?Anyone had diesel FAME like problems during cold snap

DGC1

Member
Location
Scotland
weve had bowls filters filling with FAME like gunk in the last week
drawn from grangemouth
new machines / clean main tank and bowsers with +5000L going through them weekly
 
Not using much recently but "they say" they are on full winter mix now, we shall see.
Had fame free in october but the fame stuff gave a wee bit bother late september when we had a cold snap then. we had the tank completely cleaned out last march so it's not historical problems that are causing it.
 
I had this in the Tw15 last week in the top of the sedimenter, cut open the fuel filter, it was dirty, but wouldn't say it was bunged up.
Clean fuel station, stored inside. But the Tw dosen't do many hours a year so might have water in the bottom of the tank there,and possibly summer fuel, but fuel looked clean when i tipped the filters 🤷🏻‍♂️
Fuel comes from Ellesmere port.
IMG_20210107_155631280.jpg
 

jh.

Member
Location
fife
This is our latest fill from grangemouth. It is winter grade . So far all been ok but I've been adding a maintenance dose of biocide and additive for over a year , to every storage tank fill .
 

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Farma Parma

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Northumberlandia
This is our latest fill from grangemouth. It is winter grade . So far all been ok but I've been adding a maintenance dose of biocide and additive for over a year , to every storage tank fill .
Yeah i notice that similar effect on top of a newly refilled tank here what is that ??? another local suppler now offering FAME free but its 3.5ppl extra
 

wuddy

Member
Location
Scottish Borders
Yes had problems recently with our 6190r and 6195r. Now putting a bug killer additive in the tank at each fill. Will get some for the big tank to go in with next fill.
 

powerontheland

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Hockley Essex
This is our latest fill from grangemouth. It is winter grade . So far all been ok but I've been adding a maintenance dose of biocide and additive for over a year , to every storage tank fill .
Plastic tank? They are worse than a steel tank for condensation, algae soon forms and multiplies.
 

Oscar

Member
Livestock Farmer
Yea , suffering from fuel issues again, 12 months from previous problem . However , it's only the JD machine having problems, 2x NH, JCB and a case all running fine but JD doing around 18 hours (from new filters) before throwing up a low fuel pressure error code which automatically de rates engine 15 % which then makes machine completely gutless . Got a 2 micron filter on main tank outlet, use additive and tank was new in August, getting very frustrated . Fuel samples sent off , awaiting results.
 

miniconnect

Member
Location
Argyll
Yea , suffering from fuel issues again, 12 months from previous problem . However , it's only the JD machine having problems, 2x NH, JCB and a case all running fine but JD doing around 18 hours (from new filters) before throwing up a low fuel pressure error code which automatically de rates engine 15 % which then makes machine completely gutless . Got a 2 micron filter on main tank outlet, use additive and tank was new in August, getting very frustrated . Fuel samples sent off , awaiting results.
in similar boat, 2 micron on tank, additive in tank, modern tractors struggling for any more than 200 hours to a set of filters.
who have you sent your sample to? we use two different suppliers, both pointing at each other.
 

Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
Dunno what FAME is, but we basically have 2 grades of diesel ( no white / red bullshiît. It’s just all diesel. The diesel out of the pump in town is the same as the diesel in tractors on farm ), summer & winter. The summer fuel apparently has higher level of wax in it, which can cause problems when it gets cold.

Anyway, one year we were planting wheat, running 24 hours a day, into a dry lakebed. Being a lake, naturally it was a depression / lowest point around & the cold air just “flowed” into it like water.
We had an old Case 870 FEL tractor, to pick up the bulka bags of starter fert, a 1418 Mercedes semi trailer with seed & various assorted 75 series Landcruiser utes floating around.
One night, the official recorded temp dropped to -7 C, so would have been colder in the bottom of the lake. EVERY diesel vehicle in the district that wasn’t under cover that night wouldn’t start until about 10.00 am, once things warmed up. Chrys ( who was doing the night shift on my tractor & was due to knock off at 6.00am ) could see what was coming & started his Toyota at about 2.00am & just left it idling for 4 hours so he could drive home 🤣
Anyway, we spent a couple of hours trying to start this Case in the morning. Pulled the fuel bowl / strainer from the bottom of the tank - it was full of frozen wax & the little bit of fuel that dribbled out of the tank crystallised as soon as it hit the cold ground. I have never seen that before or since.
Anyway, that was because it was an early cold snap & everyone was still running summer diesel that was still in storage tanks
 

