RDrancher
Veteran Member
First, to be clear I know it's not really an algae, but that's what everyone calls it so that's what I'll use to describe the problem.
The background story is that I purchased a dump truck with full fuel tanks that developed filter clogging issues right off the bat. I figured it might be algae related so I treated with a biocide. It started going through filters, coughing and cutting out like crazy. Peering into the tanks with a flashlight I could actually see the black junk on the walls of both tanks, one much worse than the other. We pumped both tanks into transfer tanks I had on hand and used a brush and anything else we could get through the filler to clean the best tank. We replaced all of the fuel lines / filters and cleaned out all hard lines including the egr cooler plate. We did not connect anything back to the really bad tank. The truck has been running fine since.
My problem now is having a 30 gallon and 110 gallon tank full of treated but contaminated fuel. Since we're talking 140 gallons of fuel it's not like I can just dump it, so I would like to filter the fuel and reuse it and also be able to put the transfer tanks back into service. Both tanks have been sitting undisturbed for several weeks. My idea is to pump the tanks out a little at a time while keeping the pickup well off the bottom to avoid sucking up any junk. The fuel will be pumped through a standard transfer tank filter and also a clear-cased water separator/filter so I can visually monitor it.
Am I on the right track here?
Once they're fairly empty I'm pretty sure I can clean out the bottom of the tanks, even if I have to use a pressure washer and let 'em bake in the Texas heat.
The background story is that I purchased a dump truck with full fuel tanks that developed filter clogging issues right off the bat. I figured it might be algae related so I treated with a biocide. It started going through filters, coughing and cutting out like crazy. Peering into the tanks with a flashlight I could actually see the black junk on the walls of both tanks, one much worse than the other. We pumped both tanks into transfer tanks I had on hand and used a brush and anything else we could get through the filler to clean the best tank. We replaced all of the fuel lines / filters and cleaned out all hard lines including the egr cooler plate. We did not connect anything back to the really bad tank. The truck has been running fine since.
My problem now is having a 30 gallon and 110 gallon tank full of treated but contaminated fuel. Since we're talking 140 gallons of fuel it's not like I can just dump it, so I would like to filter the fuel and reuse it and also be able to put the transfer tanks back into service. Both tanks have been sitting undisturbed for several weeks. My idea is to pump the tanks out a little at a time while keeping the pickup well off the bottom to avoid sucking up any junk. The fuel will be pumped through a standard transfer tank filter and also a clear-cased water separator/filter so I can visually monitor it.
Am I on the right track here?
Once they're fairly empty I'm pretty sure I can clean out the bottom of the tanks, even if I have to use a pressure washer and let 'em bake in the Texas heat.
