Upgrading the Racor 500

Currently I have a single Racor 500 that works well. However the one time the boat lost power was due to air getting in the single Racor. Losing power on a single engine Trawler is obviously no fun and since that time I have been plotting to add some redundancy and improvements. I had plans to make a dual Racor system made from 2 Chinese Racor 500G copies. But ultimately decided against it and to not skimp AT ALL. I recently got a decent deal on a Dual Racor 75900FX. What a nice unit! One valve, single line in and single line out. Its a beast. In case anyone is interested in some of the differences between the 500 and 900 I made a video. Hopefully not rambling to much. The fact that the filter automatically pops out of the 900 half an inch when removing the lid makes it worth the price alone

I too upgraded to dual mounted Racor’s which have alteady saved the day once this season!

Thats what I like to hear! Or wait...maybe not...lol.

I have a higher confidence in the single Perkins than I do in the single Racor 500 to deal with fuel issues. Nothing wrong with a single Racor of course but two big ones is a step in the right direction IMO. It was a pricey upgrade but one that I have no buyers remorse for.

Racor? Why Racor? It is not the only good system out there. Some would argue, I among them, that Racors are over-priced and not all that. Take a look at Tony Athens' sbmar.com website and read his treatises on fuel filtration. You may change your mind about a new Racor system.

Thanks for the link. Lots of good details on there.

catalinajack said:

Racor? Why Racor? It is not the only good system out there. Some would argue, I among them, that Racors are over-priced and not all that. Take a look at Tony Athens' sbmar.com website and read his treatises on fuel filtration. You may change your mind about a new Racor system.
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Love Tony Athens. Think he has the right perspective on Diesel engines, especially in Trawler service. BUT, the dual filter arrangement does not appear to offer the capability to isolate one filter at a time so you could run on one and switch to the other as vacuum increased. Am I missing something?

Oh, I read more of Tony’s intel. This is a two stage filter system first stage is a “mud” filter and second stage is “polishing” filter. The problem I have with this is if the mud filter loads up, no backup. The only time my Perkins has failed me wasn’t it’s fault. In a rough beam sea, the junk in the fuel tank became dislodged and loaded up my fuel filter. So strongly believe, need to have a clean filter to switch to to get home.

With regard to the junk in the fuel tank, can’t say enough good about Startron. After an incident offshore in a rough beam sea caused junk in the fuel tank to dislodge and load up both of my redundant fuel filters I added a third filter. I also, on recommendation from several fellow cruisers started using Startron fuel additive. Don’t own stock in the company or have a special interest in Startron. Since I started using Startron have been in numerous rough beam sea conditions and have yet to load up a fuel filter. By the way, attempted professional fuel polishing - didn’t work because of baffles in tank.

Jc180 said:

Oh, I read more of Tony’s intel. This is a two stage filter system first stage is a “mud” filter and second stage is “polishing” filter. The problem I have with this is if the mud filter loads up, no backup. The only time my Perkins has failed me wasn’t it’s fault. In a rough beam sea, the junk in the fuel tank became dislodged and loaded up my fuel filter. So strongly believe, need to have a clean filter to switch to to get home.

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That's what the vacuum gauge is for. Carry spare filters and change when the needle begins to approach the red zone. A plugged filter should not happen if the captain is paying attention.

catalinajack said:

That's what the vacuum gauge is for. Carry spare filters and change when the needle begins to approach the red zone. A plugged filter should not happen if the captain is paying attention.

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But don't you have to shut down the engine to change the filter? That's the point of a duplex system - you switch to the second filter, change the plugged one, all without shutting down. I think that's really important for a single engine boat.

twistedtree said:

But don't you have to shut down the engine to change the filter? That's the point of a duplex system - you switch to the second filter, change the plugged one, all without shutting down. I think that's really important for a single engine boat.

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Thats my thoughts as well and the main reason for switching set ups.

