Fuel Transfer/Polishing System

[angus99]

I have an inefficient home-built fuel polishing system that allows me to pull fuel from and return it to any of the three fuel tanks. Each morning, I filter some fuel from the saddle tanks and pump it to the aft centerline tank—which I use as a day tank. That fuel goes through the usual primary Racor 500 (10 micron) and secondary NAPAs (currently also 10 microns but rethinking these) on each Lehman.

The aft tank was cleaned and I inspected it recently but the Racors still load up more than I think they should—probably in 80 to 100 hours. I think the home-made paper towel polishing filter is the culprit. I plan to replace it with a Gulf Coast F1 filter and, while I’m at it, install a new transfer pump.

What’s the consensus on the GC F1? Worth the exhorbitant cost? I’ve seen Walbro and Oberdorfer fuel pumps recommended for this. Walbro seems to have a lot of models with very little difference between them—the biggest of which moves about 43 gallons per hour. I’d like to move more like 50 gallons in 30 minutes to reduce transfer time while keeping the pump at 12 volts. Any thoughts?

 

[Delfin]

I have an inefficient home-built fuel polishing system that allows me to pull fuel from and return it to any of the three fuel tanks. Each morning, I filter some fuel from the saddle tanks and pump it to the aft centerline tank—which I use as a day tank. That fuel goes through the usual primary Racor 500 (10 micron) and secondary NAPAs (currently also 10 microns but rethinking these) on each Lehman.

The aft tank was cleaned and I inspected it recently but the Racors still load up more than I think they should—probably in 80 to 100 hours. I think the home-made paper towel polishing filter is the culprit. I plan to replace it with a Gulf Coast F1 filter and, while I’m at it, install a new transfer pump.

What’s the consensus on the GC F1? Worth the exhorbitant cost? I’ve seen Walbro and Oberdorfer fuel pumps recommended for this. Walbro seems to have a lot of models with very little difference between them—the biggest of which moves about 43 gallons per hour. I’d like to move more like 50 gallons in 30 minutes to reduce transfer time while keeping the pump at 12 volts. Any thoughts?

Do you have 110vac available for the pump?

 

[sunchaser]

Angus
Might I suggest a large Fleetguard as your inter tank transfer filter? 30um should work just fine. My primaries never clog up, even after about 1500 gallons per side. I do no "polishing" whatsoever. Good fuel, no water lots of use and the sole owner of the boat may be the reason.

All the fittings to do the Fleetguard job right are available through SBAR. BTW, if not done already be sure the pump is on a timer.

 

[angus99]

Do you have 110vac available for the pump?

Yes, I could start the genset or, depending on the amperage draw, use the inverter. 110 vac outlet/line is within 3 feet of the existing pump.

Angus
Might I suggest a large Fleetguard as your inter tank transfer filter? 30um should work just fine. My primaries never clog up, even after about 1500 gallons per side. I do no "polishing" whatsoever. Good fuel, no water lots of use and the sole owner of the boat may be the reason.

All the fittings to do the Fleetguard job right are available through SBAR. BTW, if not done already be sure the pump is on a timer.

Thanks for the reminder, Sunchaser. I totally forgot about Fleetguard. I need to rejoin Boatdiesel and read up on this stuff before getting too far ahead of myself. (You know you’ve got a bad case of boating disease when you ask for a large fuel filter for Christmas.)

The system is not currently on a timer, but I always time the transfer operation every morning with my iPhone.

 

[Delfin]

Yes, I could start the genset or, depending on the amperage draw, use the inverter. 110 vac outlet/line is within 3 feet of the existing pump.

Then I would suggest you go to Grainger and get a 110vac motor and a carbonator pump head. You can get a size pump to fit whatever you want, flow wise. Mine moves 180 gph, quietly, and they basically last forever.

https://m.grainger.com/mobile/product/MARATHON-MOTORS-1-4-HP-Split-Phase-Carbonator-3K067?breadcrumbCatId=1005&fc=MWP2IDP2PCP

https://m.grainger.com/mobile/product/6XE82?gclid=CjwKCAiAodTfBRBEEiwAa1haus23bX_BGoQ5tLlwq945wShi3vasQlWcOEEOjS8tPiJY8PpWyLNNRBoCnjEQAvD_BwE&cm_mmc=PPC:+Google+PLA&ef_id=CjwKCAiAodTfBRBEEiwAa1haus23bX_BGoQ5tLlwq945wShi3vasQlWcOEEOjS8tPiJY8PpWyLNNRBoCnjEQAvD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!2966!3!216788409968!!!g!350484519767!

