Fuel Contamination? The Baltimore Francis Key Bridge Collapse
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 เม.ย. 2024
- Full Article Here: www.practical-sailor.com/syst...
Looking at the Dali containership crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, as sailboat owners, what can we learn? Today we discuss fuel contamination, fuel water separators, and fuel additives.
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Thanks Tim. That's a good reminder to put in that anti fungus additive. I've been meaning to do it for weeks.
In 1979 I bought a brand-new VW diesel rabbitt. I owned it for over ten years and became very familiar with diesel engines. I ran into a guy who used recycled french fry oil in his car. It smelled very tasty and made you hungry when he drove down the street.
I know you're not kidding - I raced 4 stroke mini bikes in the early 70's when Castrol Racing motor oil was vegetable based. The whole track smelled like a kitchen. : )
Yes works good and smells but the only additive to use would be Catch-up ~ Miss the good ol days VW chopped and dune runs and beach races..
What jumped out to me about this incident is the lack of guarding around the bridge supports. I live near the Houston ship channel and there are multiple bridges over the channel which is currently the busiest seaport in the country. All the bridges have massive guards around the supports that are not on land. It would be very difficult if not impossible for a disabled boat to hit them. I looked on Google Earth and all bridges over major ship channels on the Gulf Coast have guards around the bridge supports. All bridges over ship channels should be surveyed and guards added if they do not have them.
Yes it's strange, without ship stopping structures in place a ship collision causing a bridge collapse was bound to happen eventually.
Off-topic but I wanted to ask you to give a plug to the West Wight Potter P-15; a boat that does not really fit into any category except "trailer sailor". Wonderful little boat. I learned to sail on it and took some day-long trips between San Diego and Mission Bays. Mine was hull number 2608, a 2003 model that had been sitting in garages in Lake Tahoe and Auburn, Ca. so was in near perfect condition. The P-15 looks like a generic 35' sloop rigged sailboat that has been left in the clothes dryer for way too long. Never went anywhere with it without making new friends.
I do the same diesel fuel and tank process as you. Winter storage I add Sta Bil biocide plus I add K100 diesel fuel water eliminator. I also run the engine hot the day before winter haul out and change the oil before winter storage. Then, during the season, I always add Sta Bil and K100 before fulling up. This has proven to be a perfect process and have never had any water in my separator.
Tim, any comments on the 3 articles I submitted?
I use Sta- bil in haul out and change the oil and filter as well . I will start to use 1 of the products you suggest this year to keep it clean
Question I was told by some old salt to change the oil again after the new oil sits all winter . In case there is condensation in the engine itself ?
Excellent video! This is the kind of information about diesel fuel "performance additives" is exaxtly what I have suggested before (to the PS editor) that SHOULD be included as a separate TOPIC in the PS eBook "MARINE FUEL ADDITIVES". There is virtualy nothing it that ebook now on this topic. Our local diesel experts now strongly recommend regular application of either Diesel Kleen or Stanadyne when filling a diesel tank. I use Star Tron -- it's less expensive and very popular. Note some, not all, of the various products mentioned in this video include biocides.
I have a 45 y/o Volvo MD11c 23hp with about 500 hours on it. It's on Lake Michigan. At the end of the season I fill with diesel. My mechanic said I should not add stabil or whatever it is. I haven't added anything else. I want this thing to last as long as possible. I'm even considering synthetic oil. It works just fine but I didn't l wonder if I should do more.
If boat and engine manufacturers could just come up with designs that make maintenance easier, that would probably solve more problems than anything else
Interesting video, mad me think of a question I never thought to ask before right now. Am I the only one that's just forever been in the habit of ALWAYS adding Sta-Bil in with my boat fuel?
Thing is I never know how long it will be between engine cranks and sometimes it will just sit for one reason or another for much longer than I expected and I never wanted my fuel to go bad. Plus living in a hot humid areas can lead to condensate buildup in the tank so I think this has been a good practice to keep water and such from building up as well. I've actually always done this with pretty much everything that's not a daily-ish driver. Motorcycles, boats, chainsaws, blowers, gensets, and so on. Stabilizing the fuel and treating for moister just seemed like a good idea. I don't know if it works but I've never had a fuel or fuel related issue. Carbs stay good and clean for a really long time, rarely do rebuilds, engine always runs smooth. Maybe I'm just lucky?
