071 - Generator Fuel Problems Part 1

This episode explores common generator problems and challenges the automatic assumption that fuel is always to blame. Erik Bjornstad outlines a systematic approach to diagnosing generator issues, presenting four key diagnostic steps: checking fuel filters, examining fuel lines, inspecting valves, and looking for additional filters.

The episode emphasizes the importance of proper diagnosis to avoid unnecessary expensive solutions like fuel disposal or part replacement.

Special attention is given to detecting microbial contamination through various signs and testing methods. The host stresses that while fuel can be the culprit, other factors should be investigated before reaching that conclusion.

What You'll Learn:

• The systematic approach to diagnosing generator problems
• Four key diagnostic steps for troubleshooting generator issues
• How to identify signs of microbial contamination in fuel systems
• The true costs associated with fuel disposal and system repairs
• Why fuel isn't always the culprit in generator failures
• Methods for testing and confirming microbial contamination
• The importance of proper diagnosis before expensive solutions

Ideas Worth Sharing:

Here are three notable quotes from the podcast episode:

• "The fuel is bad isn't actually the right answer to the problem."

• "If you have evidence of microbial contamination, it's never a question of if it's going to lead to a future problem. It is always a question of when is that going to happen."

• "Most of the generator service technicians who conclude that the condition's due to a fuel problem, they actually don't know that much about fuel, but they'll blame the fuel anyway because it's the easiest thing to do."

Resources Mentioned:

• Bell Performance testing kits
• ASTM D975 specifications
• Erik Bjornstad: LinkedIn

Show Notes:

[00:00:00] - Show introduction and overview
[00:01:00] - Discussion of seasonal fuel challenges
[00:02:00] - Introduction to generator problems and fuel blame
[00:04:00] - Common scenario of generator service technician diagnosis
[00:06:00] - Why technicians often blame fuel problems
[00:08:00] - Cost implications of fuel disposal
[00:12:00] - Diagnostic Step 1: Checking fuel filters
[00:15:00] - Diagnostic Step 2: Checking fuel lines
[00:17:00] - Diagnostic Step 3: Examining valves
[00:18:00] - Diagnostic Step 4: Third filter inspection
[00:20:00] - Discussion of microbial contamination
[00:22:00] - Five signs of microbial growth
[00:24:00] - Testing methods for contamination
[00:26:00] - Preview of part 2
[00:28:00] - Closing remarks and subscription information

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the Fuel Pulse Showpodcast where we talk about all
things fuel for all kinds of people.
I'm your host, Erif Bjornstad, andtoday I'll be your host and your guide
through the ever changing world of fuel.
So here at the podcast, we talkabout all the things related to all
of the different kinds of fuel thatyou use both at work and at home.

(00:24):
Plus in addition to that, we alsotalk about all the things that use
that fuel, both at work and at home,which means the Fuel Pulse Show
podcast is really for everyone.
Thanks And so what are wegoing to talk about today?
Well, we are currently progressingsteadily through the winter season,
and you may recall in our previousepisode of the podcast, we talked

(00:47):
about the winter forecast for allthe different areas of the country.
And I think the forecasters havegenerally hit the right mark.
Currently, there are A bunch of winterstorms marching across the country,
which means, hopefully, if you use storeddiesel fuel at your business or for your
job, hopefully you have been preparingthat fuel to weather these storms,

(01:10):
but winter will eventually be over.
And the weather is going to warm up andso concerns are going to transition away
from keeping diesel fuel from gellingin cold temperatures to a concern
about heading off the water problemsand the micro problems that tend to
explode when that weather gets warmer.

(01:31):
Now, what is the common threadrunning through all these seasons?
I guess there are several answersyou could give to that, but what I'm
thinking is, the common thread isthat every season of the year presents
situations and phenomenon that resultin generators and backup systems
shutting down for certain reasons.

(01:52):
And so today we don't want toconcentrate so much on the role that
the fuel might be playing in thatsituation, but we know we want to
take a little bit different approach.
We want to propose somethinglike the following.
If you have a generator system, likean emergency backup generator system or
something else, if you have one of those,that is experiencing sudden problems.

