Racor Management

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VicTrawler said:
How do you dispose of a used filter that is soaked with fuel? Also what do you do with the fuel that you drain from the bottom of the filter?
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Many marinas, especially those with a mechanic or yard, will have designated containers for used oil, bad gas and a spot for contaminated rags and used filters
 
We only change the racor filters annually or when the pressure gauge shows them in need of being replaced, not based on hours running.

If we hit the annual mark and both filters are the original ones, we change them both.
 
This is the first I've heard of the filters breaking down over the course of a year. Our practice is to swap to the clean filter once a year and replace the one we ran on the previous year. I'm frugal, not cheap, so if it is true that the filters are breaking down during the 12 months they sit, then perhaps I should be changing both? Put 100-150 hours a year and have not had a problem.
 
Carolena, the way I look at it it's very cheap preventive maintenance to replace them both.
 
I change mine on condition. The water coating is interesting but it's the turbine that spins out any water in the fuel, if your Racors are sized properly. Waste of time and money changing them annually.
 
5 years and 300 hours (under the previous owners)...The black is Asphaltine and I had a big Fleetgaurd upstream which caught most of the crap.. Still ran perfectly BTW....

(New filters all around under my stewardship!)

Personally, I would not run a small Racor as my primary filter...but if it's all ya got, change it annually.
My Big Fleetguard 27 micron upstream will take a ton of stuff before becoming an issue...The racor is downstream from that and ahead of the engine mounted filter. Overkill? Sure, why not. Filter clogging is the LAST thing I worry about.

IMG_0156-vi.jpg
 
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meridian said:
TomB
Not sure what you mean. Clean filters and no sediment in bowl means clean fuel and tanks.
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Maybe, but it might mean you have an inch or so of sediment in the bottom of your tanks too.
 
On my former (very old boat) I dumped all the necessary anti-algae chemicals and treatments into my fuel tank, ran it locally so it was all stirred up, then had it vacuum cleaned out. All the gunk and sludge and muck and mud. Nasty stuff.

Then I only ran single filters, no duals at all. Those Grays never missed a beat.

So the conclusion of this anecdote is that it may be better to save a couple hundred dollars on the dual unit and instead put that into a properly placed drain at the bottom of your tanks.
 
makobuilders said:
So the conclusion of this anecdote is that it may be better to save a couple hundred dollars on the dual unit and instead put that into a properly placed drain at the bottom of your tanks.
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I am unaware of any of the boat manufacturers placing a bottom drain on their fuel tanks and have often wondered why. It doesn't seem like a big cost item. My suspicion is it takes 10-15 years to build up most of the crud and water can be handled by the Racor(s) most of the time so they just leave as an owner problem. Also the bottoms of some (many) fuel tanks are inaccessible.
 
Cherubini put drains in their tanks. The tanks slope from stern to bow and from outboard to inboard. All but the last cup will drain through the 1/2" valves. Have my fuel polisher plumbed to them now.

It may take 10 to 15 years to build up a layer of crud and water in the bottom inch of the tank, or it may only take one bad load of fuel.

Ted
 
Xsbank said:
I change mine on condition. The water coating is interesting but it's the turbine that spins out any water in the fuel, if your Racors are sized properly.
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Not really. Even Racor admits in most cases it's the coating on the element that blocks the water. The turbine action in a Racor, even if it's properly sized, (which in many cases of course goes out the window as you vary the speed of the engine and fuel flow rate) is insignificant compared to a real centrifugal fuel cleaning unit like an Afla Laval.
 
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I always wondered that at such low fuel flow our old trawler had, if, in fact, the turbine action was even going on. At 2 GPH, that's only about 4 ounces per minute. Not sure what "turbine" could be created at that speed :)
 
At low flows, simple gravity takes the water down into the bowl. Ive never seen water in a secondary filter unless the racor was well filled with water, up to the element itself.

And the elements do age when installed, but in a surprising way. The little lip seal that seals the element to the post relaxes, and then gunk can bypass. If you change an element and it spins easily on the post, it has been in there too long. Probably takes longer than a year.

