Fuel Fixers-Fuel Filter Gage

Has anyone used these on your Racor filters? I am thinking of getting a couple.

Fuel Fixers Inc. : R2D2 -T - HANDLE FILTER CHANGE GAUGE [R2D2] - $80.33

Always a good idea to monitor your filter condition but I like to see actual numbers. You can find these that will fit your filter housing or an equivalent at eBay or on line.

http://www.parker.com/literature/Racor/14396_Rev_-_RK11-1669_Gauge_Kit_Instructions.pdf

Larry M said:

Always a good idea to monitor your filter condition but I like to see actual numbers. You can find these that will fit your filter housing or an equivalent at eBay or on line.

http://www.parker.com/literature/Racor/14396_Rev_-_RK11-1669_Gauge_Kit_Instructions.pdf

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Yep, these are the gages that got me going. But they are anywhere from $129-$165.

The fuel fixers has a "T" handle and are $80.

Do these type of gages work? Any concerns?

No no no no no ... these are your men, why pay more?

DragPointerLookDown

For $80 you can get a Murphy gauge that monitors the suction at the filter and is readable at the instrument cluster.

Can sound an alarm too ,if desired.

I installed a pair, they are instant gratification. They replace the t-handle so there is no cobbling together fittings of varying thread pitches, no wires, no circuit breakers, no mounting buzzers.

av8r wrote;
"I installed a pair, they are instant gratification. They replace the t-handle so there is no cobbling together fittings of varying thread pitches, no wires, no circuit breakers, no mounting buzzers."

That appeals to me. The darn boat is complicated enough as it is. I reduced the complexity of my fuel manifold to reduce the number of fittings and hoses so this fuel vacuum gauge will allow me to stay on the KISS side of complexity.

I've used them on high flow engines. On low flow engines I've found that your filters have to get very dirty before you see much of any chance on any of the different kinds of vacuum gauges. I'd rather spend my money on the water alarms and probes for Racors than the vacuum gauges. Filter elements are cheap. Just chance them on a regular basis before they get to dirty.

I have one and it works. Rather than blindly replacing filters on a fixed schedule, it allows me to monitor the restriction of the filter and only replace it as necessary.

I have the dual filter setup with a lever to switch from one to the other so I had to install a "T" in the fuel line to install this. No problem.

av8r said:

I installed a pair, they are instant gratification. They replace the t-handle so there is no cobbling together fittings of varying thread pitches, no wires, no circuit breakers, no mounting buzzers.

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Ditto. I had no idea of the condition of the fuel or tanks when I bought the boat, and had to make a 200NM transit home. They gave me peace of mind. (Along with a box of spare filters.)

caltexflanc said:

No no no no no ... these are your men, why pay more?

DragPointerLookDown

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I might have gone that route had I known about them then.

CaptTom said:

Ditto. I had no idea of the condition of the fuel or tanks when I bought the boat, and had to make a 200NM transit home. They gave me peace of mind. (Along with a box of spare filters.)

I might have gone that route had I known about them then.

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They gave you piece of mind because they never show a vacuum.
I have them on the two racors, in addition to a real vacuum gage on the center housing for the racors.

On mind, if you shut off the fuel at the racors, the real gage instantly starts showing a vacuum, while the $80 piece of minds, just sit there giving you piece of mind.

Thank you Capt. Tom for letting me get so poetic.

Make sure what you get records the highest reading. Instantaneous gauges will only show the reading when you are looking at them.

Wxx3 said:

They gave you piece of mind because they never show a vacuum.
I have them on the two racors, in addition to a real vacuum gage on the center housing for the racors.

On mind, if you shut off the fuel at the racors, the real gage instantly starts showing a vacuum, while the $80 piece of minds, just sit there giving you piece of mind.

Thank you Capt. Tom for letting me get so poetic.

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LOL, glad to oblige

Seriously, I have seen them get steadily farther down out of the "green" and even start into the "yellow", then back to the top of the green after a filter change. Even then, they do move a little, and snap back when reset. So I do tend to believe that they're telling me something about the state of the filter. Which is a whole lot better than having no clue at all.

CaptTom said:

.Seriously, I have seen them get steadily farther down out of the "green" and even start into the "yellow", then back to the top of the green after a filter change. Even then, they do move a little, and snap back when reset. So I do tend to believe that they're telling me something about the state of the filter. Which is a whole lot better than having no clue at all.

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That's what they are designed to do. I don't regret installing mine and it's saved changing a few filters needlessly.

Wxx3 said:

On mind, if you shut off the fuel at the racors, the real gage instantly starts showing a vacuum, while the $80 piece of minds, just sit there giving you piece of mind.

