I hope this hasn't been discussed recently. If so, I missed it. Anyway, at the hotel I work at we have a backup generator with a Cat 3406 engine that puts out 350 KW. Fuel tank is 250 gal, and it sits in the Palm Springs desert sun all year, tho' the tank IS under the unit. We run it for 1/2 hour at a time twice a month, and refill the tank when it gets down toward 1/2 full. I'm concerned about algae build up in the fuel, but our local supplier says that with our "little" tank he wouldn't worry about it. I'm not so sure. What do you guys think ?? If you think a stabilizer is necessary, which one do you recommend ?? This thing is 18 years old now, and so far has given no problems........and since I'm the new Chief Engineer, I'd really like to see that continue.

Lar.

 

I have seen algae in tanks smaller than that. I have two 250 gallon tanks on my boat, I use algae killer a couple times a year as a preventative measure.
Although from my experience diesel stores very well, a friend of mine bought a boat recently that hadn't been used for 19 months, fuel tanks were full, he used the fuel and had no problems. When you have algae bad it will show up in your filters, if you have algae then treat it(kill it) it will REALLY show up in your filters,plugging them, change them often. Maybe give this a try:

http://www.pfs-pros.com/page49.html

 

Thanks much. I forwarded the page to my work email, and will give it a try.

Lar.

 

I am in the same boat as you. When I transferred here to Guam I took over the Shop supervisor position. And being the most "mechanically inclined" I also took over maintenance of our 15kW backup generator on the trailer. Its our backup power for our remote communication tower sites. It packs a 100 gallon tank underneath the genset unit. The tank is painted black and Guams weather is quite tropical. I have worried about algae also, plus the fuel going stale as the generator is not used often. I am trying to put in a order for power service products to preserve and stabilize our fuel.

 

I wouldn't worry one bit about algae in Palm Springs, it's just too dry.
Notice the last two posters are near the ocean.
I've had my own farm diesel tanks in the arid west for over forty years, at times they have gone for long spells without refilling or algaecide, never a problem.
It's best to keep the tank full, less surface area for condensation to form on.
My bet in PS you hardly ever experence dew, there will be little condensation in the tanks.

 

Lar I'm just curious, but when y'all test-run the genset, does it carry the emergency load or does it run essentially unloaded?
Not that that in itself is bad.. After all, at least you know it WILL start

IMHO, it can't hurt to douse the fuel stg tank with a shot of biocide even in a desert like installation... After all even in the desert it occasionally rains and/or someone COULD give you a load of wet fuel...


K.

 

If your worried you could invest a few $ for parts and make a Fuel Oil Purifier (you could buy one but what fun is that) set it up on a timer to run an hour or two a day and you could probably keep the fuel until it evaporates and that takes a LONGGGG time!

 

Unfortunatly Guam is quite humid and get 80 inches of rain per year, so I am a bit worried about funky stuff growing where it shouldn't.

SoTexRattler,
I run our generator about every month or two, and I run it to its normal operating temperature. Every now and then I will drag out a large air compressor and put a load on it.


VADSLRAM
Could you give me more info on this fuel oil purifier?

 

You may want to contact George Morrison at AVLube.com or greg@lubespecialist.com (1-888-306-4255).

I believe they both deal with problems associated with the storage of diesel fuels. They carry equipment & additives used in fuel storage & seem to be quite knowledgeable on the subject.

Hope this helps.

Joe F.(Buffalo)

 

Thank you all for your replies. You'd be amazed to see how much rain and dew Palm Springs can see in the winter. I'd also be interested in the fuel oil purifier. I've been in touch with PFS regarding their product and it sounds good. I'm in the process now of getting approvals for that, and for several fuel filters to have on hand, just in case. I looked under the unit, thinking to drain some fuel for the PFS test, and also to check on water contamination. No drain ! ! ! I'm going to hafta build some kind of suction arrangement to get those samples, and if there IS water in there, to get it out.

After installing a new fuel filter, is there a bleed procedure to go thru before operating ?? That Cat has a valve (??) above the filter that I'd think is for bleeding, but no idea of how to operate it. Do any of you have experience with this ?? Thanks again

Lar.

 

All the Major CG cutters use a FOP and LOP (lube oil purifier). I've seen one that actually spun the fuel to seperate lighter and heavier contaminents($$$$$$).
A good quality raycor type water seperating ultra fine filter with a circ pump and a timer, Delete the timer and run full time if your more concerned about fuel quality the electricity . If you take out any floating impurities then you won't get blooms as fast. Every several years you should drain, clean and recoat inside the tanks to get the crude and corrosion out. (edit) OK flame on your favorite fuel filter company, I use Raycor as a generic type.

 

I think Bill is correct (as usual).
For algea to form, there has to be water in your tank. The algea live & breed in the air that exists in the boundry layer between the water & the fuel.
Drain any water you may get off the bottom (install a drain if you have to)...and don't worry about algea treatments in your climate. Ask around your area...but I suspect it's not a problem in the desert.
If you don't use all your fuel in a yrs time, I would treat against fuel deterioration with a good Diesel Fuel Conditioner!

RJ