(02:16):
And by problems we're going to bereferring to a no run situation where
it won't stay running or a no startsituation where it just won't start.
If you have a generator systemthat is experiencing one of those
kinds of problems, the easiestthing to do is blame the fuel for
being the cause of the problem.
But we want to propose that thefuel is not always to blame.

(02:41):
It often does get the blame whenit's not the real cause of the issue.
And that, unfortunately, can be aproblem because just as with medicine, a
misdiagnosis in that kind of situation,A, it doesn't fix the problem, and then
B, it ends up costing you additionaltime and money to fix the problem.

(03:01):
that you can't really afford to lose.
So on this episode of the Fuel Polisherpodcast, we're going to talk about
some of the practical steps and thingsthat you can look at when you're
faced with this kind of situation.
Things you can do that can helpyou get at the real cause of the
issue with your generator system.
And so with that, let's jump in.

(03:24):
And let's start by describing a scenariowhere if this hasn't specifically
happened to you, you probablyknow somebody it has happened to.
So you have a backup generatorsystem that runs on store diesel
fuel and your generator systemshuts down or it won't run.
So what do you do?

(03:46):
Well, you call in the generator servicecompany and they send a technician
over to diagnose the problem.
The technician looks things over andissues a relatively simple diagnosis.
Says the system won't runbecause the fuel is bad.
The fuel is bad.
Now this is something that we haverun into at least a few times.

(04:08):
Over the past several years, we'veseen businesses that encounter
situations where their generatorsshut down or they won't run.
And in response, we've seen numerousgenerator service technicians assess
those situations and then claim thatthat no start or no run condition
is due to bad fuel conditions.

(04:29):
And yet, when samples of the fuel inquestion might be submitted to a third
party lab for testing, they come back, thetest results come back showing that the
fuel is in fact in pretty good condition.
Good enough even to meet allof the ASTM D975 specifications
for inspect diesel fuel.
And so, this presentssomewhat of a contradiction.

(04:50):
How did that technicianknow that to blame the fuel.
For what reason are they blaming thefuel if the fuel test came back so clean?
The tests show there's really noreason to expect that the fuel isn't
going to work like it normally does.
This seems to be a little bit of a puzzle.
Now for the business in question,a no start or no run condition for

(05:12):
their generators is a serious matter.
Means that that system is notworking when they really need it to.
But the answer is like, the answer asto why that is, it's likely out there.
We just have to ask the right questions.
Now for the business, a no startor a no run condition for the
generator system is a serious matter.

(05:34):
It means that their generator system isnot working when they really need it to.
And the answer as to why, it'slikely out there, it can be found.
We just have to know theright questions to ask.
We have to know the rightapproach to take, if you will.
And it's important to take theright approach to finding out
the true answer to that conditioninstead of relying on assumptions

(05:59):
that could well prove to be wrong.
See, most of the generator servicetechnicians who conclude that the
conditions due to a fuel problem, theyactually don't know that much about fuel.
but they'll blame the fuel anywaybecause it's the easiest thing to do.
Make something else the culpritother than what they do, for example.

(06:20):
It makes sense, that is the easiestthing to do, blame the fuel.
But you have to consider thatin many cases, the fuel won't
actually be the real culprit.
Now, it's important toget the right answer here.
Because things can get expensivechasing a diagnosis that isn't
actually the right answer.

(06:40):
Having a correct diagnosishere means that you'll be able
to actually fix the problem.
And, just as importantly, itenables you to avoid those expensive
tail chasing scenarios that canend up costing you thousands.
while leaving you still with that ongoingproblem that hasn't been resolved that

(07:00):
ends up many times costing you even more.
Now, all this is especially true if thatincorrect diagnosis leads you to have to
replace certain parts on your system, orkeep replacing parts on your system that
turn out not to even be the real problem.
Now, that particular thing canhappen either because the technician,

(07:22):
Incorrectly blames the faulty partsfor your system shutdown, or they
incorrectly put the blame on thefuel that interacts with those parts.
So, maybe a service technician surveysyour shutdown problem, incorrectly
tells you that you need to replacethe injectors, or that you need

(07:43):
to replace the fuel injection pumpto get your system up and running.
Well, replacing injectors is going tocost you at least a thousand dollars.
Replacing fuel injection pumps canpush that cost to 5, 000 or more.
Or, maybe the technician justtells you the fuel's bad, and then
advises you to dump that fuel.

