Racor Dual Fuel Filter - quick change over if needed

Interesting discussion. I Was thinking of running one in series, but parallel sounds better for reasons noted. my biggest concern is losing an engine coming into the slip. there will be no time to jam down there and start fiddling with filters at that point. Then it becomes a 1 engine docking scenario, which I have to admit I need to practice more but it's hard to find MT slips for that. If they are in parallel flow, and kept clean and happy, hopefully one clogged or water laden filter is a non issue as the other is still on line.
 
Frank., As always you offer knowledgable info. What I take away from this discussion is the "increase flow capacity" using dual filters instead of 1 which in turn reduces the chance of a shutdown and that's what we are trying to avoid. I've been running that way based on a previous post from you but honestly wasn't 100% convinced it was the right thing. In my mind, I liked the fact of having a "spare" filter ready to go. But With regular preventative maintenance of changing the filters, it's the way to go.....

In response to running on one filter until it clogs, that's just bad form. I would like to think most people try to avoid a problem before it occurs rather than wait until it occurs......
 
Frank., As always you offer knowledgable info. What I take away from this discussion is the "increase flow capacity" using dual filters instead of 1 which in turn reduces the chance of a shutdown and that's what we are trying to avoid. I've been running that way based on a previous post from you but honestly wasn't 100% convinced it was the right thing. In my mind, I liked the fact of having a "spare" filter ready to go. But With regular preventative maintenance of changing the filters, it's the way to go.....

In response to running on one filter until it clogs, that's just bad form. I would like to think most people try to avoid a problem before it occurs rather than wait until it occurs......

My thinking was exactly the same as you cod but learned something new today. Thanks Frank!
 
So what's the time period for "regular" changing of the filters?
 
Ken,

Just be sure you have at least 1/2 a case of elements and a couple of gallons of fuel in a container on the boat anytime you get out of sight of your slip…………….
I keep half a dozen elements and a gallon of fuel. Not enough? I get fuel from marinas I know have a good turnover. When I head down the coast next year I guess I should supplement my spares.
 
So what's the time period for "regular" changing of the filters?

My maintenance manual states to change the fuel filter every 250 hours. I change them every spring minimum and usually put about 80-100 hrs./season. Never had an issue yet.
 
I'm a little surprised that no one here has mentioned the fact that on dual 900/1000 setups, the filter manifold comes with a suction gauge to determine the flow through the filters. Whether your particular operating protocol is to run on one or both filters, checking in on the gauge from time to time will determine if you're about enter crisis mode. Unless you bought some really skunky fuel from a fly-by-night vendor, there should be no reason to run these filters to a "plugged and shut-down" situation. Also available from Racor is an electronic sender to put the suction gauges right up at the helm. I believe the 560/550/58 DB in particular had remote readouts as standard.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I am having a marine carpenter make a nice wood wall mount on the stbd wall of the engine room side with 5100. Will have room to put some tools and these for both engines on this. Easy access as well in case of an emergency. I am a Previous gasser, so making sure the diesel stays clean, and water free.

Hey Bill, As long as you are getting to pick the spot to put the dual set up, a couple of things you may want to consider.
My life was made easier when I put 1/4" mini ball valves on the bottoms of the housings. Get them MxF and then you can thread the plug into the bottom of them if necessary. Makes draining them a breeze. Locate the filters high enough off the ER floor so that you can get a container under the ball valve to catch the fuel you drain out, and then get the container out without dumping half the contents out. BUT, not too high, because if they're below the level of the fuel in your tanks, you can just refill them before tightening the lid down by opening the valve, and fuel will flow in under gravity from the tanks. But still carry a couple gallons of fuel in a can in case you need to fill them up when you are low on fuel. Finally, if your going through the expense and time to do this, spend a little more and buy vacuum gauges that have drag pointers. You will be able to see if your filters are beginning to plug after you are back at the dock doing regular ER checks.
Your new boat looks awesome, have fun
 
I have the single 500MA filters. Not sure it's worth the investment to go to the doubles...

Ken,

That's what I have, but Sea Gull or Dominic put the vacuum gauges in place of the "T's", so that makes filter condition an easy "preflight/post flight" check for me.
 