 

[cafesport]

When you say the racors load up, which racors are you referring to...polishing or primary engine? When they load up how do you spot it...vacuum reading, water sediment or performance. What is the composition of the material that loads the filter?

 

[Pack Mule]

Angus mine is homemade also but it’s really homemade . It has a 900 Racor and a 12 volt pump with a couple alligator clamps and a manual inline switch and about 15’ long hose .All of the tanks are plumbed to the racor . I hook the leads up to generator battery, open the valve from whatever tank I want to pull from and put the other end of the hose into the tank fill that I want the fuel to go into and then flip the switch. I think my pump is rated at 90 GPH but I could be wrong. I usually only transfer for about 10 to 15 minutes, of course I’m not ever traveling very far. I’m out of town till Sunday but I’ll check out the pump when I get back .
Oh yeah I forgot to say that it’s LOUD.

 

[angus99]

Then I would suggest you go to Grainger and get a 110vac motor and a carbonator pump head. You can get a size pump to fit whatever you want, flow wise. Mine moves 180 gph, quietly, and they basically last forever.

https://m.grainger.com/mobile/product/MARATHON-MOTORS-1-4-HP-Split-Phase-Carbonator-3K067?breadcrumbCatId=1005&fc=MWP2IDP2PCP

https://m.grainger.com/mobile/product/6XE82?gclid=CjwKCAiAodTfBRBEEiwAa1haus23bX_BGoQ5tLlwq945wShi3vasQlWcOEEOjS8tPiJY8PpWyLNNRBoCnjEQAvD_BwE&cm_mmc=PPC:+Google+PLA&ef_id=CjwKCAiAodTfBRBEEiwAa1haus23bX_BGoQ5tLlwq945wShi3vasQlWcOEEOjS8tPiJY8PpWyLNNRBoCnjEQAvD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!2966!3!216788409968!!!g!350484519767!

Thanks, Delfin. I’ll check them out. I’m also considering an entirely different setup after reading some of Tony Athens’ stuff.

When you say the racors load up, which racors are you referring to...polishing or primary engine? When they load up how do you spot it...vacuum reading, water sediment or performance. What is the composition of the material that loads the filter?

The Racors are the “primaries” in our two-srage filtration system. Usually spot any problems via increased vacuum. Once or twice via performance as in stalling. The material looks like fines.

Angus mine is homemade also but it’s really homemade . It has a 900 Racor and a 12 volt pump with a couple alligator clamps and a manual inline switch and about 15’ long hose .All of the tanks are plumbed to the racor . I hook the leads up to generator battery, open the valve from whatever tank I want to pull from and put the other end of the hose into the tank fill that I want the fuel to go into and then flip the switch. I think my pump is rated at 90 GPH but I could be wrong. I usually only transfer for about 10 to 15 minutes, of course I’m not ever traveling very far. I’m out of town till Sunday but I’ll check out the pump when I get back .
Oh yeah I forgot to say that it’s LOUD.

Thanks, Pack Mule. I could probably get by with the pump I’ve got, but it’s slow and ancient. Thought as long as I’m upgrading the filters . . .

 

[Insequent]

When I asked the yard to install a polisher they indicated that it would be cost effective to buy a Reverso. Parts for the system, plus their labour, would come out as a wash. Of course you can supply free labour, but it still might be worthwhile buying a polisher off the shelf.

 

[Lepke]

If you're using the right fuel conditioner, your tanks should remain clean and never get buildups. I have 900 Racors with 2 micron filters, and a filter lasts about 500 hours. I always use an additive when fueling and my tanks are clean, no debris, sludge or water.
My Detroit mains pump about 70 gallons and hour, so in 500 hours with a little generator use, the filter has seen about 40,000 gallons pass thru. That;'s 500 hours on a 2 micron filter.

If you're getting a buildup or short element life you either buy dirty fuel or don't use the right conditioner.

 

[angus99]

If you're using the right fuel conditioner, your tanks should remain clean and never get buildups. I have 900 Racors with 2 micron filters, and a filter lasts about 500 hours. I always use an additive when fueling and my tanks are clean, no debris, sludge or water.
My Detroit mains pump about 70 gallons and hour, so in 500 hours with a little generator use, the filter has seen about 40,000 gallons pass thru. That;'s 500 hours on a 2 micron filter.

If you're getting a buildup or short element life you either buy dirty fuel or don't use the right conditioner.

I use Biobar JF and buy fuel from marinas with constant large-volume turnover. Ford Lehman’s use and return far less fuel than your Detroits so I don’t get much benefit from engine filtration. I suspect the contamination in my saddle tanks came from the fuel sitting unused for a couple years while the boat was on the hard.