(08:05):
Now, for the average person,that doesn't seem so bad.
But, when you really look at the detailsof what goes into that, That kind of
scenario can get really expensive,really fast, because these days, it's
not as simple as just going somewherewith a tank of fuel and then, you know,
making that fuel disappear, right?

(08:25):
No.
You have to have a licensedcompany come out to your location.
They're going to charge you a basicdisposal fee that doesn't go by gallons,
it goes by the weight of the fuel.
And it could be Anywhere from, Idon't know, 80 cents to 3 per pound,
which comes out for number two diesel,that comes out to between 5 and 20

(08:49):
per gallon to dispose of that fuel.
Then, on top of that,you've got extra fees.
You've got labor, you've got servicecharges, you've got hazardous waste
transportation fees, which can typicallybe a couple hundred dollars or more.
Depending on the state,there's also environmental and
additional regulatory fees.
And then, after all that, you stillhave to pay to replace that old

(09:14):
fuel with new fuel on top of it.
So, let's run some numbers.
Let's say that a generatorservice technician comes out.
You have a 500 gallon tank,and they say, Those 500 gallons
of fuel, that's bad fuel.
That's causing your problem.
You need to dispose of that.
So if we pick a median disposal costof let's say 2 per pound, that means

(09:36):
you're going to pay, start with atotal bill of 6, 500 to 8, 500 to
dispose of that 500 gallons of fuel.
Then another 300 in variousfees, then another 1, 700.
On top of that, to replace it with thenew fuel, in case you're mathematically

(09:58):
challenged and all this with thosenumbers, you're pushing 10, 000
in total to resolve that problem.
So, in either case, whether you'rereplacing system parts that supposedly
have gone bad, or you're replacingfuel that supposedly has gone bad.
Both of those are expensive fixes andto get your system up and running.

(10:19):
You want to be sure if you'regoing to spend that kind of
money, you want to be sure thatthey are indeed the right answer.
But question to consider is what ifthose solutions aren't actually linked
to the real cause of the problem?
Because there's so much at stake herefinancially, it's worth your while to dig
a little deeper and maybe come up withthe right solution so that you don't end

(10:42):
up dropping substantial amounts of moneyon fixes that don't fix the problem.
So, if you want to find out theright answer to what's causing your
operational problem, you are goingto have to look a little deeper.
And so what we're going to dois we are going to talk about
some things that you can do.

(11:03):
So, let's look at areas ofthe fuel system to look at.
So to go back to the beginning and kindof reset this scenario, we're looking
at a situation where we have a no run ora no start condition for our generator
system that is running on stored fuel.
Service technician comes out,declares bad fuel to be the culprit.

(11:25):
Or, they declare that you've got a faultypart, a faulty injector, fuel pump's
gone bad, those need to be replaced.
That's our starting point in this.
But as we've introduced, many times,the fuel is bad isn't actually
the right answer to the problem.
So you've got that, and then you'vealso got the very real possibility
that faulty parts aren't actually thereal problem you have to deal with.

(11:48):
So there are elements of the fuel system,that we need to look at to make sure that
they aren't the real cause of the problem.
And so that is whatwe're going to do here.
We're going to introduce a series ofsteps to have you walk through that
many times may end up pointing youto a fix for your problem that ends

(12:09):
up being much simpler than either ofthose other two more expensive things.
Let's start with number one.
Checking the fuel filters.
That's diagnostic step number one.
If the engine shuts down, or the generatorwon't come up to RPM, won't come up to or
maintain load, it's a good rule of thumbto That simply changing the fuel filter or

(12:32):
filters can oftentimes remedy the problem.
So, first thing you want to do is youwant to start by changing your primary
and your secondary fuel filters.
Then, if changing those filterssolves the running problem, great!
You've suddenly fixed somethingfor, you know, a relative drop in

