Diesel bugs

Rob
Most diesel growths are slimey, mucous looking masses...black, brown or green are more common. Is yours a milky colour, or the consistency of milk curd?

You need to remove any water from the fuel system to remove the breeding medium, but that doesn't kill the resistant spores of the fungi. A biocide is needed to do that. HB Sales at Islington stock the FTC Decarbonizer, which is also a biocide. If it is the fuel bug that will clear it up. Then make sure you get your fuel from a good source, drain fuel sediments regularly, etc.

I use chemtech deisel additive to kill the bugs.

John D

Roblin,
I have had a Morison & Morison De-Bug unit for about 3 years now and haven't had any issues with dirty fuel. The only thing I can say which may encourage you that this thing actually works is the following little story......

In September last year we went to Cape York, via Innaminka. Amate of mine with a 3L Patrol (from Yass), met up with us out there and we fuelled up from the same pump at Innaminka before heading off into Qld. About 100klm up the road his Patrol spluttered to a halt. It turned out that he only had to drain the fuel filter out, re-prime and he was off again. My Patrol with same fuel, had no such trouble. That may or may not have been anything to do with the DeBug unit......he may have already had a dose of gunk waiting to clog his filter (and can't have been too bad anyway I guess).

One other thing i would recommend..........keep your tank/s full all the time. A lot of blokes with big tanks, tend to only keep a small amount of fuel in the tank/s in the belief that the extra weight is adversely affecting their economy etc. Others only use their 4x4 for trips and tend to leave it garaged for weeks at a time and only fill the tank/s before a trip. My understanding is that partially filled tanks attract condensation and this then forms a thin layer of moisture (water) on top of the diesel. The algae and other krap lives in the air-gap (?) between the water and diesel and breeds like wildfire. So, if you keep your tank/s full there is less chance of moisture/condensation occuring etc

Cheers

Roachie

I am with you Willem , 4 diesels over the years , round Oz a couple of times and never had a fuel problem . Just luck I imagine as I add nothing to the fuel just normal filter changes when required.

Dave L.

Had a mate who had 3 filters full of that sort of gunk after a tank of pure biodiesel. I think the biodiesel sellers in SA are blending it these days to prevent this problem (or straining out the fish and chip remnants :-))

Most likely a microbiological contanimation which is a particular problem in diesel and aviation turbine fuels. It is probably the single biggest problem faced by scientists trying to develop storage solutions for these fuels.
The most common contamination is from a fungus-like micro-organism called Cladisporium Resinae. The fuel in storage tanks can sometimes develop a dirty slime at the fuel/water interface. Apart from being unsightly it can block tank strainers and vehicle fuel filters. If left unattended it can spoil the fuel and contribute to tank corrosion. These airborne spores which occur naturally in diesel, have an oxygen source from the water and use the elements as a food source to propagate growth. It becomes evident because of the fact that filters clog up, vehicles may lose power and their overall performance deteriorates.
The conventional method of eradicating the bug is to use a biocide. However, this has two major drawbacks in that both the water and the dead bug remains in the system and removal is costly.
In the aviation world, regular fuel samples are taken from various places in the airframe and engine fuels systems to try and pick the growth up long before it becomes a problem......nowhere to park up there if the engine(s) stop. Super fine 10 micron filters in the airframe fuel systems become blocked very quickly and go into bypass mode but it don't take long to contanimate the engine FCU once this happens.
Best solution is to try and prevent growth and that essentially means removing the water from the fuel to be successful - now here's an opportunity for those inventors among you to develop a gadget to put in the inlet of your fuel tank to try and get the water out before the fuel is pumped into your tank(s). The alternative is to use a biocide and if you do get a big contanimation flushing the entire fuel system several time to get as many of the spore out that you can. Good luck - there ain't an easy solution to this particular fuel storage problem.
(PS this stuff can't survive in leaded fuels so it is not a problem for storage of AVGAS or for that matter the leaded gasoline we used to use).

ROB, There is an add appears on this forum on the side it is called FITCH it WILL fix ALL your problems in this regard no additives ever just fit it and forget it problem solved.
With this product now offering a 120% refund if not happy what have you to risk??? providing it is fitted correctly and to a HEALTHY motor.
I used to use chemtec in my business until i came accross FITCH.
And for all you sceptics out there I am quite entitled to answer this question in this forum. and as stated before say nothing untill you have experianced what it has to offer, then you have every right to comment

LEROY, One thing Fitch cannot acheive is to FIX faults with engines,these need to be rectified before fitting
.And once again I purely answered a question with honesty to a member who asked about diesel growth,now if you feel this is promoting my product so be it. I am in the position to have documented proof of what I state in regards to my product.On another note I will never enter in to a debate on what I tell you, i tell you the truth on what I am told from users and my own experiance,it is your choice if you do not want to believe what I say.I really do not care if you bag what I tell you as you are the loser you pull your own plug..

BILLS

BILLS

HI PHIL, In answer to your question,lets tackle the water problem first point 1/ water in fuel is caused by a few things the most common is thru handeling during transfere,a very important second is tha fact that a lot of people run their tanks near the low mark, this cause condensation to form on the uncovered area of the internal of the tank.
But a point here is Fitch will not fix water content and I have never stated that.
What fitch does is change the molectular structure of the fuel to enable it to burn more efficiantly thus deriving more from the same fuel. As most are aware fuel is manufactured to the best of the manufacturers ability, but they can do nothing about the deteroriation of the fuel thru storage.When fitch is fitted it is like you have a mini refinery in your system so that if you buy fuel that has been in storage for some time when it passes thru the catalyst it is reformed to as good or better than when it was made. You win. Hope this answers your question Or the other system is drop inns which lay in the fuel all the time and acheive the same result.

REGARDS BILLS

Change the molecular structure of diesel - what a load of codswallop! No device like the fitch can possible do that! Chem 101 will give you the fundamental understanding of matter Bill S - stand back and take a breather...the fitch is no bloody reactor!

HI Hugh, Mate check out the parragon chemical report in relation to fitches ability to stop algia growth in diesel . This report is available on our website featured on this forum. Jusy click on our add on the RH side of the page and all is revealed.

Regards BILLS