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What would you expect the T handle gauges to show in that case?

When I installed mine I shut the tank valve off on one just to see if it really worked. It did. It shows increasing vacuum just like a round-dial vacuum gage does. It retains the reading until a release button is pushed.

The difference I believe is your shut off valve is up stream of your gauge. So if you turn it off the T handle gauge reads the vacuum.

While Rodger's dial type vacuum gauge is I believe just down stream of the filter mounted shut off valve so it shows the vacuum, the T handle mounted gauges are I believe up stream of the valve. So when the valve is shut off they would not show any vacuum because there is no vacuum on them.

Capt.Bill11 said:

What would you expect the T handle gauges to show in that case?

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Some people on this forum who shall remain nameless, capt Bill, need to lighten up before they blow a head gasket.

Wxx3 said:

Some people on this forum who shall remain nameless, capt Bill, need to lighten up before they blow a head gasket.

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I asked you a simple question. You seemed to indicate that you thought your T handle mounted vacuum gauges should show vacuum when the valve on the dual filter body is turned off. As I recall you have a dual Racor system (correct me if I am wrong).

I was just pointing out that if that is true, I believe the T handle gauges that you noted did not show vacuum could/should not show vacuum with the filter body mounted fuel valve turned off. While the filter body mounted dial gauge still would (as you noted). Due to the fact that one gauge is down stream of the shut off valve and the others are up stream of the shut off valve. And that would explain why you only saw a vacuum on the dial gauge and not the T handle mounted ones.

For some reason, people on boat forums this morning seem to be in a pretty crappy mood.

Looking at my set-up a believe Capt Bill is correct.

rwidman said:

For some reason, people on boat forums this morning seem to be in a pretty crappy mood.

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As capt Bill points out a vacuum gauge would need to be between the filter and the lift pump to measure the flow resistance of the filter ... or past the filter element .. like the T handle.

Good info folks and thank you for the responses, crumpy mood or not...

One more comment, the fuel fixer vacuum indicators are viewable from any side, so you don't have to worry about getting a gage lined up facing the proper way. It may not matter in your installation but it did in mine.

I know the company owner and I have one of these on my generator Racor. I like it a lot.

I'm not sure if one point about them has been made - and it's a major point. When it records suction, it keeps the level reading at that largest suction value until the reset button is pressed. That's a really nice feature especially for a generator. It allows me to start up the generator and look at the gauge the next day and see how much suction it generated during the last run. This is much different from the normal Racor "live" gauges that show the instantaneous suction. Turn off the engine and the gauges return to 0 never showing that the filter might be clogging up.

The Fuel-Fixer products are well made. I think they can easily pay for themselves in a couple of years. I never replace Racor filter elements on a schedule any longer. I replace them when the suction indication tells you to replace them. In the last year, that was an 18 month interval.

What are the advantages of a Fuel Fixer over a drag pointer gauge? Can they be adjusted for different manufacturer specs?

Seems to me that if one is doing regular engine room checks, even a drag pointer gauge is more of a "nice to have" item vs a non-drag pointer gauge.

I have to agree with George. To me the drag down pointer style of gauge makes the most sense. Between the price and being very easy to read/use you really can't beat them.

And if you get one with the right threads you can replace the gauge that comes on the dual RACOR filter body.

To date, my Racor vacuum gauges have never indicated a "fouled" filter. The niceties of civilized fuel depots I guess. I have no on board fuel polisher but do enjoy fuel stops where spin on filters are located at the dock tanks/pumps. Lots of on board fuel capacity on the DeFever allows some discretion on where I fuel up.

I change the Racor 900s every year or at 1500 gallons per engine dependent upon the cruising schedule. They generally come out pretty clean looking. The on engines get changed every other Racor change.

This discussion seems to be more related to the PITA Racor filter changes than gauge readings. If and when the Racors on my vessel ever start to load up where changeout is required because gauge readings are creeping up, it is time to join the 21st let alone 20th century and go with a 3 stage spin on setup like the big boys do. Then the filter changes become quick and easy with my absorbent towel usage dropping way off.

As George mentioned, access to and frequent ER checks allow one to look at the gauges. When switching tanks on the go I watch the vacuum gauges for a minute or so to be sure I didn't close the wrong valves.

Any sort of vacuum indicator would be useless unless it retains the highest vacuum recorded until reset. A gauge is nice but numbers mean little. The one with the green, yellow and red seems to work fine for me. As pointed out above, there's no need now to throw away good filters, just look at your gauge. If it's in the yellow it would be a good time to replace them. Or you could wait until your engine starves for fuel, check the gauge and write down the reading. That would be "calibrating" them for your boat.