(12:54):
the bucket when it comes to money.
However, if it doesn't fix it Thenyou're going to move on to step two.
That's step number one,change your fuel filters.
Once you've done that, there'ssomething that you need to do with
the old filters that's going torelate to something else that we're
going to talk about a little later.
Take the old filters, take a hacksaw,cut those filters open, and inspect

(13:18):
the paper medium that's inside.
And what you're looking for, is you'relooking to see if there's anything that
resembles any kind of paper medium.
black or neutral colored slimygrowth that happens I've gotten
trapped and caught on that filter.
The reason you're looking for this isbecause if you find that, it's going to

(13:38):
actually tell you two important things.
It's going to tell you that you mostlikely have some kind of microbial
contamination situation growingin your system, and you also most
likely have water in your system.
The water.
The second one is almostalways linked to the first one.
Because in most cases, it doesn't matterwhat kind of system you're looking at.

(14:01):
In most cases, if you have water present,you will also have microbial growth.
If you find that, your tank is goingto need to be treated for both issues,
over and above you having gottenthat generator system running again.
But, the bright side is pretty clear.
If changing the filters resolves yourproblem, Then you've solved the problem

(14:23):
and avoided a four or five figuresolution that actually wasn't a solution.
And you've solved your problem for theminute cost of a couple of filters.
Plus, you've also possibly identifieda future microbe problem that you can
now take steps to solve and preventfuture problems at the same time.

(14:44):
So that's diagnostic step number one.
Change your fuel filters.
Diagnostic step number twois check the fuel line.
So if changing the filters didn'tsolve your problem, you don't
have to worry because there areother things that you can look at.
That's really just the first thing.
And you don't really have to worryabout this because proper diagnostic
procedures when troubleshooting problemsin systems that have multiple parts

(15:09):
like yours, They often involve movingthrough multiple steps to try and locate
the cause of the problem, or to crossa particular possibility off the list.
As we go through these steps, we gothrough some of these alternative things
to look at, what we're going to say is,after each one, what you're going to do,
is you're going to do it, and then you'regoing to see if your system will run.

(15:33):
If your system runs,you found the solution.
You don't need to continue anymore.
Or if it doesn't run, you thenmove on to the next possible cost.
Okay, so after you check the fuel filters,you're going to start with looking at
the fuel line that's going into the tank.
What you're going to do is you'regoing to take that fuel line and
you're going to try and blow air backthrough the line to make sure that

(15:56):
there's no obstruction in the line.
Okay?
Obviously, if you have an obstructedfuel line, that means you have
obstructed fuel flow, and it's prettyhard for a generator system to work
if the fuel flow is blocked, right?
Now, there is one caveat here, though.
If the fuel line, and this is relativeto the design of your particular system,

(16:16):
if your fuel line has what they calla foot valve, then Blowing air into it
like we suggested actually is not goingto work because what that foot valve is
going to do, that foot valve is simplygoing to close when you try to do that.
No air is going to pass through it.
So that's the caveat with that.
So that's diagnostic step number two.
Make sure that the fuel line is clear.

(16:38):
Now, diagnostic step number three isgoing to involve looking at one or more
of those valves that we talked about.
So, after making sure that the fuelline is clear, Extracting the fuel
line from the tank for inspectionand cleaning that fuel line is going
to be the next step after that.
And while you're doing that, you'regoing to take a closer look at that

(17:01):
foot valve that we talked about.
Now, not all fuel systems in generatorshave one of those foot valves.
If your tank doesn't have one of those,instead what you typically will find is
you'll find a different kind of valve.
A check valve.
located in the same fuel line.
Check valves are typically foundbetween the tank and either the

(17:23):
lift pump or the primary filter.
And the purpose of this check valveis they function to prevent fuel
drainage going back that can contributeto causing slow starts when you have
extended engine cranking, right?
So diagnostic step number three,after you've changed your fuel
filters and after you've madesure that that fuel line is clear.