 

[BruceK]

Ian,do your tanks have a drain low down? If so,you might be better draining any crud/water rather than polishing. I have screwplugs,I know Brisboy replaced those with gate valves so he could easily drain off the unwelcome.

 

[AusCan]

Yes - I agree Bruce. Drain points make a world of difference.
When I replaced my tanks I sloped the bottom to one corner and put a manual drain outlet on there. It also ties into a common site glass shared between the tanks. If any water settles out I immediately notice it in my sight glass and drain it.
My filters have yet to indicate any sign of fouling after almost 500 hours.

 

[angus99]

Ian,do your tanks have a drain low down? If so,you might be better draining any crud/water rather than polishing. I have screwplugs,I know Brisboy replaced those with gate valves so he could easily drain off the unwelcome.

Good question, Bruce. The tanks all drain near (< 1 inch from) the bottom. By “drain,” I mean that is the outlet ball valve and piping to the fuel manifold. There is no separate drain to sluice off the unwelcome.

 

[Lepke]

Ford Lehman’s use and return far less fuel than your Detroits so I don’t get much benefit from engine filtration. I suspect the contamination in my saddle tanks came from the fuel sitting unused for a couple years while the boat was on the hard.

Get a 12v pump that draws and returns fuel when you're running the engines and you can have the same turnover I have.
But my point was, somewhere around 40,000 gallons passes thru my 2 micron filter (5x smaller filtration than your 10 micron) without plugging the element. I have a hobby. While I don't stay at marinas, or buy fuel there, when I visit someone at one, I like to look at their fuel filters at their pumps. Sometimes they have a install date. Sometimes it's even in this century. Once the filter plugs it either tears the element or bypasses. Most marinas just have some kid pumping fuel and maintaining the filters.

 

[cafesport]

Well it sounds like at least one of your filters is doing its job so now you can focus on the one that isn’t. Btw your tank may have been clean at one time but now your primaries are telling a different story. Back to the transfer pump and filter, how old is the element, what is the rated flow rate of the pump and filter size.? Is the pump pushing the fuel through the filter or is it drawing it through? As Lepke said it may by loaded up and just bypassing the filter. Too much suction combined with age and the elements can collapse depositing all of their contents downstream. Pre-filtering into a day tank your primaries should last well over 500 hours but do change them annually if you don’t reach that number in a year.

 

[angus99]

Get a 12v pump that draws and returns fuel when you're running the engines and you can have the same turnover I have.
But my point was, somewhere around 40,000 gallons passes thru my 2 micron filter (5x smaller filtration than your 10 micron) without plugging the element. I have a hobby. While I don't stay at marinas, or buy fuel there, when I visit someone at one, I like to look at their fuel filters at their pumps. Sometimes they have a install date. Sometimes it's even in this century. Once the filter plugs it either tears the element or bypasses. Most marinas just have some kid pumping fuel and maintaining the filters.

I have a 12-volt pump that will move fuel between tanks through a “transfer filter.” I only use it to move fuel to the day tank each morning, which—if everything was working properly—should mean I have clean fuel for the day’s run. I initially asked about the pump because it’s old and slow.

Well it sounds like at least one of your filters is doing its job so now you can focus on the one that isn’t. Btw your tank may have been clean at one time but now your primaries are telling a different story. Back to the transfer pump and filter, how old is the element, what is the rated flow rate of the pump and filter size.? Is the pump pushing the fuel through the filter or is it drawing it through? As Lepke said it may by loaded up and just bypassing the filter. Too much suction combined with age and the elements can collapse depositing all of their contents downstream. Pre-filtering into a day tank your primaries should last well over 500 hours but do change them annually if you don’t reach that number in a year.

I’m sure you’re right that the saddle tanks have crud in them again—that’s my rationale for filtering fuel into the day tank each morning. The transfer filter is a joke and was my main reason for starting this thread. It’s an ancient canister of some sort that holds a partial roll of paper towels—I have no idea what element it’s supposed to hold. I’m sure it’s not doing much to filter fuel which has become contaminated. I was curious about opinions on the Gulf Coast F1 filter as a transfer filter and whether it’s worth the cost. So after starting to read Tony Athens’ articles on multi-stage filtration, I’m now thinking of using a Fleetguard as a transfer filter and adding a Fleetguard as a primary “mud filter” upstream of each Racor.