Barking Sands said:

Thats my thoughts as well and the main reason for switching set ups.

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IF you can get to the filters to change the handle before the engine quits.
That is a challenge.
In MY experience, I never could get there in time.

jleonard said:

IF you can get to the filters to change the handle before the engine quits.
That is a challenge.
In MY experience, I never could get there in time.

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Note: this comment is in reference to a single filter, not dual Racors.


But even if you get to the filter before the engine quits, you need to shut off the fuel to change the filter, which necessitates or causes the engine to shut down. So it's shutting down no matter what. Or am I missing something here?

jleonard said:

IF you can get to the filters to change the handle before the engine quits.
That is a challenge.
In MY experience, I never could get there in time.

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Oh, I see you were referring to switching between Racor filters with the duplex setup. Have your engines just flat out quit? The one time I had a fuel problem the engine stumbled a bit, but didn't quit, so there was an indication of a problem. But I suppose it depends on how bad the contamination is.

twistedtree said:

Oh, I see you were referring to switching between Racor filters with the duplex setup. Have your engines just flat out quit? The one time I had a fuel problem the engine stumbled a bit, but didn't quit, so there was an indication of a problem. But I suppose it depends on how bad the contamination is.

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When I went with multi stage filtration I never had another issue.
But yes, when I had my Ford Lehman, I never had time to even get to the engine room. The engine would just blip once or twice, then die.

When I had the Cummins 6BTA, the engine would give me notice, but backing off 200 rpm would give me a several hour window to find an anchorage and change the element.

When I had my Mainship with the Perkins, the 2 times I had a fuel issue it just died. It wasn't the element that was clogged it was the fuel lines. So no number of filters would have helped there.

Just pointing out that the dual filter unit is not an end all to fuel starvation problems. It solves only one issue of many.

Based on MY experience.

jleonard said:

IF you can get to the filters to change the handle before the engine quits.
That is a challenge.
In MY experience, I never could get there in time.

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Yes...this is also something I have given quite a bit of thought about. Mainly because my filter set up is right in front of the engine and the engine has an additional two very large belts for the hydraulic stern thruster out front. I will need to fab up a cage for the belts. I consider this a must. I have all the materials on hand to do it. This scenario, engine shutting down and having to race to the Racor to swap it is just the type of situation where accidents happen.

In the case of my own engine shut down this dual Racor would have worked. But as you say this does not solve every scenario. Not even close. But if we think in terms of probabilities...this does take a nice chunk out of the equation.

I have had similar rough day fuel filter clogs. Single filter is a biotch to switch over in choppy seas, fading light etc.
I installed the dual Raycors with pressure gauge… first sputter I shut down, lift the hood and switch from A to B and deal with the clogged filter under better circumstances.

I agree that sometimes the pressure spikes rapidly.

I also installed the primer bulb system from Tony’s website. I love it to rapidly prime the filter without having to deal with filling the filter with fuel from a can.

Following.

I must say, for the price I was impressed with my Chinesium Racor 500 copies. I would have bought the paralleled units but I couldn't find these at reasonable prices. Has anyone found them on Alibaba or similar?

I would have liked to have installed one of those pricey dual Racor rigs with the integrated vac gauge and single big switch lever, but the size of that thing was too big to stuff into my 30-footer's engine compartment. The price seems ridiculously high, especially when I was able to have the same functionality with a second 500 size Racor, a bit of hose, and a couple of valves. My setup at the aft end of the engine allows me to change a filter element underway, but I would likely just swap filtration from one to the other and change the clogged filter in port or at anchor. This is the second boat I have run a vac hose from a tee in the fuel hose between the Racors and the final filter on the engine to a vac gauge at the helm allowing me to monitor any insipient element clogging rather than waiting for a stumbling engine to warn me.

rgano said:

This is the second boat I have run a vac hose from a tee in the fuel hose between the Racors and the final filter on the engine to a vac gauge at the helm allowing me to monitor any insipient element clogging rather than waiting for a stumbling engine to warn me.

