filter for NASTY diesel

carl reitnauer · Mar 21, 2012

i found some tanks with fuel thats been sitting for years. Anyway to build a filter to get the water and rust out of several thousand gallons? I was thinking of a prefilter,using paper towels or toilet paper. Opinions or experience please.

JMOR · Mar 21, 2012

(quoted from post at 15:33:58 03/21/12) i found some tanks with fuel thats been sitting for years. Anyway to build a filter to get the water and rust out of several thousand gallons? I was thinking of a prefilter,using paper towels or toilet paper. Opinions or experience please.

ou are on your on there my friend. I'm made the mistake of using some 'free'/ 'gift' diesel once & only pumped off the top after months of sitting undisturbed..looked clean......never again. Most I would use that for would be to start brush pile on fire or mix with herbicide for fence rows (keep eye out for EPA). :wink:

Texasmark1 · Mar 21, 2012

I bought a tractor for an 18 wheeler that had been sitting for about 5 years. Engine was a big block Cummins; 800 cu in, 400 hp, of 1980's origin.

It had a 100 gallon tank on each side. Looking in them from the fill hole was really bad. I bought a case of fuel filters and ran the truck. When it would start to bog down, I would pull off the road, shut off the engine, remove old and install new, run till it did it again. Neat thing about the Cummins is that it would prime itself, didn't have to worry about the filter being installed dry.

Before I ran out of filters, the tanks were pristeen clear and that was that.

HTH,
Mark

Anonymous-0 · Mar 21, 2012

Think algea..... There may be more micro critters living in fuel than you think.

PopinJohn · Mar 21, 2012

If you do an online search, I think you can find some companies that sell algaecide, chemicals to treat contaminated Diesel fuel. Also, boats that go to locations where they have to buy crappy fuel use a type of filter called a centrifuge. There are several different sizes available, they aren't cheap, but if the economics of saving the fuel are good for you, go for it.

Don-Wi · Mar 21, 2012

I just had our fuel pump apart that's on our deisel tank. It's gotta be 50-70 years old, and there is a pipe sticking out of it for priming. The pipe broke off.

Anyway, turns out that it's got a prescreen in it. We also have a filter on the other side of it before the hose that is a water block filter. Might give something like that a try. May not be as cheap as a roll of TP, but if you even get 10 gallons through a filter before it clogs, that's still cheaper than today's price of fuel.

I would also consider pulling a sample and have it tested, see what's in it if anything. Easier to asses before filling your tanks with algea. Besides, it may not be as bad as you think. Unless you've already taken a look and it's pretty bad.

Donovan from Wisconsin

showcrop · Mar 21, 2012

I wouldn't try toilet paper or paper towels, they will just turn to mush. I think that I would use a multi-stage set-up until I got an idea of what I was going to get. start off with some fiberglass window screen, then some strong cloth, then a low micron fuel filter. No sense plugging coffee filters with logs.

caterpillar guy · Mar 21, 2012

If you don't need the fuel right away. Just pump it into another tank to get it home and wait till next winter any water will freeze then pump the fuel off the top of the ice. We did that with some oil once to get the oil out of the water.

VicS · Mar 21, 2012

I wouldn't be afraid of it, if you put bio-cide in it to kill the algae. Then wait a few days and pump it through a regular fuel filter. Like they say below, fuel is high enough if you stop one up every 10 gallons you are ahead. I will bet your filter will go over a hundred gallons before it plugs. Oil field supply houses sell Water Paste. You rub some onto a stick and put the stick into the tank and the paste will turn red if-when it touches water. Do this and see how many inches of water is in your tank. and be sure and suck above the water. Vic

Billy Shafer · Mar 22, 2012

That paste is called Color Cut. Comes in a tube works very well.

jacks · Mar 24, 2012

I stored some diesel for about six years in a outdoor vented tank. It finally got to the point where my tractor would not start or run on the fuel any longer. Before going to any work to filter all of it, you may want to test a small quantity to see if it will burn in an engine. Jack

Don-Wi · Mar 24, 2012

Had to be something else wrong like water in it, because diesel doesn't go bad like gas does. Espescially not in 6 years. I've burnt older than that by atleast 4 years and it had no ill effects. Guys have started up tractors that have sat for 20 years in a shed and the fuel hasn't been an issue.

I call BS on your fuel going bad after 6 years just because it was 6 years old. Had to be something else. Possibly clogged fuel filters on your tractor too. That'll make anything not run.

Donovan from Wisconsin

carl reitnauer · Mar 25, 2012

NOBODY has said the fuel went bad. It has condensation and some rust sludge in it. we are using some everyday by filtering out the fuel drawn from the top of the tank. This is an inconvenience that puts me at the mercy of whoever draws it out. I want to make it idiot proof and am willing to spend to do it. Incidently,I've used 40 year old fuel bystraining it and filtering with no pump damage.

carl reitnauer · Mar 25, 2012

NOBODY has said the fuel went bad. It has condensation and some rust sludge in it. we are using some everyday by filtering out the fuel drawn from the top of the tank. This is an inconvenience that puts me at the mercy of whoever draws it out. I want to make it idiot proof and am willing to spend to do it. Incidently,I've used 40 year old fuel bystraining it and filtering with no pump damage.

filter for NASTY diesel

carl reitnauer

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JMOR

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Texasmark1

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Anonymous-0

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PopinJohn

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Don-Wi

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showcrop

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caterpillar guy

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VicS

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Billy Shafer

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jacks

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Don-Wi

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carl reitnauer

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carl reitnauer

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