 

[HiDHo]

Angus, I use a Gulf Coast filter to polish our fuel. The engine Racor never gets dirty enough to change, but I do change the element only because the filter composition should not be used indefinitely.
Pictured is my filter and the dirty element I changed recently after about 150 hours of polishing. I use a Walbro pump drawing from the bottom of the 280 gallon fuel tank discharging the polished fuel to the other side of the top of the stainless steel fuel tank.

 

[angus99]

Angus, I use a Gulf Coast filter to polish our fuel. The engine Racor never gets dirty enough to change, but I do change the element only because the filter composition should not be used indefinitely.
Pictured is my filter and the dirty element I changed recently after about 150 hours of polishing. I use a Walbro pump drawing from the bottom of the 280 gallon fuel tank discharging the polished fuel to the other side of the top of the stainless steel fuel tank.

Thanks, HiDHo. Do you happen to know the model # of the Walbro and are you happy with the transfer rate?

(As an aside, we used to run down to Scotsboro all the time from Chattanooga. My wife’s family had a farm on Skyline Mountain and her grandfather built one of the roads up that mountain.)

 

[sunchaser]

The transfer filter is a joke and was my main reason for starting this thread. It’s an ancient canister of some sort that holds a partial roll of paper towels—I have no idea what element it’s supposed to hold. I’m sure it’s not doing much to filter fuel which has become contaminated. I was curious about opinions on the Gulf Coast F1 filter as a transfer filter and whether it’s worth the cost. So after starting to read Tony Athens’ articles on multi-stage filtration, I’m now thinking of using a Fleetguard as a transfer filter and adding a Fleetguard as a primary “mud filter” upstream of each Racor.

Now you're talking!

Tony's marine setup is fail safe as best I can see and mimics off highway use as well whether around tank farms or on field fuel trucks The paper towels will do you no good as compared to a commercial filter and may well be adding to the problem by doing their intended- disintegrating. TP degrades even faster.

 

[kchace]

IMO the Walbro pumps are the gold standard for this kind of use. I am setting up fuel transfer/polishing in my boat and have settled on the Walbro FRB-13. Marine rated, low current draw and long life.

FRB-13 Reciprocating Fuel Pump - Walbro

Ken

 

[angus99]

IMO the Walbro pumps are the gold standard for this kind of use. I am setting up fuel transfer/polishing in my boat and have settled on the Walbro FRB-13. Marine rated, low current draw and long life.

FRB-13 Reciprocating Fuel Pump - Walbro

Ken

Ha, that’s the one I was looking at, too. Only concern is the 43 gph. Not a problem for moving enough fuel for a day’s run to the aft day tank, but it would take more than 8 hours to filter one of our 375-gallon saddle tanks.

Have you decided on a transfer filter?

 

[kchace]

Yes, I'm going to use a Racor 900 because its a good size and its the same as my others so I won't have to stock another set of filters.

I understand your desire to transfer/filter fuel more quickly, but if you want to move and filter a really large amount of fuel (say 100gph) you will have to size everything to accommodate and then there are efficiencies to everything. Assuming you find a pump rated at 100GPH that is almost guaranteed to be under perfect conditions. Any filter will add resistance. Then there's head, piping, valve, fitting size and how many turns which will also add resistance. To achieve really high flow rates I'm sure is possible, but I think you'll run into the law of diminishing returns - where it takes a LOT more effort (Read really large pipe, fitting valve and filter sizes). For example, I can't imagine getting 100GPG through the 3/8 to 1/2 fittings used on most filters unless you run really high pressure, but many filters are not designed for that.

Ken

 

[Delfin]

Yes, I'm going to use a Racor 900 because its a good size and its the same as my others so I won't have to stock another set of filters.

I understand your desire to transfer/filter fuel more quickly, but if you want to move and filter a really large amount of fuel (say 100gph) you will have to size everything to accommodate and then there are efficiencies to everything. Assuming you find a pump rated at 100GPH that is almost guaranteed to be under perfect conditions. Any filter will add resistance. Then there's head, piping, valve, fitting size and how many turns which will also add resistance. To achieve really high flow rates I'm sure is possible, but I think you'll run into the law of diminishing returns - where it takes a LOT more effort (Read really large pipe, fitting valve and filter sizes). For example, I can't imagine getting 100GPG through the 3/8 to 1/2 fittings used on most filters unless you run really high pressure, but many filters are not designed for that.

Ken

Have to disagree. The motor and pump I mentioned above uses 1/2" fuel hose, a Racor 1000 filter housing and moves 180 gph with ease, which is what the Racor is rated for. And does so quietly and as reliable as any 120 vac motor will be, which is to say very. I installed it after burning out 2 24 vdc pumps which were incredibly noisy. My current equipment is 10 years old and going strong. Incidentally, the pump sucks the diesel through the filter, which is the only way Racors are designed to be used, so pressure is a non issue.