………….. Unless you bought some really skunky fuel from a fly-by-night vendor, there should be no reason to run these filters to a "plugged and shut-down" situation.


Unfortunately, that is how a total blockage usually happens. I don't know that it is a fly by night vendor, but more likely isn't the fault of anyone other than the fuel vendor for not having water block filters on their pumps. What can happen is that you are the unfortunate soul who happens to the get last load of fuel before a tank re-fill at the vendor or the distributor pumps a tank to too low when he fills his delivery truck. About the only insulation is to buy fuel from a vendor with a good filter at the point of sale, check to see if the element is dated and how long ago it was serviced, be sure you are buying from a high volume fuel retailer and check your Racor bowls for sludge about 1/2 hour after refueling. All diesel contains some moisture, asphaltines and microbial growth. The idea is to minimize what you get on your boat.

I like the idea of having vacuum gauges were they are readily visible. I didn't mention them, although they are standard equipment with Parker Haniffin's manifold for dual filter application. I will admit that I don't check mine because I do engine room pre-checks without the engines running. I just use a flashlight and look thru the Racor bowl. Regular monitoring from the helm while running would be a lot easier, so thanks for the idea…………..
 
Frank, my vacuum gauges have "tattletale needles", so I can check the vacuum readings prior to engine start or after shutdown.
 
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Excellent - thank you Mark, I will have this done. This is a longer term project, possibly in Q4, or Q1. I will post some pics when its completed. Hope you are enjoying your DB. Every time I get on a bridge at anchor, I wish I had one.

Hey Bill, As long as you are getting to pick the spot to put the dual set up, a couple of things you may want to consider.
My life was made easier when I put 1/4" mini ball valves on the bottoms of the housings. Get them MxF and then you can thread the plug into the bottom of them if necessary. Makes draining them a breeze. Locate the filters high enough off the ER floor so that you can get a container under the ball valve to catch the fuel you drain out, and then get the container out without dumping half the contents out. BUT, not too high, because if they're below the level of the fuel in your tanks, you can just refill them before tightening the lid down by opening the valve, and fuel will flow in under gravity from the tanks. But still carry a couple gallons of fuel in a can in case you need to fill them up when you are low on fuel. Finally, if your going through the expense and time to do this, spend a little more and buy vacuum gauges that have drag pointers. You will be able to see if your filters are beginning to plug after you are back at the dock doing regular ER checks.
Your new boat looks awesome, have fun
 
Searay has told me to run one filter at a time. At the Miami boat show, I asked the Racor guys what there advice was. 2 guys, 2 different answers so there is a lot of debate. For me, I run one at a time. I've never had any fuel issues, not enough capacity, etc. But I have been on a buddy's boat and the starb engine started running rough. Went in the ER switched the valve to the other filter, problem solved, to back to the marina with no issues. If he was running both, we would have had to idle the rest of the day or change the filters, which I imagine is no fun in a running boat. If you keep a spare jug of fuel in the ER to top off filters, remember to change that fuel often or you could be putting old/bad fuel into your new filters.
 
One last comment on this. I talked to Volvo today. They said the 75500 filter would work for my D6, 370HP engines, but the 75900 is better, and what they would recommend for all of the reasons noted by others in this thread. Thanks again for the input, I learned alot on this topic. I realize there are only a few people on here (outside the U.S mostly like Melida) that run Volvos, but the discussed concepts apply to all engines.

Have a nice weekend. High pressure has hit so cal. = 90's at the beach.
 
Hit NorCal too! 98 degrees on the way home from work. It will be a nice 80 degree day in San Francisco tomorrow when we head in for a wedding (that means no boating until next weekend).
 
If he was running both, we would have had to idle the rest of the day or change the filters.

Maybe yes, but most likely no.... Think about it, what ever amount of fuel is running thru the one filter, it would be running the same amount of fuel through 2 filters over a period of time... So the filter would have in theory lasted twice as long and you would never had experienced a problem in the first place.
 
I'll chime in on what I would do in a perfect world.

I would convert the single Racor 500 to a dual Racor 900 (75900) and I would run on one so I had the other to switch to if I had a clog. The 900 will give you double the filtration and it's not likely to clog. Yet if it does, the idea is to have knowledge of the problem and redundancy to keep you running.
 

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