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| "I can't believe there was that much junk... missed by my filter." - Carleton A.
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The Fuel Story
FilterMAG™ products have a significant and extremely effective impact
on modern fuel injection systems. Saving you time, money and equipment.
With the worldwide mandate to improve engine performance and reduce
emissions being actively undertaken by many governments, we have now
entered an era where vehicle engines run more smoothly and economically
but with far more complexity than just 10 years ago. This makes them
more susceptible to fuel quality.
We have seen the relative progression away from plastic fuel filters
to metal bodied fuel filters to accommodate the increase in operating
pressure. This allows basic fuel injection systems to function under
pressure that can exceed 30,000 psi. Plastic filter canisters cannot
withstand these operational criteria and would prove to be a safety
and reliability hazard.
What are the common problems associated with
today's petrol & diesel fuels?
There are several issues on the quality front that you should be aware
of:
- Fuel is transported around the refinery in steel tubes. A
small amount of metallic contamination occurs at this stage. The manufacturers
filter to a good degree but some contamination always remains. This
is however considered "clean and acceptable fuel."
- Fuel is passed into and transported further by tankers, whether
bulk shipping or road orientated. Again, a level of contamination can
be introduced or occur be it by water, oxides or by a range of bacteria
and yeasts (referred to as HUMbugs — Hydrocarbon Utilising Microorganisms).
 These HUMbugs are a significant issue to diesel users in particular.
Briefly, they live in all water-fuel interfaces and a single bacterium
can multiply to become over 260 thousand in just six hours. Eventually
they take over the tank, lines & filter, causing significant and
expensive damage.
Ron Moon, a noted motoring journalist was amazed at the amount of microbial
infestation his fuel filter exhibited after only 17000 kms in his new
Nissan Patrol. Have a look at this photo to see exactly what he saw
in his fuel filter. A comment from Ron is also published below. Both
the dark black and the lighter brown material are forms of algae.
- Fuel then gets pumped into storage tanks in the service station
forecourt for final dispensing to your vehicle. Are these in-ground
tanks made of stainless steel, or free of water and other contaminants? Definitely
not!
(Some service stations have been known to extend fuel by mixing pesticide
waste, sump oil and water with the incoming new fuel to top up the
profit margin. There have also been recorded cases of dispensing pumps
having their filters removed to speed up the "flow rate.")
Then you have to consider:
- Is your vehicle fuel tank a clean environment? No, it contains
rust, water & HUMbugs.
- Are the jerry cans or 44-gallon drums (used in remote areas)
clean? No. Who knows how long fuel may have been sitting in them?
At this stage you may be asking yourself, "How would water get into my
fuel, and why should it bother me anyway?"
Consider the following and you will come to realise fuel contamination
is an everyday — every drive problem, that you have little control over.
It's 7.30am and you leave for work in your car. The fuel gauge
says you have half a tank full. During the day you drive short trips
to the shops. Come 5.30pm you are back home again with the gauge on
a quarter tank. No big deal. Except during the day the max temperature was
21°C. Your fuel rose to an operating temperature of 30°C
in the tank. The predicted overnight low is 10°C.
Will condensation form in your fuel tank? You better believe
it will!
 As soon as you leave the next morning and cross the first bump, small
amounts of water are splashed into your "clean fuel." Eventually
this condensation contributes to in-tank rust, which will also fall
into your "clean fuel." The water-to-fuel interface will become
a breeding ground for microbial life that will eventually corrode and block your tank, lines, pumps, injectors, etc.
So aside from the rust and muck that gets pumped into your tank at
the service station, nature is also eating away at your system's health.
How can a FilterMAG™ assist in this situation?
FilterMAG
has one distinct property — extreme magnetism — and two real impacts
on fuel systems:
Impact 1. A FilterMAG can remove all of the metallic particles
from your fuel system down to a level of 2-micron, ensuring you get
clean fuel delivered to the injectors. This will also contribute to
longer service life for your pumps, injectors and other ancillary
equipment.
The photo at right demonstrates how the FilterMAG™ filtration system
significantly enhances the effectiveness of standard fuel filters.
Impact 2. FilterMAG's sheer magnetic force destroys the
single celled microbial infestations that can reside in the fuel-water
interface because these cells are positively and negatively charged.
The magnetic force kills them and rips them into sub atomic particles
that pass through your injectors to be burnt with the fuel and then
passed out as exhaust.
Elegantly simple yet brilliantly effective!
 There have been several products introduced to the market over the
years that have attempted to achieve the same benefits. They all involved
some kind of "fitting required" but none possessed the same
magnitude of magnetic force as a FilterMAG™.
