How long does the Algae battle take ?

These are not fuel treatments, as in the general fuel treatment found on the truck stop counter. These are very specific for a specific problem.

In general I agree with you, fuel treatments do nothing except take your money.

Algae is a beast, and unless a person has dealt with it you can not imagine how hard it is to deal with.

 

I stumbled on Biobor when I was talking to a Thermo King mechanic. He said some of those refers get old nasty fuel sitting for extended time with water condensation. He said what they found to work the best for "microbial growth" was Biobor made by Hammonds

He said we drain the old fuel out dump a bottle in and fill it with fuel. Then they set it out in the yard and start changing fuel filters.

 

@Cat sdp cut your filter open, run your finger nail through a pleat. If what you scrape up is like (paste shoe polish) but a little slicker comes up in a glob. That's Algae. If what you get is thinner and drier more like soot. That's Asphaltene.

Where you have one "hot" tank it may be asphaltene.

 

That I am not sure about. A driver I use to work with decades ago would put 1 gal of gasoline in each 100 gal tank on the last fill up of the week (it was daycab at a chicken plant where the trucks sat all weekend). This was right after the 1st reduction of sulphur in diesel was mandated back in the 90's. Not sure if that remedy would harm modern day EPA approved low emission engines.

 

It is true that what your seeing is not an algae.
Several types of fuel, like diesel can become infected with a bacteria. It feeds on components of the fuel.

Have had the problem twice. The things done to clean it up.

Get fuel filters, water separator, if it is on the fuel system, get some, like 6 or 8.

Go to a marine shop and get some biocide. They will have the best price. Get 3 gallons

Fill tanks, add biocide at shock treatment level.
Run tanks down to as low as you can
Change fuel filters.
Repeat the above 3 more times.

On the last shock treatment, run the tanks out.
You should see a bunch crap in the bottom of the tank, drain the tank and flush the crap out with clean fuel.

Fill tanks, Then run out the rest of the biocide at recomended dose. Watch your filters, if they start plugging change them. It is the dead stuff collecting.

This should have killed anything in the fuel system from tank to injector.

 

Guy that has done my fuel system work for years said treat it at shock levels with full tanks. However let it sit 48 hours after treatment to give the biocide long enough to start its job. Then follow up treatments I can say from ecperience lots of filters on hand is key