Algae X

mquiet

mquiet

Well-Known Member
Aug 4, 2009
1,500
North carolina
Boat Info
1999 480 Sedan Bridge
Engines
Caterpillar 3196
What are the thoughts on algae X? Good , bad, makes no difference. It has been a debate at our marina and I was wondering what this group thought.
 
Some Diesel Engine Applications Are Not Suited for an In-Line Installation of the AXI Fuel Conditioner
In applications where the diesel engine is not operated for weeks or months at a time and, as a result, the fuel is not circulated on a regular, extended basis, the fuel will not be treated and the fuel will again deteriorate. The AXI Magnetic Fuel conditioner only does its work when the fuel is circulating. The following are examples of applications where a AXI Fuel Conditioner that is mounted in-line on the fuel feed line to the engine is not appropriate:

  • Power Generators used only when the primary electricity service fails

  • Marine vessels that are not used for months over the winter season

  • Construction Equipment that is special purpose and not used very often

  • Rental equipment that is rented only occasionally

  • Farm equipment used seasonally or only during harvest

  • Trucks or other equipment used to backup front-line equipment

  • Fuel Tanks that service fuel needs in seasonal operations
 
My opinion is not whether it works or doesn’t but why bother? Follow franks advice for regular treatment of diesel and you won’t have issues.
 
A friend of mine got talked into them 7-8 years ago on his 40ft Riviera. Made no difference at all. Waste of money in his case, 50-7-hrs per year with winter lay up of 6 months.
 
mquiet posted this on my behalf. Our issue is, we have 3 fuel tanks, One is a belly tank with 250 gal capacity and 2 saddle tanks with 125 each. I have messed up by running on the belly tank all the time, so the fuel in the small tanks is 2 plus years old. I do treat all tanks, pretty much to Franks suggestion. I have been told by a few different people I know that are in the marine industry, these systems work great and will polish the bad tanks, and make it very usable again. I would still love to hear more thoughts. Thanks
 
I would have a professional diesel polishing company on board to determine if polishing is helpful or just have the old fuel pumped out by them...
 
The Bill Collector said:
I would have a professional diesel polishing company on board to determine if polishing is helpful or just have the old fuel pumped out by them...
Click to expand...
Have talked to our local polisher, our issue with that is all 3 tanks are under salon floor with limited or no access, unless we remove the entire floor. Quite the predicament.
 
In your case I think you have 2 options...

1. Change the racors to 2 micron and attempt to run through the old fuel. I'm guessing you will have some sludge but hey this may work perfect and just have you switching out racors a few times.

2. Install a fuel polishing system... issue is this is probably $2K, but it would be a great thing to have on board and I always thought it would be a way to transfer between tanks since our boat won't allow that option. I have known a few folks who have had their fuel commercially polished and it always seems to be in the 1500-2000 dollar range, so installing yourself seems like a better idea.

FYI Practical Sailor just tested additives in the last issue, it's interesting how well Startron for Diesel did, the Startron for gasoline didn't perform well... suggested reading.


FYI2::: Why would the commercial polisher need access to the tank? There is a fuel and return line already there and accessible in the ER...

Good Luck and let us know how it goes!
 
NHD I believe the commercial polisher would "prefer" to remove the tank sender so they can insert the pick up hose into the far corners of the tank to get at the sludge or debris that would be "hiding" and would not be sucked up by the tanks own pick up tube. Sure it can be done thru the tanks fittings but the job is not done as well.
 
He says, he needs access in order to completely clean the tank itself. Does that sound right? I can install the algea X system myself, so total cost should be under a boat buck, $1K. In addition to Franks recipe, I do use the Startron product as well. My big fear is getting trash into the injectors, cost us about $11k about 5 yrs ago, when we got a bad load of fuel, washed out 2 cylinders on on side of the engine. So I went with rebuilding all 4 cylinders on that side.
 
hottoddie said:
NHD I believe the commercial polisher would "prefer" to remove the tank sender so they can insert the pick up hose into the far corners of the tank to get at the sludge or debris that would be "hiding" and would not be sucked up by the tanks own pick up tube. Sure it can be done thru the tanks fittings but the job is not done as well.
Click to expand...
Thats what he said, but our tanks are under salon floor, so carpet and all of the couch assembly has to be removed. Might have to do it this way, but really hate to. Thanks
 
bahamabreisus,

First, you can have the saddle tanks polished without access to the senders. The problem is it requires high volume pumps (not high pressure; high volume) and it takes a lot longer and time costs money when you are buying a marine service.