It's great that you're trying so hard to bring PS forward into the online content world, but one of the great things about PS was all the research that went into reporting actual experience with products, rather than just sounding like a commercial for everything out there. Try not to lose that focus on providing expert feedback based on actually using products.
Also, I've been told that you need to be very careful not to overdo it with diesel biocides. Helping deliver a Catamaran from VA to FL in December, one of the two engines died as we slowed down to find a spot in a tight anchorage in NC, and wouldn't restart. A diesel mechanic couldn't find anything wrong with the engine the next morning and recommended getting the fuel professionally cleaned. The professional fuel cleaner inspected the tank and pumped it dry through a van based polishing system and said there was nothing dirty or growing in the diesel fuel, BUT that he believed that the prior owner and/or people they had working on the boat had overdosed the fuel with biocide, causing little gel blobs to clog the pickup tube in the fuel tank. This is the type of information that we look to PS to provide, not just a big list of potential products in the space without background info about what to watch out for and what to avoid...
More polishing, ie filtration, with return to tanks. Or if the boat is large enough, a fuel centrifuge, NOT, the cheap ones I've seen for vegetable oil processing, ones by Alfa-Laval, and others.
For everyone else, a huge stock of filters to go with the polishing rig.
19 Year old Yanmar 4JH4E (4 cylinder, non-turbo): I add 0.5 oz. per gallon of both Power Service DIESEL KLEEN and CLEAR-DIESEL. This is about 80% of the way toward the latter of their recommendations for "maintenance" and "shock treatment". I also use Seafoam instead of diesel fuel to fill the primary and secondary fuel filters during changes. I also use Seafoam to refill the secondary (Racor) filters after draining junk from the bottom of their bowls. The 16 oz. Seafoam cans are quite convenient for this and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy. The boat is kept in the Chesapeake. Engine always works well, no smoke, approx. 2500 hours.
I added a home-made fuel polisher to my 40' Mainship using Gulf Coast Filter components. I then use the polisher to extract clean fuel to use in my Yanmar.
What I found to work in my application Lucas injector cleaner along with a fuel catalyst. Been priming my fuel filters with straight Lucas injector cleaner. Even ran my yanmar on straight Lucas that took about smoke from a lazy injector. Later found I was sucking air in my fuel system old fuel lines. Also used oil gets dumped right into tank shortly before time to change fuel filters. Found videos bench testing clearness Lucas seemed to be on the top always.
interesting article. BTW, what camera are you using...looks good.
Great tutorial on diesel additives. What about offline fuel polishing systems and using that to fill a smaller “day use tank”?
Great point!
Occam's Brand Razors are usually the best imho.
My understanding on this ship was a few month before it hit a pier in asia and during the investigation they were cited for safety issues regarding multiple systems. That tells me this was failure of the captain and the company to maintain a safe vessel and leading directly to the crash. Moral of the store maintain your vessel.
I will have to add you should not use automotive oil filters don’t be cheap just to save 5 bucks use manufacture recommended oil filters. And change your oil in the fall don’t be cheap and lazy. Another awesome video!
"Don't be penny wise and pound foolish." is what my grandfather would say. Indeed, the cheapest path is the correct one always. Buy once cry once and DO THE REGULAR MAINTENANCE! LOL People crying because the engine side splines are stripped because their gimble bearing ceased and get super quite when you ask the last time they changed it. Sure it's a pain but it's better than having it cease on yah ;-)
I use Fuel Right ProActive - tank is whistle clean. I never worry about bug ever.
Another great educational episode? So sailors who's uses what?
I am the new owner of a B36. with a huge diesel tank, is it possible to make an opening in a tank containing diesel inside?
I’d consult a diesel mechanic on that one ☝️
A cyber event has no diesel bug
After you know fuel system is healthy: install double fuel filter setup(valved manifold allowing switching from one filter to other}
Biobor at every fueling.
This is a case of the controlled opposition
It would be interesting if you would comment on bio-diesel, i.e., various plant-based additives mixed in to reduce environmental adverse effects on climate. Thus, diesel is no longer your grandpa's version. Cheers.
👏🍻
Marvel Mystery Oil for fuel stabilization, injector cleaner, etc,. I never have algae growth. I also use it in my oil a few hours before an oil change. I store small engine equipment using it also.
“Mega”? Hyperbole much?
??? What are you sensitive about?