Bugs!

We've been back aboard again. There were a few things still remaining to be done. There still are today, as we set off home, but I set about the most important task the day we arrived.

We've been hearing a lot about  so-called "sticky diesel". This is not diesel-bug. It's worse. River Canal Rescue (The AA of the inland waterways) have been seeing increasing cases of it. Just like diesel-bug, it stops fuel getting to the engine, but the stickiness created by this bug gums up the fuel injectors, and putting that right is extremely expensive.

I won't go into more detail; some of you aren't boaters and don't need to know about it, but those of you who do can learn more here. (Sorry about the redirect you get when you click that link. I have no idea why it happens.)

Suffice it to say that my response to this was to drain the bottom of the diesel tank where water and gunk gather before dashing off into the engine to do their worst. Our engine has two filters before the injectors, but no-one has been able to tell me if these will stop this stickiness. We were once stopped by the diesel-bug which had totally blocked the first of them, thus stopping the flow of diesel.

I have the fortune of having a tap at the very bottom of the fuel tank, so draining is very easy. I took out several litres from the tank, and stopped when it was at its clearest. It was the most I could do.

We have been using an additive, which does a fairly good (but not perfect, as you can see!) job of  inhibiting that muck's development, but we're now being told by some that it deteriorates with time (as does the diesel itself). When we were new to boating, we were told by a reliable source that it's good to keep the diesel tank full to the very top during the winter, so that there's no space for condensation (which would drip into the fuel.) We've now been told that the opposite is true with this new sticky diesel infection; it's best to leave the tank empty!

In desperation, I wrote to the leading manufacturer of diesel additives, basically saying "HELP!" They pointed me to an article on the subject, produced by his company. Read it here.

It will come as no surprise to you that this has all left us in something of a quandary - to cruise or not to cruise? I'll let you know in due course.