Only
a genuine FilterMAG™ can achieve the results you need to keep your equipment
running well into the future. Absolutely NO fitting tools are required.
You simply snap one on, and motor off in full confidence.
"Poor ISO cleanliness levels can mean that for every gallon of
diesel fuel entering that fuel system there are 263,719,875 particles
greater than 2-micron, 49,163,365 particles greater than 5-micron, and
1,006,810 particles greater than 15-micron. All of these particles are
going right through your fuel pumps and fuel injectors."
Special Report — Fuel.
"Trucking's Dirty Little Secret"
Heavy Duty Trucking Magazine Oct 2003
Here are some comments by other industry professionals:
"Another problem you may encounter from time to time is fuel that's
been contaminated with dirt, water or other liquids. Many filling station
pumps have a filter that keeps dirt and corrosion that has settled in
underground tanks from getting into their customer's fuel tanks
- assuming they maintain the filters properly.
It doesn't happen very often, but fuel also can be cross-contaminated
in pipelines, in storage facilities and distribution centers, and even
in transit by moisture and other petroleum distillates such as diesel
fuel, kerosene (jet fuel) and other chemicals.
The most common cause of dirty fuel, though, is the vehicle's
own fuel tank. As the miles accumulate, the protective plating inside
the tank can wear away allowing corrosion to occur. This obviously doesn't
happen with plastic tanks but it is quite common with steel tanks. The
small flakes of rust are then pulled into the fuel pickup strainer where
they can clog the strainer, damage the fuel pump or plug the filter
etc."
Larry Carley 2003 — Motoring Journalist
"To keep bugs under control, an algaecide or biocide can be added
to the fuel. This is expensive and the dead bugs form a sludge which
has to be removed; otherwise it will give bugs a safe place to wait to
multiply.
I had my senses rocked when our Nissan Patrol had clocked up 17,000km
and we were at Berrima Diesel Services for a tune up. We found water
in the fuel filter and also brown and black algae... My fuel tank
was a plethora of unwanted guests. Somewhere along the line I picked
up some rotten fuel, but had most probably also dumped the beginnings
of the algae growth which bloomed in the dark confines of my fuel tank."
Ron Moon — Journalist, 4x4 Australia
"Both diesel and kerosene added to gasoline will increase engine
deposit formation including in the fuel injectors. Adulteration of gasoline
by waste industrial solvents is especially problematic as the adulterants
are so varied in composition. Adulterants may contain halogens, silicon,
phosphorous or other metallic elements (found in recycled lubricants),
these in turn are quite outside the normal gasoline composition range.
They will cause increased emissions and may even cause vehicle breakdown
by corroding fuel injection systems and carburettors, and by causing
deposits on valves, fuel injectors, spark plugs, oxygen sensors and
exhaust catalysts. Even low levels of adulterants can be very injurious
and costly to the vehicle operator."
World Bank investigative report — Abuses in Fuel Markets Sep 2001
"The precision electronic fuel injectors in your car are very
durable, but they are susceptible to hardened build-ups of varnish,
lacquers, debris, and other residue that block the tiny discharge passage
at the injector tip. Blocked injectors cause bad spray patterns and
uneven fuel flow between cylinders. This creates an engine with starting
problems, rough idle, flat spots, poor fuel economy, excessive pollution,
high combustion temperatures and low power."
C & B Auto Repair
"Every stop the fuel makes on its way from the refinery to your
vehicle is an opportunity to pick up bugs and water. There are 27 individual
species of bugs that can occur in fuel and each has its own characteristics.
Corrosion of metal parts is a potentially costly problem that is caused
by the acid by-products of bugs, hydrogen sulphide. This acid can corrode
fuel tanks, injector pumps, injectors and fuel lines and can also attack
tank linings. Biocides and fuel treatments are often used to treat microbial
contaminations but by the time they are used the damage has already
occurred. The sludge itself is toxic and must be cleaned by companies
qualified in the handling and removal of toxic waste.
You'll be happy to know however that there is a much easier and cost
effective solution available."
Transport Today 2003
"'Bugs' present many problems to ships' engineers. These include
filter plugging, clogged fuel lines and high rates of corrosion in fuel
tanks. 'Algae' if left unchecked, will grow into colonies forming mats
or long strands of seaweed like structures. Other bugs are referred
to as 'metal-eating bacteria'. Heavily infected fuel will, within just
a few hours, result in filter plugging, fuel starvation, injector fouling
and purifier malfunction. Non-uniform fuel flow and variations in combustion
may accelerate piston ring and liner wear rates and affect cam shaft
torque."
How Technology is affecting the Maritime World. Marine Safety Council 1996
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