 

[kchace]

Have to disagree. The motor and pump I mentioned above uses 1/2" fuel hose, a Racor 1000 filter housing and moves 180 gph with ease, which is what the Racor is rated for. And does so quietly and as reliable as any 120 vac motor will be, which is to say very. I installed it after burning out 2 24 vdc pumps which were incredibly noisy. My current equipment is 10 years old and going strong. Incidentally, the pump sucks the diesel through the filter, which is the only way Racors are designed to be used, so pressure is a non issue.

That's great news for the setup I'm building. I didn't dare hope I could get that kind of throughput. So there you go Angus, Delfin has a setup that works at a great flow rate.

Ken

 

[angus99]

Have to disagree. The motor and pump I mentioned above uses 1/2" fuel hose, a Racor 1000 filter housing and moves 180 gph with ease, which is what the Racor is rated for. And does so quietly and as reliable as any 120 vac motor will be, which is to say very. I installed it after burning out 2 24 vdc pumps which were incredibly noisy. My current equipment is 10 years old and going strong. Incidentally, the pump sucks the diesel through the filter, which is the only way Racors are designed to be used, so pressure is a non issue.

This sounds like a great setup, but on my boat I’d be a bit worried about the effect of 50 psi or greater on the rest of the aged piping and manifold on my fuel distribution system.

 

[CaptTom]

The PO installed those same Gulf Coast filters as bypass lube oil filters. No clue if they help at all, but the manual actually says to use a "good" brand of paper towels as the filter element. I guess back then they didn't have "jumbo" size rolls, so you have to look for the smaller, "standard" size.

I know the company now sells a dedicated filter element, but obviously these things were originally designed to actually use a paper towel roll.

 

[Delfin]

This sounds like a great setup, but on my boat I’d be a bit worried about the effect of 50 psi or greater on the rest of the aged piping and manifold on my fuel distribution system.

Fair point, except that as a practical matter, upstream of the pump never sees high pressure since you would presumably have an open inlet from the source tank and an open outlet to the destination tank.

 

[Codger2]

Years ago, Bill Parlatore of PassageMaker fame published a lot of articles on the "need for fuel polishing" on pleasure boats. I bought in to this concept & had one installed in my 32' Halvorsen single engine trawler. Since that time (about14 years ago) I've spent quite a lot of time researching the actual need of "fuel polishing systems" in pleasure boats, the sizes of which the majority of TF members have. I'm not talking about boats with huge fuel capacity. (1500+ gallons & greater)

For example: My boat has twin Yanmar 440s that return one hell of a lot of fuel back to the tanks. (All of it filtered through the Racors & the "on engine" filters.) Isn't that all a "Fuel Polishing System" does?

IMHO, boats with engines that return significant amounts of fuel back to the tanks that hold 600 gallons or less do not need fuel polishing systems.

 

[Delfin]

Years ago, Bill Parlatore of PassageMaker fame published a lot of articles on the "need for fuel polishing" on pleasure boats. I bought in to this concept & had one installed in my 32' Halvorsen single engine trawler. Since that time (about14 years ago) I've spent quite a lot of time researching the actual need of "fuel polishing systems" in pleasure boats, the sizes of which the majority of TF members have. I'm not talking about boats with huge fuel capacity. (1500+ gallons & greater)

For example: My boat has twin Yanmar 440s that return one hell of a lot of fuel back to the tanks. (All of it filtered through the Racors & the "on engine" filters.) Isn't that all a "Fuel Polishing System" does?

IMHO, boats with engines that return significant amounts of fuel back to the tanks that hold 600 gallons or less do not need fuel polishing systems.

Assuming one has a common point of pickup for all tanks, and as you suggest, the total volume being stored gets consumed at least annually, then a polishing system isn't needed. However, if you have to transfer fuel from tank to tank, then you have everything already in place for fuel polishing except perhaps filters. In Delfin's case, I have 7 tanks, including 2 day tanks, so I have to have a supply and destination manifold to move fuel from any tank to the day tank or other tanks for ballasting, plus a motor to move fuel. Stick a filter on the suction side of the pump and, voila, a fuel polishing system.

So one way to look at it is that if you do have to move fuel around the boat, for the cost of a filter why would you not have a polishing system? If you don't need to move fuel, then you likely have relatively small tanks and with decent drain points why would you want polishing?