a Mr. Funnel. It has picked up some water. Not a big problem doing this. If I run this long enough will my fuel become clear again? I am too far from home and don't want to mess up my injectors. I have added Biobore for biologics. I also have a dual Racor system that filters my fuel.
Any suggestions are appreciated.

Bob

There are two types of biocide in general use to prevent the black algae in diesel. I understand one of them is an enzyme type of biocide and if you overdose the tank it will take up any free water in emulsion. I had this happen to me and I was advised at the time that this would pass through the fuel system OK. I did this with 200l and have not had any detrimental effects on my Yanmar 3YM30's. I also kept a sample to see how long it would take for the emulsion to decay over time. It is now clear 12 mths later but I lost interest after a couple of months and it was still cloudy then.
Scrubby