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Racor Fuel Water Separator

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richie

Regular Contributor
"My boat has 3 of these, one f

"My boat has 3 of these, one for each engine and one for the genset. When I open the drain at the bottom, fuel starts pooring out immediately. I assume the water that these units is suppose to remove is probably mixed in. How much fuel do I drain from these units before I shut it off ??"
 
"water will settle to the bott

"water will settle to the bottom of the cup. (thats the seperator part) if you get gas, close it."
 
"Most people use a glass jar t

"Most people use a glass jar to save what comes out. You then let it sit for a while. The water, if present, will settle out on the bottom.

Jeff"
 
"Jeff,

I was just wondering

"Jeff,

I was just wondering about this...When I was younger, the smell of gasoline (leaded of course,)was interesting, cool, and never bothered me. Now...It eats at me all day if it is on my clothes or skin...

IS it acceptable to install a type of shut off valve where that plug is?"
 
"Al I have a Swagelok stainles

"Al I have a Swagelok stainless 1/4 turn ball valve on mine with a plug in it for safety. It works great.

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Racor
 
"That's a nice setup, my p

"That's a nice setup, my problem is I don't have enough room under the Racor unit to even put a small jar. I'll go to the boat tomorrow and take a photo and see if I can paste it here to show what I mean. Also, as Al has pointed out, when I do loosen the drain plug, fuel dumps into the bilge.

Richie"
 
"Hey, Ej, I hate to say it, bu

"Hey, Ej, I hate to say it, but that valve under there is illegal! A plug that requires a wrench to remove is legal, a valve that can vibrate open is not.

Jeff (USCG Auxiliarist)"
 
Yup! It's got a plug. Giv

Yup! It's got a plug. Gives me control of spillage and meets Coast Guard requirements. Also for tight quarters I wonder if you could run stainless tubing to a more desirable location for collection? Also I have my filter grounded to the grounding strap to which it's mounted to.
 
"E.J. clean looking engine roo

"E.J. clean looking engine room. good work.
Richie, can you relocate your filter to work beter?"
 
I just came up with an idea. W

I just came up with an idea. What if I slip a large quart size zip lock plastic bag around the racor unit and put a slit in the side of the bag so I can slip the wrench through it and loosen the nut on the bottom and allow the fuel/water to drain into the bag.

richie
 
"They make cups for changing o

"They make cups for changing oil filters, they would work for you as well.

From the looks of your filters, they need to be replaced, not just drained."
 
It looks like you might be abl

It looks like you might be able to re-mount them a couple of inches higher. Will the hoses reach if you re-mount them?
 
"Rick,
>>From the loo

"Rick,
>>From the looks of your filters, they need to be replaced, not just drained.<<

They're only a year old, less than 100hrs."
 
"Neet little gadget is the fil

"Neet little gadget is the filter minder showed in my photo above with the yellow top. The yellow position indicator progressively fills the window as fuel filter restriction increases, locking at the highest restriction."
 
I want to run that style of F/

I want to run that style of F/W Sep. I have the fuel water separators that are the cannister or oil filter style without the ability to drain on the bottom. Can I replace the filter with the drainable style??
 
"According to my owners manual

"According to my owners manual, once you drain the filter it has to be primed by unscrewing it and then filled with fuel and screwed back on. What a pain in the butt. Has anyone ever done it this way ?

richie"
 
Brian you would need to replac

Brian you would need to replace the whole seperator since the drain is in the bowl section on the bottom that screws onto the filter.

Richie I found it was much easier to add a primer pump than to prime by hand. Look at my photo above and you can see a small primer pump in line with the filter.
 
"Rich,

The photos show some

"Rich,

The photos show some rust on the canisters, that's the reason I suggested changing them. They should be changed annually anyway.

You don't have to worry about priming. Simply cycling the ignition switch a couple times will push out all the air and refill them with fuel."
 
"Hi Rick,
Actually, it's

"Hi Rick,
Actually, it's not rust. When I sprayed the connectors on top of the canisters with marine CRC the sealant turned light brown from the CRC.

Also, on the side it states >>Bowl is reusable, Do Not Discard. I assume it must have a replaceable filter inside.

Thanks for letting me know that it's not necessary to hand prime the canisters.

richie"
 
"Rich,

The canister (m

"Rich,

The canister (middle section) gets replaced. The bowl (bottom) gets reused."
 
Rick do I need to change the u

Rick do I need to change the upper section that the filter threads onto if I have the filter without the bowl and want to switch to the kind with the bowl?
Thanks - Brian
 
"No, you can buy a cartridge w

"No, you can buy a cartridge with the removable bowl. Keep in mind, the plastic clear bowl is approved for O/B installations only. For I/B applications you need the metal bowl."
 
The one thing I saw in this th

The one thing I saw in this thread that is SCARY.... "the fuel drains into the bilge"... does that bother ANYONE else but me?? I'm thinking you'll never get all that fuel out and it turns to vapor somewhere... I don't want to be around when it hits the LEL ;)

btw.. nice setups on the fuel filtering in both pics!
 
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