An Excerpt from the book "Marine Diesel Engines: Maintenance, Troubleshooting and Repair by Nigel Calder

"A fuel injection pump is an incredibly precise piece of equipment. The plungers in a jerk pump are machined to within 0.00004'' of the cylinder bores into which they fit. Unlike the pistons in the engine, no rings seal these plungers and while the pressures in the engine cylinders may reach 1000 psi, pressures in an injection pump are anywhere from 1500 to 5000 psi.

The accurate fit of the pump plungers in their cylinders is the only thing that prevents fuel from leaking past these plungers under extreme pressures. When you realize that the pump may be metering out only a few millionths of a gallon, you begin to understand how little leakage past the plungers it would take to completely destroy the smooth running and balance of the engine. If just one or two plunders are leaking by, then the other cylinders pick up more load, which leads to high temperatures, excessive wear of exhaust valves, and the danger of cracking the cylinder head or seizing a piston.

Imagine a tiny grain of sand or a little speck of metal finding its way into the pump. Even if this contamination passes through the pump without scratching the cylinder or piston, or doing any other kind of damage, it will now be on its way to an injector. Depending on engine size and type of injector nozzle (hole type or pintle) the holes in the tip of the nozzle through which the fuel sprays into the combustion chamber may no more than a few thousandths of an inch in diameter. It takes the merest piece of particulate from contaminated fuel to plug up an injector.

Water can be just as harmful to an fuel injection system. When the engine is shut down for  periods of time, as is the norm for most generators or boat engines, rusting of critical parts will occur, which rapidly destroys the effectiveness of the system. When the engine is running, the super heated air in the culinders under compression will instantly turn into steam. This steam can generate enough explosive force to blow the tip clean off the injector.

Nothing plays more havoc with generator engines or boat diesel engines than water contaminated, bacteria contaminated dirty fuel. If right from the start the owner gets rid of particulate and water in the fuel, then 90% of potential engine troubles will be avoided.

The damage done by dirty fuel is concentrated on all the most highly machined and therefore expensive pieces of equipment in the engine. Damage to fuel injection pumps and injectors cannot be repaired by the user."

Winter Cruising

The days of summer are gone for this year. It was a great summer for nice hot weather and the best boating season for awhile. 

Now its time to winterize and make sure that if you cruising the winter season that you have on board what you need.

Good fuel and a clean tank is a must.

Although it is great cruising in the winter you really want to make sure that your engine is running well, the filters are changed and no problems will arise. Winter boating is more serene with fewer tourists to take up all the favorite anchorages.

Its my favorite time to cruise. There's no one around and basically you have the best places to yourself.

You really need to be self sufficient in the winter. Make a list of what you need in the way of filters. A good 10 micron filter can get you back home if you run into bad fuel, a dirty fuel tank or weather that makes the fuel wash all the bacteria from your tank interior into the fuel - shutting you down.

We can help if you run into problems.

Call us at 1 877 794 3016 and we will come out to you wherever you are on the coast.

Fuel Filtration - Water in Fuel

Water is the most damaging contaminant found in fuel.
Water destroys the lubricating properties of fuel and can quickly scour or blow injector tips and pumps.
Water can freeze and stop fuel flow.

Water can be present in your fuel as free water and or emulsified water.

Free water gets into your fuel as storage tanks condensate while dispersing or receiving fuel. Dissolved water can turn to free water as the temperature changes.

Diesel fuel has a saturation point and as the temperature goes down the fuel will hold less dissolved water. Water will fall out as free water.

Emulsified water is what causes fuel to appear milky and will not allow fuel to look like apple juice.  Water, within limits, can be removed from fuel by absorption, coalescing or by stripping.

Types of Filtration

Absorption of water from fuel takes place when the media (usually corn paper) within the filter absorbs the water passing through it. If there is significant water contamination, the filter’s media will swell and block the fuel flow. The fuel delivery rate then slows or stops entirely. This will signal the user to change the filter. Typical uses for this type of filter would be on storage tanks for Aviation fuel, where you do not want any free water to pass from one tank to another during fuel transfer.

Coalescing is the method that uses gravity and low flow rates to let water droplets drop out of your fuel and collect at the bottom of the fuel filter.

Stripping  uses a silicone treated medium in the filter that limits the flow of water though it, while allowing free fuel flow through the filter and on to the injectors.

Using fuel filtration wisely on fuel tanks or any type of equipment and understanding the principles of filtration and how it removes water you will be able to prevent water in your fuel and equipment.

We can install pre filtration to suit your needs after we clean your tank and your fuel.

Call us at 1 888 713 1090 to speak to a Fuel Tech today.