floaters in fuel

[drgracr]

Question for the fuel experts
I carry 2 5gal cans with me, and the fuel only sits in them for a couple of days. When I look inside I see a few of these brownish coloured floating things.
Does not disolve in fuel and kind of slimy to touch, about half the size of a green pea. Any ideas? This fuel is from a Husky truck stop and filtered through a 10 micron filter ouside of the pump

thanks Paul

[svpdiesel]

I see that stuff in the ERC race fuel we buy. Nobody has been able to tell me what it is yet. It appears to be kind of oily, and the stuff we get will eventually go to the bottom of the can. Doesn't clog the fuel system, or hasn't yet anyway, so I haven't spent much time on figuring it out...

[chuntag95]

Something growing like alge?

[drgracr]

I thought of alge too but this fuel stop has such a high turn over and the fuel was only in the can for a couple of days. I'm filling the cans back up Friday with a different brand--see what happens :confused:

[letsgo]

Dangerous!!! but I carry 6 5gal tanks when towing for a period of 2 months and have never seen what you are describing, at the same time I put 1 oz FPPF in each can to prevent any problems, maybe that makes the difference.

[george morrison]

I would certainly concur to buy your fuel somewhere else! One of the key aspects of diesel fuel is simply 'appearance'. If we see anything in the fuel, whether it be soft and slimey or hard and crunchy, the fuel is not usable. The 'fuel is filtered through a 10 micron filter'; this may not be the case as many truck stop managers learn early on that fuel flows much faster if the innards are removed from the filter or lobotomized... So, even if a filter is in place, it may not be filtering at all; moreover, the Cimtek 10 micron is rated 'nominal' by Cimrek which means it 'kinda' filters 10 microns and above.... And may well be the source of the bacteria/algae contamination!
With summer and humidity, we need to be especially watchful for bio/algae contamination. As discussed previously, truckstops are not drawing bottom water from their tanks as they did previously due to the EPA determination that bottom water is now hazardous. If bottom water exists in a diesel fuel tank, microbes *will* grow like an uncontrolled wild fire. A microbe mass can double and redouble its size in less than 20 minutes. And once a vehicle is contaminated with infected diesel fuel, it can be very difficult to clear..
So, purchase your diesel fuel from a high turnover, well run fuel point. Truck stops such as Flying J do an excellent job of fuel monitoring, bottom water draining, etc.. Unfortunately, good fuel operations are now in the minority..
George

[Black95TD]

Drgracr,
What kind of can are you using? As I recall, the owners manual for my John Deere tractor with a Yanmar diesel engine had a warning not to use a zinc galvanized can as the zinc would react with the fuel. I'm not 100% sure if I have this right since its been 10 years since I looked at that part of the manual. I'm going to go check it out though. If its something other than what I've said here, I'll get back and correct myself. Boy, have I had some bad fuel in the past-looked like someone got rid of some use motor oil in it. Good luck!

[drgracr]

I had a truck mechanic at the house the otherday who owns a truck company and goes through 50,000 litres of fuel a week, said it could be alge with the wide spread of temperature swings lately.
The fuel jugs are the yellow plastic ones and currently using the Lucas additive. Bought fuel from 2 different places, same results. One high turn over truck stop and one new station about 8 months old, lots of big trucks in there aswell.

If it wasn't for the fuel cans I would have never known any different.