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| Tony's Tips |
ARTICLE DATE: 09/01/2007 |
| Marine Fuel Filtration - "The Seaboard Way" |
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| Note: As I see it, all filtration before the engines "last
chance" fuel filter is "primary" regardless of what you have in place |
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Simple
and effective Multi-Stage Fuel Filter System. No messy & leaky bowls
to deal with...
Excellent choice for 90% of all vessels |
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So what is "Multi-Stage filtration??
To me, proper fuel filtration for the type of marine vessels generally discussed
in the forums at http://boatdiesel.com/ , all comes down to using a simple
multi-stage filtration set-up (a minimum of 3 distinct stages/components)
starting with largest practical and effective mechanical spin-on filter
with around a 20-30 micron rating. This is your PRIMARY fuel filter (part
of the entire "primary system" which is before your engine) and we call
them "bulk separators" or "mud filters". In actuality, the first part of
this primary line of defense can not only remove most of the mud and crud,
algae and diesel fines, and extend filter maintenance many times, it can
also remove copious amounts of water, but this will depend upon the type
of primary filter you use and HOW YOU maintain it. And BTW, a Racor 900
or 1000 w/ a 30 mic element could also qualify as a "bulk separator" in
my book, although I consider its proper long term maintenance is rather
messy and very time consuming. |
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| Basic
Filter System Dimensions |
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| Our preference for a proven Primary or Bulk Separator fuel filter?? In 95%
of our work, the Fleetguard "spin-on" FF5013 is the ticket as it offers
a 20 mic BETA rating, a flow rate of 100 GPH clean ½" Hg pressure drop,
has a built-in water drain, has no "plastic" bowls to leak or discolor,
and has proven itself to do the job. For super high capacity, we use the
Fleetguard FS 1218 - About a 250 GPH flow rate, has a "crud capacity" of
about 7 times that of a Racor 1000, and has all the best needed features
for use as a high capacity Primary bulk separator. |
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| Major
YUK |
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| Our second stage of the "Multi-Stage" fuel
filter system |
After this primary line of defense comes your main
fuel water separator, your Racor 900 or 1000 ( if you feel the need to have
"Racor" on your boat) , or other type of quality fuel water separator. We
prefer a Fleetguard FS19596, FS 1000, or FS1015 - listed in order of overall
capacity and filtering quality - that has the largest capacity practical,
using the most modern 7-10 mic media specifically developed for water separation.
Notice I didn't mention the Racor FG 500 as I consider it too small (capacity
wise) for anything over about 75 HP. What you choose here is usually governed
by what the builder or past owner installed. And again, CAPACITY is the
main key, as all of the issues that I have seen over years with problems
in the fuel system and/or failed fuel components, is more or less related
to the capacity, along w/ system component design and/or maintenance of
this filter , and not the chosen micron size of the element, be it 2, 10,
or 30 micron.
Our current choice for a properly designed and proven system is to use a
Fleetguard FS1000 for the second part of the Multi-Stage system. The FS1000
Fuel/Water Separator was designed specifically to combat wear and corrosion
in Electronic Injection Engines "EUI" technology. The FS1000 contains high
performance synthetic media, "Stratapore" developed and made exclusively
by Fleetguard, consisting of five bonded layers of multi-stage media. These
are one layer of cellulose, three layers of melt-blown polyester and an
additional protective layer. By itself, the FS1000 achieves performance
previously obtained only with primary/secondary filter systems. |
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| Racor
1000 w/ HD FS1218 Fleetguard primary bulk separator - Good for 700 hp |
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