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Thanks for this comment. It's a great I deal that I will steal. ?

Rgano that's a great idea. I actually happen to have an electronic vacuum sensor that is very fine and measures millibars. I plan to add that at some point. It will be nice to see the vacuum levels rise to indicate restriction levels. But your mentioning of this just dawned something else to my brain. Having a gauge you can reference underway frequently will not only alert you to a rise in vacuum...but it will also alert you to a loss of vacuum...indicating possible air leak. In the case of the air leak you may never know it using the standard gauge by looking at the movable/resettable indicator needle after shutdown. Thinking about this further...it really seems like the ability to accurately see vacuum in real time easily should be primary info right along with oil pressure and cooling temperature.

catalinajack said:

That's what the vacuum gauge is for. Carry spare filters and change when the needle begins to approach the red zone. A plugged filter should not happen if the captain is paying attention.

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Trying to play nice here, but please tell me that you have changed fuel filters in a rough beam sea offshore.

Jc180 said:

Trying to play nice here, but please tell me that you have changed fuel filters in a rough beam sea offshore.

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When I did it, we slowed to idle speed with autopilot set directly into the seas. Five minutes later, all done. Never shut down either engine by using cutouts and bypasses and electric primer pump.

rgano said:

When I did it, we slowed to idle speed with autopilot set directly into the seas. Five minutes later, all done. Never shut down either engine by using cutouts and bypasses and electric primer pump.

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Thanks. You have the set up we are advocating for with the cutouts and bypasses and electric pump. Am looking for someone that has changed filter with a single filter (although maybe multi-stage) offshore in a rough sea. Cannot be done without shutting down engine. And bleeding system in a rough sea becomes untenable. Ok, some will say monitor vacuum gage and change as trends up. The problem is that junk breaks loose from the tanks in a rough sea and unexpectantly clogs filter.

There are many who believe that dual Racors are a must. I am not one of them. I would be happy to have them on a boat that I purchased but I would not pay $1,200 x two to retrofit. If anything, I would add another filter head and associated plumbing to enable a quick changeover but not the wildly expensive Racors. I will address several of the previous comments/observations.

Yes, I have had occasion to change a filter in a pitching sea. The offending filter was one of those clamshell types, the on-engine filters found on Perkins and Lehmans. One of the square o-rings had started leaking. It was not fun especially because the filter was on the back side of the engine and that damn engine was hot. I have since since converted those filter heads to spin-on assemblies. Not fun but I got it done. I have been in plenty of rough seas and my primary filters have never plugged up. My tanks are very clean. The boat came to me that way.

As for rough water stirring up gunk, I suppose if the boat were new to the owner and the condition of the tanks were unknown, this might be a concern. But, after owning and using a boat for while, gunk in the tank will make its existence known fairly quickly and the problem can be dealt with in some fashion. And, with continued use, that gunk will be filtered out such that it is no longer an issue. If one has a fuel polishing system, gunk should never be a problem so no need for duals.

Sure, one might - a very remote possibility in the US and Canada - take on a bad load of fuel but this would be a rarity and, in my mind does not justify spending new money on dual Racors. Besides, if it were I, and I were going off-shore, I would closely monitor my vacuum gauges with a new fuel addition to see if there is going to be a problem. The fact is, very few boat owners venture out more than one day. Even with a bad load of fuel or crappy tanks, if the captain is paying attention to his vacuum gauges, a stoppage is user error. Plenty of time to reach a calm anchorage or marina at which to change a filter comfortably.

And that brings me to the comments about surprise stoppages. Yes, some engine rooms are not very accessible but waiting for a filter to plug up and then accessing the engine room to flip the Racor switch, my goodness. And what happens when that crappy tank that just so very quickly clogged up the first filter now quickly clogs up the second filter? Yup, down below to change the filters in a pitching sea. Waiting for a stumbling engine to change a filter seems unwise to me. Monitor the gauge. If you are paying attention you will not be surprised. If you can't get to your engine room easily, do as Rich(rgano) does, install remote vacuum gauges. When the filter starts to get close to the red zone, change it.

