Fuel conditioners,

[gmcbuffalo]

This question is for Gil, but open to all. Gil you have a vast knowledge of the marine industry and I see they sell a magnetic fuel conditioner (for big bucks). Do they work and for what purpose and would they benefit the Rv industry?
GregM

[Gil_J]

It has been a while since I was active in the boating world. I did look at the Algae-X product but didn't drink the kool-aid at that time. I had a boat with 4 fuel tanks and a built-in fuel polishing system. I could run the engine and generator from any tank and could polish or filter the fuel in any tank and transfer from any tank to any tank. I has a serious fuel problem thst took far too long to isolate. I had water getting into the tanks from defective fuel fill caps. I used biocide additive that killed the dinosaurs that were trying to come back to life. In doing so my polishing filter and primary engine filter would clog with dripping black goo. My point here is that the biocide and filters worked. They just needed monitoring until the problem was corrected and all fuel was polished.

I just looked at the Algae-X device and claims to its effectiveness. The most convincing article tried to uncover the sciene behind what makes it work. Although they didn't uncover science related to fuels they did state the science behind the use of magnets to remove what may be similar living microscopic bad stuff. So, I suppose they be effective. I doubt they great any problems, so the only negative would be their cost.

It's important to realize fuel problems in the marine industry can hardly be compared to over the road problems. Most marine fuels are stored in above ground tanks. Boat tanks are inside an engine room that has sea water maintaining the temperature in the lower part of the room while the rest of the room is subject to outside temperature swings. Then there's the heat when underway. Engine rooms can be pretty warm. All of these storage and use characteristics lend themselves to condensation build up inside the tanks.

If you buy your fuel at a station that sells a lot of fuel and you have a good primary filter (Racor or Separ), you should be okay. You might even consider using biocide every few tanks of fuel just to prevent excessive growth. In my boats, biocide was added with ever fueling. I hear coach owners going for years without changing fuel filters. Clearly they never had bad fuel or growth of bad stuff. Fuel filters, at least your primary fuel filter, should be changed at least annually.

How was that for a non answer?

[gmcbuffalo]

good,I got all the way to the end and forgot the question.
:) Greg

[Joe Camper]

12843

12844

12845

Greg here is a compact product that will protect fuel to some degree. Put it on Bruce Fays Royal at his request a POGer from up north

[Gil_J]

Joe, anything MAY be better than nothing. That pump sure doesn't look like it moves much fuel. My boat's system had a dedicated filter and high volume pump. I'm curious as to how many have had repeated fuel problems? I can see a bad tank of fuel but suspect few ever have recurring fuel problems.

[Joe Camper]

I think this pumped about 50 gal a day.

I agree with your thoughts.