(17:46):
Diagnostic step number three is goingto be remove the foot valve or the
check valve and clean it to make surethat it is free to work properly.
Then reinstall the valves and checkto see if your system now runs.
Hopefully it does.
If it doesn't, then you go on todiagnostic step number four, and

(18:07):
diagnostic step number four concernsthe fact that your fuel system
might have a third fuel filterin the line from the fuel tank.
Then that fuel filter tends to resemblean automotive type inline fuel filter.
Not all systems have this third kind offilter, but you should definitely check

(18:28):
if it does, and if your system does, youlocate it and you try replacing that as
well and see if your generator now runs.
So you've gone through four relativelysimple steps and it is entirely possible
that any of those four could actually bethe thing that resolves your generator.

(18:49):
No start, no run situation.
Any of those four simple steps could turnout to be the real cause of your problem.
And this kind of troubleshootingsequence that we've been running
through, it's worth working throughbecause if the problem really is any
of those, you're going to have savedthousands of the literally thousands
of dollars with one simple fix.

(19:11):
If you're faced with the possibility ofpaying thousands of dollars to either
dump fuel or replace expensive parts likethe injector pump, if that's what you're
being faced with, , it's really importantfor you not to do that until you've
worked through these initial procedures.
So that's the four simple steps.

(19:32):
Now, to this point in the process,you've done at least those four steps.
Now we want to touch on somethingthat's related to it, but is also
something that's important besides that.
Earlier, you remember, one thing wealluded to was the value of paying
attention when you, Did step numberone, and you change the primary and

(19:52):
secondary filters, we said cut themopen and look to see if there's evidence
of microbial contamination in there.
And so that's the value of payingattention to whether either
of those filters clue you intothe possibility of microbial
contamination growing in your system.
See, with today's ULSD fuels beingso susceptible to fostering microbial

(20:15):
growth, Contamination is becominga problem that's more and more
widespread across the landscape.
At this point in the diagnostic processyou're working through on your system,
you really do want to make sure youknow whether microbial contamination
might possibly be a contributingfactor to your operational problem.

(20:38):
Because if it is, it can be remediedfor a whole lot less than having to dump
the fuel or replace expensive parts.
But you do have to look closer at someareas in order to figure that out.
Earlier, when you cut those fuelfilters open, if you saw those
telltale signs, well that's onedefinitive clue, if you will, that

(20:58):
you've got a problem going on there.
You know, seeing or feeling black orclear slimy stuff in the fuel filters
on that filter medium is almost adead giveaway that that's present.
Now, beyond that, there's anotherthing that you'll want to do is
examine your water separator filter.
Water separator filters are aperfect environment for microbial

(21:22):
contamination to grow and multiply,and then they get dispersed out
to wherever else the fuel goes.
And why shouldn't weexpect them to be that way?
Because, you know, it'sa water separator filter.
Microbes can growanywhere water is present.
Anywhere where there's an availablesupply of moisture, which is
something that happens to be truewith water separator filters, right?

(21:44):
And yet often for some reason we don'tever consider that the water separator
filter might be a source of this problem.
Now if you're checking yourwater separator filter, what
are you going to be looking for?
Well, there's like five basic kinds ofthings that you would be looking for.
Okay.
Thing number one is if you see the samekind of black or clear slimy residue that

(22:09):
you saw on the field filters, that's adead giveaway that your water separator
filters fostering microbial growth.
Thing number two is.
Smell it.
If there's a distinctly kind of sour orrotten smell, that's probably coming from
sulfur compounds that are being producedby some sulfate reducing bacterias.

(22:29):
That can be a sign that you'vegot a microbial problem.
Number three is if you see on thefilter paper, the filter medium
in that water separated filter.
If you see this thing theycall leopard spotting.
You see spots.
Those spots are colonies ofmicrobes that are grouped together.

(22:50):
and have gotten large enough to beable to be detected with the naked eye.
Now, a microbiologist would saythat you need at least one billion
microbes together to form a colonyspot that is just large enough to be
able to be detected by the naked eye.

(23:10):
So that's the kind of scalewe're talking about here if you
happen to see leopards spotting.
on your filter medium inyour water separator filter.
Thing number four, if you see clumpsor particles of organic matter in
the separated water or the fuelthat's in the filter, that is a
sign of microbial contamination.
And then also number five, if yousee cloudy or milky liquid in the

(23:34):
separator, what that means is thatyou've got microbial contamination
that has led to the development.
of a fuel water emulsification.
And that fuel water emulsificationcould actually be something that is
specifically contributing to a no startor no run situation for your generator.
So you inspect the water separator filter.