Here's a quote - "I installed the dual Raycors with pressure gauge… first sputter I shut down, lift the hood and switch from A to B and deal with the clogged filter under better circumstances." First of all it is a vacuum gauge but why or why do you wait until it is a problem? Why bother with a vacuum gauge if you don't use it to change filters timely?

Another thing I don't get - for those folks with vacuum gauges, are you observing them each day before you get under way. You know, check the lube oil, transmission fluid, and general inspection for other potential problems? Or, are you that guy who just starts them up and goes trusting to luck. Seems to me that if proper pre-start procedures are followed a nearly-consumed filter would be evident BEFORE going off-shore.

Catalinajack..The prices are not $1200 x 2. The dual 500 series is around $850. Dual 900 series around $1300 and dual 1000 series is around $1400.

I paid $700 for mine new in an open box buy.

GoneDiving said:

I would have bought the paralleled units but I couldn't find these at reasonable prices. Has anyone found them on Alibaba or similar?

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After all the comments here, I put some more effort into finding a preassembled dual unit at cheaper prices and have found answers to my own question. ?

For anyone else interested, just search Alibaba for "75QQQQFHX" where QQQQ is the size you are looking for: 500, 900 or 1000.

Several stores have a MOQ of one unit with dual 1000's for about $500. That's a lot of filtration for the dollar.

Not sure why, but I only found one seller on AliExpress.

I'm always on the lookout for a good used or open box deal but in our case, when it came time to upgrade the fuel system from 1 filter to 2, I couldn't justify the cost of true racor filter housings, much less the Racor dual filter pre-plumbed setup the OP found for a good deal. I ordered a Chinese knock-off and made a fuel polisher using the filter assembly & a Holly 12 volt pump. I accessed both of our tanks the best that I could by removing the pickup and return line fittings. Unbelievably, there was little to no foreign material or water in the bottom of the tanks. After an hour of fuel polishing, I was happy with the fuel but also satisfied that the knockoff filter performed ok. I ordered another knockoff, removed the Racor that the Perkins used & added a knockoff 500 filter to each tank VS two tanks being filtered by a single filter. Many times I've changed tanks while on the fly and only once did I need to change sources because the engine was sputtering but that was because I was running out of fuel, not because of contaminated fuel. The Chinese filter housings now have quite a few hours on them & I'm satisfied they're ok for how we use the boat. One thing I adamantly don't cut costs on is the actual elements, I do not trust the knockoff filter element manufacturing standards enough to merit saving a couple of bucks. Plus I understand the genuine Racor elements are treated with some type of water repellent chemical and I dont think the cheap ones are.
The original filter is now on the fuel polisher in the attic of my shed, where hopefully, I'll never need it.

twistedtree said:

But don't you have to shut down the engine to change the filter? That's the point of a duplex system - you switch to the second filter, change the plugged one, all without shutting down. I think that's really important for a single engine boat.

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Strongly agree!

I was very lucky to already have a dual Racor 1,000 setup on my boat when I purchased it. Added a vacuum gauge in the engine room and one at the helm. My fuel tanks are 26" tall and with their height position relative to the lift pump, I usually get a couple of inches of vacuum when the tanks get low. Sort of a nice feature to verify every so often that the gauge is still working.

Ted

Barking Sands said:

Catalinajack..The prices are not $1200 x 2. The dual 500 series is around $850. Dual 900 series around $1300 and dual 1000 series is around $1400.

I paid $700 for mine new in an open box buy.

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Yes, I was incorrect. I was thinking the 1,000 series and was off by $200. So, $1,400 per side. IMHO, the 500 series is inadequate unless one is happy to be changing filters twice as often.