How you manage duals I think does not matter that much. Leave one pristine or swap periodically. Slight advantages to each. Nice to know the standby filter and valving are proven, so put it in use for at least some run time. Definitely don't leave it in "both" unless in a serious clog situation and you can't change one.
 
Given my curious nature, today I called Parker Filtration, the mfg of Racor. They said, on a dual setup, run one filter until it clogs or for a year, then switch to the second filter and change out the used one. I specifically asked them if a new filter sitting in diesel fuel for a year is compromised in any way and they said absolutely not. Then I asked about the water blocking properties of the filter and they assured me that it remains intact even though it is sitting in fuel for up to 2-years. :dance:

Howard
 
Aw shucks NS, t'aint nuthin.
 
Yeah, but is an actual data point, instead if an opinion.

I like that!
 
Well they have changed their tune or coating then. Because several years ago when I spoke with them they said the coating would break down over time.
 
I toss the old filter into a Ziploc bag and the dirty fuel into old water jugs for disposal ashore.
 
Greetings,
Mr. NS. On top of it all, Mr. hm did all this research barefoot while eating his lunch in the men's loo at the Waldorf Astoria! A man of many talents, to be sure.
th
 
Drake said:
Mmmmmm, I wonder if this is like calling the IRS taxpayer help line?
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Nah, when you call Racor you generally get someone with a clue.

Marty.....................
 
RT Firefly said:
Greetings,
Mr. NS. On top of it all, Mr. hm did all this research barefoot while eating his lunch in the men's loo at the Waldorf Astoria! A man of many talents, to be sure.
th
Click to expand...

Now that I don't have to buy 2 filters at one time, I can afford new boat shoes.
 
The Racor with the impossible gasket ring

I recently changed two 1000FG filters on my Canoe Cove, and the second one nearly got to me. This was because the black rubber ring gasket that separates the glass bowl from the filter casing was proving impossible to replace.

To reinstall, you have to manually place the gasket up in its channel, then, while the centrifugal basket dances half-loose in between - in one motion, push it into place with the bowl itself, and put the four screws back in. Worked fine in the first one. Seemed to this time, and I started the engines to verify it all, and they purred and needed no priming.

One problem: my aft bilge pump came on later, I didn't expect it to, luckily looked and yes - it was diesel! I took a flashlight down to the ER and noticed aggressive big drips coming out of the back of the filter in rapid sequence. My oil spill cloth under it was soaked and overflowing into a bilge drain. YEEOW!

I shut down the bilge pump and knew exactly where to look: the rubber ring wasn't seated and while it didn't drip to sit there and look at it, when the fuel pressure built up it was a fountain.

The real pain was trying to fix it, which for a long time seemed impossible. I tried ten times to delicately place the (O ring with square sides) correctly, but the bowl face is flat and has no ridge - as a product designer myself I was not impressed. It could run around anywhere, and did. Soaked in diesel from repeated attempts to hang the ring on a sky hook that didn't exist - I chanced on a solution.

I dried the ring and slot it needed, then coated the upper and outside edges of the ring in silicone, and then easily placed it where it should be. Checked it all around to make sure it was right, even looked at it with a hand mirror. Then put the bowl and screws back in nice and flush, and knew I had it.

The MORAL: when changing the bigger Racors, either leave the old bowl ring in place or add silicone. Or plan to fill your ship's pail with dieseled bilge water for a few hours, after waiting for darkness...
 
Do explain, would anything then get by my my 2 micron filters? I utilized the new ring, so it shouldn't drop dead too soon, I must hope. In my situation I couldn't debate the charms of lithium grease vs Vaseline, I put a very thin coat of silicon on it, uniformly, and will just have to criminally run that ring past its best-before date. It's called getting the job done.
 
I just went through the same exercise. My solution was to lie on my back, balance the rubber ring on the filter bowl rather than in its channel and gently put the bowl in place. Took me forever to come up its that solution but it actually works pretty easily.
 
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