Second, is your concern that you know the saddle tanks have sludge in them or that you are worried because the fuel has been dormant in the saddle tanks for 2+ years? The reason I ask is that if you fueled the saddle tanks with the right additives......Diesel Kleen, biocide, lubricity additive.......the fuel is probably ok. If you did add those additives, and if the Detroits have a secondary filter of 2 microns or less, then I would try to run the fuel out of the saddle tanks rather than immediately calling a fuel polisher. I would add more biocide in shock quantity then add one 1/2 jug of Diesel 9-1-1 to each tank when you fill the saddle tanks, if they are not full now. Get a case of Racors and try to run the fuel out. If the engines do not have adequate secondary filtration, you can add a single Racor and run 2 micron filters in them. The worst thing that can happen is that you plug up a few filters and if that happens fairly quickly, then you probably aren't going to get this done without a fuel polishing service. But, if the normal additives have been in the tanks all this time, I'm betting you can easily run the fuel out by spending a few $$ on Diesel 9-1-1 and Racors instead of a few thousand $$ on a fuel polishing service.

Remember that diesel fuel isn't like gasoline. Diesel may lose a bit of cetane with it sits dormant......might be smoky to fire up and be a bit sluggish to get going, but the engine will burn it because diesel doesn't turn to varnish like gasoline. My science here is just practical experience: I bought a Case backhoe that had been turned over and fell into a dirt pit. It landed on its side and laid there 5 years. I made a deal for it, took a wrecker over to the dirt pit, turned it right side up, and was surprised at how undamaged it was. Let it sit upright over night to get the fluids back where they belonged and put a fresh battery in it the next morning. It fired up after about 15 seconds of cranking, smoked a bunch but ran well enough to dig a ramp in the side of the dirt pit. I drove it up the ramp and then drove it 5 miles home. Bottom line is that the fuel was clean enough and still good enough to run the engine without any problems but smoke. So, don't throw in the towell too quickly.

Third, there is another onboard system that is truly a fuel polishing system. It is made by Parker-Hannifin, the makers of Racor filter systems:

http://www.parker.com/Literature/Racor/Racor_Fuel_Filtration_P510MAM_Fuel_Polisher_RSL0151.pdf

The down side might be the fact that this system requires filter changes.



Good luck with the saddle tanks............
 
Magnetic fuel treatment = way to seperate fool from money.

There is no interaction between magnets and diesel fuel.
There is no interaction between magnets and bacteria that makes the bacteria magically disappear and not clog the filter.

It’s nothing but snake oil.

(otoh, actual oil distilled from snakes might just work as a Diesel engine fuel...)
 
fwebster said:
bahamabreisus,

First, you can have the saddle tanks polished without access to the senders. The problem is it requires high volume pumps (not high pressure; high volume) and it takes a lot longer and time costs money when you are buying a marine service.

Second, is your concern that you know the saddle tanks have sludge in them or that you are worried because the fuel has been dormant in the saddle tanks for 2+ years? The reason I ask is that if you fueled the saddle tanks with the right additives......Diesel Kleen, biocide, lubricity additive.......the fuel is probably ok. If you did add those additives, and if the Detroits have a secondary filter of 2 microns or less, then I would try to run the fuel out of the saddle tanks rather than immediately calling a fuel polisher. I would add more biocide in shock quantity then add one 1/2 jug of Diesel 9-1-1 to each tank when you fill the saddle tanks, if they are not full now. Get a case of Racors and try to run the fuel out. If the engines do not have adequate secondary filtration, you can add a single Racor and run 2 micron filters in them. The worst thing that can happen is that you plug up a few filters and if that happens fairly quickly, then you probably aren't going to get this done without a fuel polishing service. But, if the normal additives have been in the tanks all this time, I'm betting you can easily run the fuel out by spending a few $$ on Diesel 9-1-1 and Racors instead of a few thousand $$ on a fuel polishing service.

Remember that diesel fuel isn't like gasoline. Diesel may lose a bit of cetane with it sits dormant......might be smoky to fire up and be a bit sluggish to get going, but the engine will burn it because diesel doesn't turn to varnish like gasoline. My science here is just practical experience: I bought a Case backhoe that had been turned over and fell into a dirt pit. It landed on its side and laid there 5 years. I made a deal for it, took a wrecker over to the dirt pit, turned it right side up, and was surprised at how undamaged it was. Let it sit upright over night to get the fluids back where they belonged and put a fresh battery in it the next morning. It fired up after about 15 seconds of cranking, smoked a bunch but ran well enough to dig a ramp in the side of the dirt pit. I drove it up the ramp and then drove it 5 miles home. Bottom line is that the fuel was clean enough and still good enough to run the engine without any problems but smoke. So, don't throw in the towell too quickly.

Third, there is another onboard system that is truly a fuel polishing system. It is made by Parker-Hannifin, the makers of Racor filter systems:

http://www.parker.com/Literature/Racor/Racor_Fuel_Filtration_P510MAM_Fuel_Polisher_RSL0151.pdf

The down side might be the fact that this system requires filter changes.



Good luck with the saddle tanks............
Click to expand...
Thanks for your insight. I have maintained the "Frank cocktail" as far as additives. I think I will change the primaries to 2 mic and get some diesel 911 and let it run. Thanks
 
Thanks everyone for your insight, maybe I will pass on the algeaX system for now.
 
I want to also thank yall for the input. This has been the question at the docks, so I thought it would be great to ask this group. I will get Bahama to run those tanks and then give yall an update, so everyone will know our experience.
 
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