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10-20-2014, 04:48 PM
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#1
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Guru
City: Inside Passage Summer/Columbia River Winter
Vessel Name: Alaskan Sea-Duction
Vessel Model: 1988 M/Y Camargue YachtFisher
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 8,050
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Fuel Fixers-Fuel Filter Gage
Has anyone used these on your Racor filters? I am thinking of getting a couple.
Fuel Fixers Inc. : R2D2 -T - HANDLE FILTER CHANGE GAUGE [R2D2] - $80.33
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10-20-2014, 05:08 PM
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#2
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TF Site Team
City: Jacksonville
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 11,680
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Always a good idea to monitor your filter condition but I like to see actual numbers. You can find these that will fit your filter housing or an equivalent at eBay or on line.
http://www.parker.com/literature/Rac...structions.pdf
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10-20-2014, 05:14 PM
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#3
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Guru
City: Inside Passage Summer/Columbia River Winter
Vessel Name: Alaskan Sea-Duction
Vessel Model: 1988 M/Y Camargue YachtFisher
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 8,050
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry M
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Yep, these are the gages that got me going. But they are anywhere from $129-$165.
The fuel fixers has a "T" handle and are $80.
Do these type of gages work? Any concerns?
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10-20-2014, 05:32 PM
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#4
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Guru
City: North Carolina for now
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 6,348
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No no no no no ... these are your men, why pay more?
DragPointerLookDown
__________________
George
"There's the Right Way, the Wrong Way, and what some guy says he's gotten away with"
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10-21-2014, 04:47 AM
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#5
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Guru
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 22,553
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For $80 you can get a Murphy gauge that monitors the suction at the filter and is readable at the instrument cluster.
Can sound an alarm too ,if desired.
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10-21-2014, 07:48 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
City: Anacortes
Vessel Name: Selah
Vessel Model: Ocean Alexander 40
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 315
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I installed a pair, they are instant gratification. They replace the t-handle so there is no cobbling together fittings of varying thread pitches, no wires, no circuit breakers, no mounting buzzers.
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10-21-2014, 09:31 AM
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#7
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Guru
City: Concrete Washington State
Vessel Name: Willy
Vessel Model: Willard Nomad 30'
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 18,743
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av8r wrote;
"I installed a pair, they are instant gratification. They replace the t-handle so there is no cobbling together fittings of varying thread pitches, no wires, no circuit breakers, no mounting buzzers."
That appeals to me. The darn boat is complicated enough as it is. I reduced the complexity of my fuel manifold to reduce the number of fittings and hoses so this fuel vacuum gauge will allow me to stay on the KISS side of complexity.
__________________
Eric
North Western Washington State USA
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10-21-2014, 11:14 AM
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#8
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Guru
City: Sarasota/Ft. Lauderdale
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 5,438
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I've used them on high flow engines. On low flow engines I've found that your filters have to get very dirty before you see much of any chance on any of the different kinds of vacuum gauges. I'd rather spend my money on the water alarms and probes for Racors than the vacuum gauges. Filter elements are cheap. Just chance them on a regular basis before they get to dirty.
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10-21-2014, 11:24 AM
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#9
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Guru
City: North Charleston, SC
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 4,870
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I have one and it works. Rather than blindly replacing filters on a fixed schedule, it allows me to monitor the restriction of the filter and only replace it as necessary.
I have the dual filter setup with a lever to switch from one to the other so I had to install a "T" in the fuel line to install this. No problem.
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10-21-2014, 11:57 AM
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#10
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Guru
City: Southern Maine
Vessel Model: Prairie 36 Coastal Cruiser
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,717
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Quote:
Originally Posted by av8r
I installed a pair, they are instant gratification. They replace the t-handle so there is no cobbling together fittings of varying thread pitches, no wires, no circuit breakers, no mounting buzzers.
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Ditto. I had no idea of the condition of the fuel or tanks when I bought the boat, and had to make a 200NM transit home. They gave me peace of mind. (Along with a box of spare filters.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by caltexflanc
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I might have gone that route had I known about them then.
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10-21-2014, 12:59 PM
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#11
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Dauntless Award
City: Wrangell, Alaska
Vessel Name: Dauntless
Vessel Model: Kadey Krogen 42 - 148
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 2,820
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptTom
Ditto. I had no idea of the condition of the fuel or tanks when I bought the boat, and had to make a 200NM transit home. They gave me peace of mind. (Along with a box of spare filters.)
