Racor Filters

[Delfin]

I have old tanks and replace the dirty Racors every 6 months and they come out black.....similar to the OP. My Racor collects 0 drops of water and i have never experienced a clogged 2 micron filter. So the dirt I am seeing is what?

The crud picked up by the filter has nothing to do with water. Like you, I have never picked up a drop of water in the Racor, nor drained any from the sump after thousands of gallons have passed through. The dirt is precipitate or particulate contamination from the fuel, or biologic contaminants that either are filtered out in line when supplying the engine with fuel, or polished out by cycling the fuel through filters. The notion that you can have clean tanks if the tanks have a sump is bogus since all diesel contains particles smaller than 30 microns (refinery spec), as well as asphaltene particles that precipitate out, and those particles cannot be completely removed through a 1/4" tap at the bottom of the tank.

 

[Marin]

I guess that's what you get out of all this...there's a lot of good info if you can sort it out...

I agree. I don't think anyone suggested to the OP or the other posters who reported dirty filter problems that they replace their tanks. If you DO have to replace a tank or tanks there are some design features that would be good to employ in the new ones if possible. But the consensus seemed to be a potential buildup of contaminants in the tanks for which several cures were suggested.

 

[FF]

"The notion that you can have clean tanks if the tanks have a sump is bogus since all diesel contains particles smaller than 30 microns (refinery spec), as well as asphaltene particles that precipitate out, and those particles cannot be completely removed through a 1/4" tap at the bottom of the tank."

The 1/4 tap is your idea , not how its done.

The problem is not small particles in pipeline fuel , its a 5 gal pail of gropsh that is a source of filter failure.

Ashphaltine is seldom a hassle as the clumps filter out very easily , and are large enough to be stuck on the outside of the filter media , and fuel goes thru them.

With the setup of a proper filter fill pipe with a cup on the bottom (in the archives) gross contaminates (sand and dirt) are caught in the fill pipe screen. and water or particles fall into the cup , to be dumped.

Hand power and with patience (time) even really poor fuel can at least have the water removed , so bugs will not grow.

Many of the older TT have iron tanks , poorly installed , or subject to deck leaks that will eventually require replacement or bladders.

Plastic replacements would be ideal, except a sump is not yet part of the options that can be spun in.

Most will go for iron again as Monel is expensive.

So why not have an idea what a proper fuel tank is , rather than accepting just a box of fuel?

 

[Delfin]

The problem is not small particles in pipeline fuel , its a 5 gal pail of gropsh that is a source of filter failure.

I'm not sure I understand the mechanical process whereby 5 gallons of gropsh remains in the tank to cause filter failure after the fuel is filtered to 10 microns with 30 passes through a polishing system in a seaway. But if you say so....

 

[sunchaser]

Jay Leonard continues to state that a good 3 stage filter setup beats a fuel polishing setup.

 

[Delfin]

Jay Leonard continues to state that a good 3 stage filter setup beats a fuel polishing setup.

Arguable, but what shouldn't be arguable is that delivering polished fuel to a 3 stage filter is better than delivering unpolished fuel. With multiple tanks, you have to have someway to move fuel from point A to point B. If so, then adding a couple of Racors just lets you clean out whatever crud there is by polishing the fuel when the tank is low and you're sloshing around underway. The 3 stage setup ensures that the engine gets clean fuel. The polishing filters ensure that the tanks stay clean. Two separate endeavors.

The arguments offered against such an arrangement baffle me.

 

[Gene]

Arguable, but what shouldn't be arguable is that delivering polished fuel to a 3 stage filter is better than delivering unpolished fuel. With multiple tanks, you have to have someway to move fuel from point A to point B. If so, then adding a couple of Racors just lets you clean out whatever crud there is by polishing the fuel when the tank is low and you're sloshing around underway. The 3 stage setup ensures that the engine gets clean fuel. The polishing filters ensure that the tanks stay clean. Two separate endeavors.

The arguments offered against such an arrangement baffle me.

+1, I Agree.


-----

Gene :^)
Http://www.Strathbelle.com/

 

[sunchaser]

In a 3 stage setup the first filter is oversized ("mud" filter as referred to by many) and is considered a polishing filter by us neophytes.

BTW - 100,000 s of diesel "mud" filter arrangements sold per year work quite well on all sorts of industrial engines. As with all diesels, and noted by many on this Forum, the bypassed fuel around the engine gets continually filtered or polished. That is all DIY polishing with its myriad of hoses, fittings and pumps is - just filtering. If you are worried about a bunch of crud in your tanks, two big spin on filters side by side work wonders. It certainly does for Cat where up to 200 gph can be consumed by an engine.

 

[Delfin]

In a 3 stage setup the first filter is oversized ("mud" filter as referred to by many) and is considered a polishing filter by us neophytes.

BTW - 100,000 s of diesel "mud" filter arrangements sold per year work quite well on all sorts of industrial engines. As with all diesels, and noted by many on this Forum, the bypassed fuel around the engine gets continually filtered or polished. That is all DIY polishing with its myriad of hoses, fittings and pumps is - just filtering. If you are worried about a bunch of crud in your tanks, two big spin on filters side by side work wonders. It certainly does for Cat where up to 200 gph can be consumed by an engine.

With respect, and of course you are no neophyte Tom, trawlers are different than land machines because trawlers will typically have multiple tanks and weeks or months worth of fuel on hand. I don't worry about polishing my 100 gal day tank because it is being polished by the return flow, and because it has already been polished before it ever gets to the day tank. If all I had was a whopper day tank like a V CAT D8R, bypass filtration would work just fine. That's not my setup, nor the setup of most vessels I am familiar with. My setup is hardly unique - just a 30 micron filter attached to a continuous duty pump that transfers fuel from one tank to another or from one tank back to itself for polishing, and a 10 micron filter attached to another continuous duty pump that fills the day tank and stands as backup for the primary pump. From the day tank, a 2 micron dual Racor and then the OEM filter. Since the fuel is clean before it ever hits the day tank, changing the 2 micron filters and the OEM is done for drill only because they never have any contamination in them. How could they, given the pre-filtration?

 

[sunchaser]

Delfin

WIth equal respect, your daytank setup puts a very different and much better arrangement into play for insuring clean fuel.

Nordhavn's 55s, 60s and 63s have interesting fuel delivery systems. After the fuel tanks a transfer manifold with a sump for water collection feeds the 30 gallon of so day tank. All engines recirculate to the day tank. Prior to the day tank no polishing or filtering is done unless the Walbro primary main (4) tanks transfer pump with a Racor 900 is used.

My gripe with the fuel polishing practice is towards those without day tanks that utilize small top mounted pickup tubes (1/2" or less) from their main tanks without ever touching the crud that may reside on the tank wall or bottom.

 

[Delfin]

Delfin


Nordhavn's 55s, 60s and 63s have interesting fuel delivery systems. After the fuel tanks a transfer manifold with a sump for water collection feeds the 30 gallon of so day tank. All engines recirculate to the day tank. Prior to the day tank no polishing or filtering is done unless the Walbro primary main (4) tanks transfer pump with a Racor 900 is used.

Which in my mind means they will supply clean fuel to the engines (good), while gunk collects in the bunker tanks (bad). The Walbro pumps I am familiar with don't put out enough capacity to be used for polishing the main tanks, but I guess something is better than nothing.