Marine Diesel Fuel Filters

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

JerArdra

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 3, 2005
Posts
1,814
Tom,

The attached photo shows 3 Racor fuel filters on a single engine boat.  The smaller one on the right is for the generator.  The other two are for the single diesel engine.  My question is, because there is a yellow lever and piping between the two larger filters is this a quick change filter system.  By that I mean, if a fuel filter starts to get clogged up can the lever be moved 180 degrees and the engine immediately start getting its fuel supply through the second filter.

Or, OTOH, do you think it is a fuel polishing system?
 

Attachments

  • Dual Racor Fuel Filters.jpg
    Dual Racor Fuel Filters.jpg
    44.4 KB · Views: 46
Hi Jerry,

We have that setup on each of the two main engines on the boat, but not the generator (5 Racors total). The lever has several positions: Both, Left, Right, Off. I normally have ours in the Both position, and use the lever to switch to one filter while I change the other. Dave H used to do the same, but changed to run on only one filter, and switches to the other when I'd normally change both filters. It appears that the fuel flow through one filter is sufficient for our respective engines.

Using the system as described, this would be especially useful if a filter became clogged while underway. I carry spare filters, but it sure wouldn't be fun changing one in rough seas.
 
Jerry,

  Tom's right about the system and the valve.  However, this does not appear to be a fuel polishing system, simply a bank of filter/water seperators.  Nice setup though...

Steve
 
The boat using this setup is a single engine trawler so I now completely understand why this boat might use it with one filter at a time so in the event of a clog the new filter can be brought into play almost immediately.

Thanks,
JerryF
 
I was a green horn at the time. My trawler, shown below, had a 6 cyl Volvo engine. I never did have a fuel filter aboard (strange). I am glad I made it back to shore, after 3 years of extensive intra-coastal travel in the Pac. NW... Puget Sound. There was one time I was worried... Juan de Fuca Straight... 6 foot waves and no way to turn back..but we made it... after 4 hours hanging on. There is more to the story).

carson FL



   
 

Attachments

  • Chien Hwa.jpg
    Chien Hwa.jpg
    26.5 KB · Views: 34
There was one time I was worried... Juan de Fuca Straight... 6 foot waves and no way to turn back..but we made it... after 4 hours hanging on.

Was that just a little wind chop Carson?  ;D
 
6 footers is just a nice day for sailing on Lake Michigan :)
 
You guys are cruel. I thought you may have had some pity for me..    ;D

  I was stuck in Port Angeles for 3 days due to high winds . Thought I would do some varnishing on the woodwork while stuck.  I tried, but the varnish would fly off the brush and I made a mess of the boat.

  On the fourth day the wind seemed ? to have abated and we made a decision to head out going North-East towards Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. As we left the coast the wind seemed to pick up. The tide was running strongly in the opposite direction. After a few miles I thought about turning around and returning to the marina but by now the ship was wallowing and I was afraid to make the turn. The prop was coming out of the water consistently, the floor boards in the boat were moving up and down. Visibility to the far shore was non-existent.  My VHF radio was on the blink;(I would have called the Coast Guard), all I had was my compass. Steering by manual means would have meant I would have worn myself out in short time.

  Here comes the auto-pilot... I switched it on and let it do its thing. At least it kept me on the right course, generally speaking. Floor boards still heaving up and down. Guess we were doing about 2 knots and finally, after a couple (or 3)  hours there was land in sight. Eventually I saw the entrance between the Islands and the waters smoothed out. Another hour of motoring North in the channel seemed to calm my nerves and heart rate.  ;D

  Finally got to the destination; friends were waiting for us but no one was interested in hearing my woes; they were already having happy hour.  :mad:  We joined them.

  The next day I checked out the engine compartment; all seemed ok until I wiggled the Salt water inlet pipe hose for the heat exchanger... it fell off right there wen I touched it. I guess there are Guardian Angels after all.  ::)

  Now may I have some sympathy, please. 

I don't mind 6' waves but not if they are 6' feet apart. :)

  Top that you smart Alexe's.. ;D


Regards,  carson FL
 

 
 
6 foot waves only 6 feet apart are not a problem, it's when the distance between crests is such that they're just a bit more than your waterline.  That's the problem in Lake Michigan, the waves are so close together.  We call 'em square waves :)

But you were lucky that day.  I know exactly how you felt, I've been there too.
 
Ned, maybe the waves were 6' by 36' (The boat was 35') I forgot to bring my tape measure.  ;D

carson

 
You would know when you keep falling off the crests instead of surfing down them :)
 
A larger vessel is not always the answer in building seas.  I used to be an assistant warden at the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park in the Bahamas, and a guest at the park, the owner of a 105' luxury motoryacht, once asked me about the weather for the next day or two as he wanted to head down to the Turks and Caicos Islands (the boat was owned by the late owner of the Bondo company).  I told him that the winds would likely be ESE at 15-20 and seas about 6'.  His hired Captain said they could not go out in 6' seas as they were worried about the vessel being raised bow and stern by crests and having no support in the center of the boat.  My 40' sailboat would have had no problem with 6 footers. 

Steve
 
One of the many photos on the walls of the Morro Bay Yacht Club is of actor George C Scott's 70 foot yacht Mojo, vertical, bow down, at the entrance to the harbor.

I can't find an online copy of the actual photo that's in the MBYC, but have seen the original.
 
On December 13, 2003 as described in this message, I was scared. Seas were unexpectedly building to 28 feet, the captain was laid out on the floor of the bridge, reefs near the entrance to Half Moon Bay (first time in this harbor), GPS screen pointing skywards and out of reach, and I had to make a wide U-turn to get into the harbor entrance channel. I was really afraid that we'd capsize when the bad stuff hit us broadside.

This was the longest 4 hours I can recall.

The skipper of the commercial fishing vessel alongside us in the yacht harbor told me he had to change fuel filters out there in that bad stuff, and it wasn't fun.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
131,753
Posts
1,384,366
Members
137,524
Latest member
freetoroam
Back
Top Bottom