kill ALGAE in diesel fuel

[wvgca]

trying to figure out what to use to kill algae in diesel fuel ... this is in a massey 2705 tank [no algae in slip tank] .... the tank does not come off readily as far as i can tell, and this is the only plastic tank on the place ..... i know i will have to blow out the fuel line, clean the transfer pump screen, and change both main fuel filters ,,,
i am in canada and my options are limited, the one option [kill'em] no longer shows on ebay, or on amazon...
what else can i pour in, ?? the tractor gets used very little

 

[Fallon]

Technically it's a bacteria, not algae. But everybody calls it algae.

Killing off the stuff is only part of the problem. All the goop will remain in the tank to plug things up even after you kill it. Draining the tank & sucking everything out might be enough.

"Diesel biocide" will be the magic term to search for. Personally I use Power Service Bio Kleen Bio Kleen Diesel Fuel Biocide - Power Service in my big 300 gallon & couple of smaller tanks. Never had a problem even with it taking a year or so to go through the tank. I'd rather waste money on a biocide than waste my time & fuel cleaning tanks. There are other brands that should perform similarly. The other big thing is keep water out of the fuel, that's generally the catalyst to start the microbes growing.

 

[Wagtail]

Unfortunately you live in Canada; here in Aus I would highly recommend "Fuel Doctor" as a diesel biocide... not only does it kill the biological growth but it then breaks the growth down to such microscopic levels so that it will pass through the filter(s) to be burnt up in the engine. Fantastic stuff and I use it all the time. It's not available in NA (some nefarious people tried to rip-off the producer when they tried to enter the NA market).

What your're going to have to do is immediately give a full dose of whatever diesel biocide you're going to use (you could ask what a transport/construction company uses) and let it sit for 24hrs. Then you can drain the tank. Using CHUX (J-Cloth) on the end of a long, mechanical 'grabber' (easily found at an auto-shop) you can wipe the inside of the tank... the dead growth will look like a brown sludge.

Do all of the other things that you suggest (fuel line/TX screen/filters) and then fill the tank with fresh diesel AND more diesel biocide. Charge and run the system.

To prevent this happening again, try and keep the tank full of diesel AND continue using the recommended dosage of biocide.

Note: the company will ship "Fuel Doctor" to NA, but the shipping pretty much doubles the price.

 

[the old grind]

Biobor JF Diesel

 

[BRMyers]

We had good luck with Bio Kleen Biocide. Dad had issues with his MF383 and that worked to clear it up.

 

[denchen]

Boat owners seem to have more trouble than tractor owners, and there's a fair choice in most marine outlets.

 

[LouNY]

If it is a severe case, which it usually is before it causes enough problems to require attention.
What I have done is use the chosen biocide dosed at the required rates ( then usually and extra splash),
let it sit after stirring or agitating it in the tank.
Then the pain in the butt process starts,
using an inexpensive in line fuel pump and a good filter drop a suction line in the tank with the return line pushed as far as possible to the far end of the tank and start filtering the fuel, replacing the filter as necessary it will take quite a while to flush all the contamination out of the tank.

Then after it is cleaned up and working again it will be necessary to continue the biocide treatment for a long time,plastic tanks seem harder to completely stop the process then steel does.

You can often get by replacing your existing filter often and or adding a secondary filter in first to prefilter before your expensive filter.

 

[ruffdog]

Not all fuel filters are created equal. Check the micron rating.

What micron rating would be needed to filter out fungus particles?

 

[fried1765]

Biobor JF Diesel

View attachment 642446

Yup.....Biobor is great stuff, and is usually available at marine supply stores.
West Marine sells it, but they closed their Canada stores.

The OP might look for Biobor in a Canada marine supply store.
Best idea might be to try to have the local Home Hardware store order it.
Perhaps also check with a Canadian Tire store.