(23:57):
If any of these signs that yousee lead you to suspect you've
got microbial contamination, thenthe best practice is you should
have it confirmed through testing.
Now there's different waysthat you can test for microbes.
The best one out there iscalled ATP by filtration.
And, there's also culture tests.

(24:17):
A number of different kinds.
Some are better than others.
A test methodology like ATPbiofiltration will confirm if you
have such contamination or notand it will actually give you a
specific idea of how much you've got.
This ATP test, they're relativelyeasy to perform, especially if you
utilize, let's say, a testing kit.

(24:38):
There's companies like Bell Performancethat produce testing kits where they send
you a box and it has everything insidefor you to draw a sample, Put the sample
in a sample bottle, sample container,package it up, seal it up, it has prepaid
shipping, it sends it to a lab, theydo the ATP microbial testing, and then

(25:02):
they tell you what your results are.
Pretty easy, pretty fast.
So, you have it tested.
If the results confirm that you do havemicrobial contamination in your system,
now it's important to treat the tankwith a biocide, which is a chemistry
that's specifically designed for andapproved legally to be used for killing

(25:25):
microbes in places like fuel storagetanks and fuel distribution systems.
So you want to treat yourtank with the biocide.
You want to replace your filters becauseBiosite will kill the microbes, but
the microbes then have to be filteredout, which means you're going to have,
probably have to change your filters.
So you're going to have to dothose things, but if you do

(25:45):
those things, you will resolve amicrobial contamination problem.
And many times, resolving a contaminationlike that can actually resolve a
no start or a no run situation.
But, even if it turns out that you're inno run situations, Not directly caused
by your microbial contamination problem,maybe it's caused by something else, like

(26:08):
the fact you had to replace a fuel filter.
Even if that turns out to be thesolution if there was evidence that
you found that you had a microbialcontamination issue, that's something
you absolutely need to resolve.
Regardless, whenever you find it, becauseif you don't, it is only going to spread,
and that is almost a rock solid guarantee.

(26:30):
If you have evidence of microbialcontamination, it's never a question of
if it's going to lead to a future problem.
It is always a question ofwhen is that going to happen.
And so, you don't want that to happen,so you do need to get it cleared up.
Okay, and so with that, we're goingto stop things at this point, and next

(26:52):
time in part two of our discussion,we're going to talk about some of the
things that you can do if what you'vedone up to this point don't seem to have
solved your system performance issues.
So you've run through thefour diagnostic steps.
You've changed those filters, you've madesure the lines cleaned, you've checked
those valves, you've cleaned them out,made sure that they are working properly.

(27:15):
You've, if you have that third filter,you've changed that, you've done all that.
Each time you started the system up, stilldoesn't work, still doesn't maintain load.
So you're like, what do I do next?
Well, that's what we're goingto talk about in part two.
We're going to talk about things youcan do if what you've done up to this
point hasn't resolved your issue.
That means that we're going to talkabout the ways that fuel can and

(27:40):
cannot be responsible for some ofthese no run, no start situations.
And then we're going to talk about someof the things, the specific things that
you can do to narrow the diagnosis downso that if it does happen to be the
fuel, you can know more specificallywhat you should do about that.

(28:02):
And so That's going to do it for today'sepisode of the Fuel Pulse Show podcast.
Thanks for joining us today.
If you like what you heard, we'regoing to have links to things that
we talked about in the show notes.
As always, if you have not subscribedto the Fuel Pulse Show podcast, you
are more than welcome to by subscribingat your podcast purveyor of choice,

(28:23):
whether that's iTunes, whether that'sAmazon podcast, Google podcast,
Stitcher, Spotify, wherever youget your podcasts served up to you.
Subscribe if you haven't already, leavea review, that's helpful as well because
the algorithms really like podcasts thatget reviews, really helps people find us.
So, till next time, I am EricBjornstad, your guide through the ever

(28:45):
changing world of fuel, and I'll seeyou next time for the next episode
of The Fuel Pulse Show Podcast.