Farma Parma

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Northumberlandia
Dunno what FAME is, but we basically have 2 grades of diesel ( no white / red bullshiît. It’s just all diesel. The diesel out of the pump in town is the same as the diesel in tractors on farm ), summer & winter. The summer fuel apparently has higher level of wax in it, which can cause problems when it gets cold.

Anyway, one year we were planting wheat, running 24 hours a day, into a dry lakebed. Being a lake, naturally it was a depression / lowest point around & the cold air just “flowed” into it like water.
We had an old Case 870 FEL tractor, to pick up the bulka bags of starter fert, a 1418 Mercedes semi trailer with seed & various assorted 75 series Landcruiser utes floating around.
One night, the official recorded temp dropped to -7 C, so would have been colder in the bottom of the lake. EVERY diesel vehicle in the district that wasn’t under cover that night wouldn’t start until about 10.00 am, once things warmed up. Chrys ( who was doing the night shift on my tractor & was due to knock off at 6.00am ) could see what was coming & started his Toyota at about 2.00am & just left it idling for 4 hours so he could drive home 🤣
Anyway, we spent a couple of hours trying to start this Case in the morning. Pulled the fuel bowl / strainer from the bottom of the tank - it was full of frozen wax & the little bit of fuel that dribbled out of the tank crystallised as soon as it hit the cold ground. I have never seen that before or since.
Anyway, that was because it was an early cold snap & everyone was still running summer diesel that was still in storage tanks

brief description here
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Dunno what FAME is, but we basically have 2 grades of diesel ( no white / red bullshiît. It’s just all diesel. The diesel out of the pump in town is the same as the diesel in tractors on farm ), summer & winter. The summer fuel apparently has higher level of wax in it, which can cause problems when it gets cold.

Anyway, one year we were planting wheat, running 24 hours a day, into a dry lakebed. Being a lake, naturally it was a depression / lowest point around & the cold air just “flowed” into it like water.
We had an old Case 870 FEL tractor, to pick up the bulka bags of starter fert, a 1418 Mercedes semi trailer with seed & various assorted 75 series Landcruiser utes floating around.
One night, the official recorded temp dropped to -7 C, so would have been colder in the bottom of the lake. EVERY diesel vehicle in the district that wasn’t under cover that night wouldn’t start until about 10.00 am, once things warmed up. Chrys ( who was doing the night shift on my tractor & was due to knock off at 6.00am ) could see what was coming & started his Toyota at about 2.00am & just left it idling for 4 hours so he could drive home 🤣
Anyway, we spent a couple of hours trying to start this Case in the morning. Pulled the fuel bowl / strainer from the bottom of the tank - it was full of frozen wax & the little bit of fuel that dribbled out of the tank crystallised as soon as it hit the cold ground. I have never seen that before or since.
Anyway, that was because it was an early cold snap & everyone was still running summer diesel that was still in storage tanks
 

Farma Parma

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Northumberlandia
sounds like the waxy deposits I was talking about I suppose
Yeah in a nutshell likely...
There is a FAME free product available across the UK now but its slightly dearer approx 3-4ppl more.
Not used any myself yet but we maye have to go this route

 

jh.

Member
Location
fife
Grangemouth fuel . "Maintenance" dose of biocide and separate additive since the fame shite has been added . Plus storage tanks have filters.

So far still no problems but do see this crap inside the tank now . It feels like butter rather than a growth
 

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