I might have gone that route had I known about them then.
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They gave you piece of mind because they never show a vacuum.
I have them on the two racors, in addition to a real vacuum gage on the center housing for the racors.
On mind, if you shut off the fuel at the racors, the real gage instantly starts showing a vacuum, while the $80 piece of minds, just sit there giving you piece of mind.
Thank you Capt. Tom for letting me get so poetic.
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10-21-2014, 01:28 PM
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#12
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Guru
City: gulf coast
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 3,440
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Make sure what you get records the highest reading. Instantaneous gauges will only show the reading when you are looking at them.
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10-21-2014, 03:21 PM
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#13
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Guru
City: Southern Maine
Vessel Model: Prairie 36 Coastal Cruiser
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,717
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wxx3
They gave you piece of mind because they never show a vacuum.
I have them on the two racors, in addition to a real vacuum gage on the center housing for the racors.
On mind, if you shut off the fuel at the racors, the real gage instantly starts showing a vacuum, while the $80 piece of minds, just sit there giving you piece of mind.
Thank you Capt. Tom for letting me get so poetic.
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LOL, glad to oblige
Seriously, I have seen them get steadily farther down out of the "green" and even start into the "yellow", then back to the top of the green after a filter change. Even then, they do move a little, and snap back when reset. So I do tend to believe that they're telling me something about the state of the filter. Which is a whole lot better than having no clue at all.
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10-21-2014, 05:55 PM
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#14
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Guru
City: North Charleston, SC
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 4,870
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptTom
.Seriously, I have seen them get steadily farther down out of the "green" and even start into the "yellow", then back to the top of the green after a filter change. Even then, they do move a little, and snap back when reset. So I do tend to believe that they're telling me something about the state of the filter. Which is a whole lot better than having no clue at all.
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That's what they are designed to do. I don't regret installing mine and it's saved changing a few filters needlessly.
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10-21-2014, 06:57 PM
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#15
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Guru
City: Sarasota/Ft. Lauderdale
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 5,438
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wxx3
On mind, if you shut off the fuel at the racors, the real gage instantly starts showing a vacuum, while the $80 piece of minds, just sit there giving you piece of mind.
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What would you expect the T handle gauges to show in that case?
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10-21-2014, 08:59 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
City: Anacortes
Vessel Name: Selah
Vessel Model: Ocean Alexander 40
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 315
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When I installed mine I shut the tank valve off on one just to see if it really worked. It did. It shows increasing vacuum just like a round-dial vacuum gage does. It retains the reading until a release button is pushed.
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10-21-2014, 09:45 PM
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#17
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Guru
City: Sarasota/Ft. Lauderdale
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 5,438
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The difference I believe is your shut off valve is up stream of your gauge. So if you turn it off the T handle gauge reads the vacuum.
While Rodger's dial type vacuum gauge is I believe just down stream of the filter mounted shut off valve so it shows the vacuum, the T handle mounted gauges are I believe up stream of the valve. So when the valve is shut off they would not show any vacuum because there is no vacuum on them.
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10-22-2014, 03:57 AM
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#18
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Dauntless Award
City: Wrangell, Alaska
Vessel Name: Dauntless
Vessel Model: Kadey Krogen 42 - 148
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 2,820
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt.Bill11
What would you expect the T handle gauges to show in that case?
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Some people on this forum who shall remain nameless, capt Bill, need to lighten up before they blow a head gasket.
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10-22-2014, 06:41 AM
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#19
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Guru
City: Sarasota/Ft. Lauderdale
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 5,438
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wxx3
Some people on this forum who shall remain nameless, capt Bill, need to lighten up before they blow a head gasket.
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I asked you a simple question. You seemed to indicate that you thought your T handle mounted vacuum gauges should show vacuum when the valve on the dual filter body is turned off. As I recall you have a dual Racor system (correct me if I am wrong).
I was just pointing out that if that is true, I believe the T handle gauges that you noted did not show vacuum could/should not show vacuum with the filter body mounted fuel valve turned off. While the filter body mounted dial gauge still would (as you noted). Due to the fact that one gauge is down stream of the shut off valve and the others are up stream of the shut off valve. And that would explain why you only saw a vacuum on the dial gauge and not the T handle mounted ones.
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10-22-2014, 09:18 AM
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#20
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Guru
City: North Charleston, SC
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 4,870
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For some reason, people on boat forums this morning seem to be in a pretty crappy mood.
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