 

[mrmikey]

One of our standby generators at work was loaded with algae, I told the guy to get a couple liters of biocide after cleaning the system and filling it with fresh fuel, dump some in. He tells me you can't buy it in Canadastan???why the he77 not???, must be scared we're going to drink it I guess, ridiculous. So what are we supposed to use to get rid of/prevent algae growth?...............Mike

 

[wvgca]

I found Biobor JF on ebay, went and ordered it ... eight ounces [treats 640 gallons] for US 21.11 with a ship cost of US 12.25 ...
I do have a ATF pump with two micron filters that I can sacrifice for this, and just let it pump for a while ..

 

[ruffdog]

Not all fuel filters are created equal. Check the micron rating.

What micron rating would be needed to filter out fungus particles?

Modern common-rail injection systems normally have a much better filter at around 2 microns (vs 10+ microns) because the high pressure pumps need more protection. The size of one bactorial cell is about 2 microns.

Today's High Performance Fuel Filters: Historically Good

 

[BRMyers]

One of our standby generators at work was loaded with algae, I told the guy to get a couple liters of biocide after cleaning the system and filling it with fresh fuel, dump some in. He tells me you can't buy it in Canadastan???why the he77 not???, must be scared we're going to drink it I guess, ridiculous. So what are we supposed to use to get rid of/prevent algae growth?...............Mike

I'm no expert, just thinking out loud. If you can't get the biocide, then my next guess would be to get a fuel treatment that removes water, like Stabil Diesel All Season. My assumption, again not an expert, if you can remove the water and keep the water removed it will cause the growth to greatly slow and possibly die off.

 

[mrmikey]

.......that removes water, l......

You're right in that it's the water that provides the medium for the algae to grow in, no water, no algae. Problem with treatments such as Hawes, Stabil and similar is that they emulsify the water, i.e. they allow it to mix with the fuel, not remove it and it gets burnt with the fuel. Water going thru diesel HP pumps is not good.
I do use Hawes fuel treatment but I use it for the added lubricity because of the ULSD, not the water treatment part. I figure if I keep my fuel full I won't have any water problems so I'll take a chance on my fuel being water free and use Hawes for added lubricant. I was after a biocide just for insurance......Mike

 

[TCSavage]

Biobor JF Diesel

View attachment 642446

X2. Was recommended by Detroit Diesel.

 

[wvgca]

I already have got some Biobor, just waiting for the road to open up to the farm, a mile and half is plugged ..

 

[3930dave]

One of our standby generators at work was loaded with algae, I told the guy to get a couple liters of biocide after cleaning the system and filling it with fresh fuel, dump some in. He tells me you can't buy it in Canadastan???why the he77 not???, must be scared we're going to drink it I guess, ridiculous. So what are we supposed to use to get rid of/prevent algae growth?...............Mike

Last biocide I bought was from a New Holland dealer, Case labelled product IIRC (dealership change back then).

Been a few years since I've bought some, but I have trouble imagining it not being on the shelf at pretty much every Ag or Construction equipment dealer. These issues are an even bigger deal with ULSD, so it's not like we can do without.

Your fuel supplier should have some too, though if our transport regs have escalated far enough, you may have to go pick it up from them.

Rgds, D.

 

[wvgca]

I couldn's get it in canada, not at fuel dealers, nor at Case or JD .. I finally got it on ebay, from a boating dealer in New York, price was [I thought] reasonable .. it came in fairly quickly, no hassle or fees at customs ..

 

[3930dave]

I couldn's get it in canada, not at fuel dealers, nor at Case or JD .. I finally got it on ebay, from a boating dealer in New York, price was [I thought] reasonable .. it came in fairly quickly, no hassle or fees at customs ..

Are you talking about that particular brand, or any type of biocide ?

Rgds, D.

 

[wvgca]

I couldn't get ANY brand of biocide [specifically to kill algae], from local fuel / farm equipment dealers ... I'm in a small town of about 20,000 population ....
That particular brand I couldn't find in canada [just from using ebay and search engines], but I did find it in the US