Racor/Cummins question

I have Racore 1000 filters on my Cummins 5.9 inches. Does anyone know at what point the filters are to be changed? I know that the vacuum gauges are marked but don’t understand whether those are good for my engines as well.

Am I good until the needle reaches the yellow?

Gordon

Hi, i thing 7hg(yelow start) is time change filter and 10hg is risk if you need power you engines.


NBs

1000 is a big filter for a 5.9, it would have to get pretty badly crapped up to show restriction. I'd change them when you change engine oil, say once a year or two, and also change them before heading off on a long trip.

Why not ask Cummins? Are your filters above or below the fuel tank? If the latter they will read a little high.

Ski, thanks for the input. We are on a trip down the ICW near Southport but I noticed that for the first time I had a couple, I guess it’s called inches of mercury on my racors. Still a long way from the yellow. But didn’t know if the indicatorsapply to my engine.

Thanks again,

Gordon’s

Ski in NC said:

1000 is a big filter for a 5.9, it would have to get pretty badly crapped up to show restriction. I'd change them when you change engine oil, say once a year or two, and also change them before heading off on a long trip.

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Why would you change them if there is no indication on fouling, serious question?

I have two of them, running through one and a flick of a lever onto two if pressure shows on gauge.
Nothing showing yet after 18 mths and at $40 a pop why throw it out?

I have found that as the elements age, the plastic seal around the central tube tends to loosen up allowing fuel and crud to bypass. Have opened them up and could wiggle element and see the gap at the tube. Other times, year old element still snug. I think it has something to do with an interaction between fuel chem and the plastic chem. And fuel can have dang near anything in it. Also, filter elements absorb water (naturally a trace in fuel) and the media gets affected by that.

Probably conservative to change on the year. Can always pop cap off and make sure it is still snug. Then if delta-p is ok, can't see any harm in running longer.

I don't get much more than a year and 250-300hrs out of one, so changing before a trip seems to work.

Simi 60 said:

Why would you change them if there is no indication on fouling, serious question?



I have two of them, running through one and a flick of a lever onto two if pressure shows on gauge.

Nothing showing yet after 18 mths and at $40 a pop why throw it out?

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$40 a pop? Where the heck do you shop???????

Great advice from Ski in NC. Particularly the "...before a long trip" part. Given the cost of filter elements, makes little sense to rely strictly on a gauge reading to decide when or if to change. Little will bring a diesel engine to it's knees sooner than poor fuel via a plugged or faulty filter. Personally, they're on on my routine maintenance schedule (12 months/500 hours, whichever comes first). And yup, changed sooner when/if vacuum gauge moves into the mid-yellow range, as indicated by a tell-tale needle on the gauge.

And in my opinion, matters not a whit which engine you happen to have.

Regards,

Pete

I have dual 1,000 racors on my boat for the 4.5 liter John Deere. Use one side for a year then switch and change the element. Part of my annual maintenance schedule. Think I gave $10 per filter last time I bought a case (24 I think ).

Ted

Pgitug said:

$40 a pop? Where the heck do you shop???????
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Australia.

To get those in from the states will probably cost $50 in freight, at least that's what the charge was on a $7 brasselbow for a 500 series filter

The vacuum gauge is engine independent. It indicates how much suction is needed to pull fuel thru the filter.
I have a 2 Racor system with one online and the other waiting with a new element. I use 2 micron elements and the vacuum is zero for about 400 hours. By 500 it's crept to near 7"hg and I change it. I have 2 Detroit mains that together draw about 75 gallons an hour. So at 500 hours, 37,500 gallons of fuel has been thru.

I have single 900 series on each of my 6BT5.9M 210 HP Cummins. Have changed twice in 2000 hrs. The gages will show a little if I run her up over 2000 rpm, which almost never happens. Each time I changed them they didn't have much on them. The bowls were also pretty clean and only needed a little wipe down. I run at 1500 rpm and about 3.5 gph combined for two engines. So each engine is 1.8 gph. I do add biocides to the tanks about every third fill up and make a practice of using different manufacture products when I buy the biocide. I read it somewhere so that is what I do.