Got a Bad Batch of Bio-D -- Advice?

[Joe Vitessa]

Hello,
My usually reliable biodiesel co-op sold me about 15 gallons of fuel tainted with sludge. I'm getting some serious debris in my 1985 300DT's prefilter. (Likely not all 15 gallons are bad; just some of it.)

Ideally, I should probably just drain the tank, but I have 20 gallons of fuel in the tank and no place to put it. Think I can just run the car and keep changing the filters as they clog?

Thanks for any advice.

Joe

[TTCummins]

Yep, if you dont have anywhere to put it I would just run it out. It would be best to put some form of Biocide into the tank to make sure there wasn't anything that would cause a growth in the tank. You may also want to run a double mix of cetane booster or something else to make sure the fuel burns efficiently.

Changing filters often at ~$6 a pop would get expensive pretty quick.

[blindwolf]

Drain the tank into five gallon cans, using a funnel (bigger hole) and then take it back to the coop. As a fuel vendor the have to have a recylce scource. Running the bad fuel is just asking for a lot of problems, that will cost more in $ and aggrivation than draining your tank.

[John Schroader]

I'm guessing that your co-op would have an abundance of 35 lb. oil containers (appx. 5 gal). that they could give / loan you. Get a few of those and siphon the contents of your tank into them. I haven't drained a MB tank to know how difficult that is, but draining probably gets the dregs out better than siphoning. At any rate, I would have to wonder if the co-op washes their fuel. If not, then fairly fresh fuel can continue to react and produce a very fine sludge, even after it has been carefully filtered. That's one of the advantages of washing. Last summer I made some fuel in a very primitive fashion (I was not at home with my processor) and sludged up the filters on my old Ford E 350. I went through about 5 filters before it was good to go. If I had to do it over, I would have installed a cheap inline filter ahead of the main filter just for such occassions and saved some dollars those Ford filters cost ($24 each --- ouch!). If you are running unwashed fuel, it is advisable to buy it well in advance and letting it age for a month or so.

[Wodnek]

I have made puel for 3 years without washing and have only made 1 bad batch. I let it settle for 24 hours in the water heater after draining the Glycerine. Then I drain 3 the first 3 gallons off and let it sit. then I pump it into a 55 gallon drum, where it sits at least 48 hours before it gets used. I have the pump set up about 6 inches off the bottom so any gook doesnt go into the tank.

[TTCummins]

Did they admit to the fuel being bad? One would think that a self respecting fuel distributor would stand behind their product and help out somebody in your case. I would see if they would pay for the filters, etc. at a minimum. If not take it to a dealer have them do a full fuel system clean and send them the bill.

[Joe Vitessa]

Originally Posted by TTCummins

Did they admit to the fuel being bad? One would think that a self respecting fuel distributor would stand behind their product and help out somebody in your case. I would see if they would pay for the filters, etc. at a minimum. If not take it to a dealer have them do a full fuel system clean and send them the bill.

Thanks for all the advice. Actually, the problem was that the tank our co-op uses accumulated a layer of sludge on the bottom and some of it has gone into our fuel tanks. We don't make our own bio D; we get it from a supplier. It's apparently clean; the problem is with our gunky tank.

[Joe Vitessa]

What about dumping a healthy dose of Startron Tank Cleaner into the tank? Might be easier--and less of a mess.