Changing Racors

[(Nobody You Know)]

Anybody got any suggestions when it's advisable to change out racor fuel filters. I'd like to get good life out of mine, but I certainly don't want to push 'em too far and loose an engine while underway do to a clogged filter. What sayeth?

Bill

[captainwjm]

I was changing mine at 100 hours, or whenever there was a buildup of crud in the bowl, but recently purchased a Racor vaccum guage mounted where the "T" handle goes, and will now change when needle climbs toward the "yellow" sector.

[34Hatt]

recently purchased a Racor vaccum guage mounted where the "T" handle goes, and will now change when needle climbs toward the "yellow" sector.

This is the only way to know for sure other wise some boats may get 500 hrs and some may only get 5 hrs. It depends on how clean your tanks are and fuel quality. I have been in my tanks and bottoms are spotless ( not bad for 39 years) but I don't have gauges yet still on the wish list and I change them each season which is about 100 hrs.

[jim rosenthal]

I changed out Racors regularly when I had them- it seemed like once a month. You might consider permanently changing out your Racors for Fleetguard systems if $$ permit. FG system fuel filters are quite a bit better.

[Boatsb]

Just a thought but the racor filters for my 900 series filters on the 41 are only about $9.00 each. If I change them too often I see no downside so I look at between 20 and 50 hours. Its good maintenance since I always check for water before starting and if I see a bit if goo in there they are gone. I did mis spend 15 years of my youth repairing boats and engines in boatyards so I know what happens if you don't change them often enough.

FYI if anyone needs I get them by the case and can help you out.

[Norm Mayer]

My wish list also includes vacuum gauges for my Racors. But the need to change them rests solely on the quality of fuel you use. I didn't change mine for the first 6.5 years I owned the boat, and don't know how long they were there before I bought it. BUT, I always had fuel trucked in so the fuel was always fresh (read clean) as it was filtered as it was loaded on the truck, then the truck filtered it again as it was pumped into the boat! At one time, I emptied the main tank, and then ran a boroscope into it, and my 36 year old boat had a spotless tank.

[Boatsb]

I wish I had it that easy. Just got my 41C from someone who took a lot of shortcuts. Its cheap insurance to change them out regularly. I bet the tanks in most of the older boats have some sediment or alge. Treating may control it but why take chances.

[Fanfare]

Racor makes a vacuum gauge which replaces the T-bar handle on top of the filter body. It measures the restriction in flow as the filter gradually plugs up as it does its job. I find them invaluable as I can normally go a whole season on one set of filters--but it only takes one load of bad fuel to require more frequent replacement. My routine is to check my engines hourly, including these vacuum gauges (as well as checking on how much water has been removed from the fuel and is in the drain portion of the filter). It's a lot easier to know that vacuum is rising, and that I need to change the fuel filters in the morning when the engines are cool than to find that the engines are fuel starved.

Why is this partucularly important? Because it's the fuel flow which cools our DD injectors. About 2/3 of the total fuel flow passes through the injectors, cools them, then passes to the fuel cooler (you will find this wrapped around the raw water line before it goes to the exhaust shower head) prior to going back to the tanks. If this flow becomes inadequate, either by filter restriction or by running out of fuel at speed, then the injectors may overheat and be warped from the heat of the cylinder head (they don't call it the fire deck for nothing!) and be damaged or even ruined. Don't do these things!!

The vacuum gauges are really cheap insurance and everyone should have them.

[Genesis]

The Fleetguard system, if you put it on and add a gauge, will run for a couple hundred hours or a year before you have futz with new filters.

It'll pay for itself in 2-3 years with the elements you DON'T have to swap out all the time with the Racor system!