Ah, now I see why you have 2 TP units. I'll have to do some
measuring and see what I can accomodate.

Doug

"Steven Shelikoff" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 20:36:38 -0500, "Doug Dotson"
wrote:

Steve,

Thanks for the pics of your system. Any suggestions on TP vs PT
filter?

I'd say that if you have the room, go for the big one. I didn't have
the room for the height of the PT filter so I went with 2 TP filters.
For the elements, I use the 1000 sheet Scott rolls. They're tightly
wound, dense, and when compressed into the cartridge and soaked in fuel
oil make a surprisingly solid mass. It's interesting that when you soak
a roll of TP in water, it falls apart but when you soak it in diesel, it
becomes a strong solid element.

Steve


"Steven Shelikoff" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 18:01:15 -0500, DSK wrote:

Steven Shelikoff wrote:

..The main advantage of the paper depth filters is that they can
filter
down to very small particle size and they can hold a whole lot of
crud,
large and small, without clogging up. IOW, perfect for fuel
polishing.

IMHO the only benefit is that they soak up a lot of water. They
probably
do
trap a lot of particles but also shed them.

That hasn't been my experience with them. My experience is that they
do
not shed significantly (they haven't clogged the 2 micron Racor behind
them yet) and that they do trap a lot of particles. I guess they also
make good water separaters but I wouldn't know that since I've never
had
a problem with water in my fuel even before I put on the GCF filters.

.... The Racor 2 micron filter that's past the
TP filters is now 2 years old and is still clean.

That's like bragging about how many times you can use the same condom.
You

lol, not quite. Otherwise, we'd be changing Racor elements every time
we start the engine. Unlike condoms, the Racor elements are safe to
keep using until they get dirty.

could have spent the same amount of money on filter elements instead
of
the
TP filter system, and have cleaner fuel.

That also hasn't been anywhere near my experience.

A lot of boats have their primary fuel filter in a difficult location.
That's not an excuse to try and stretch the filter, it's a reason to
either
1- buy a different boat or 2- remake the system so that you can change
the
filter element easily & quickly.

My Racor is very easy to change. The engine mounted filter a little
less easy, but it's still only a 10 minute job. Changing either of
them
required bleeding the fuel system though. With what I have now, I can
change either the GCF filter or the Racor and not get any air into the
engine. I can shut off fuel to the engine and bleed the part of the
system with those filters with the walbro pump. I can even change the
GCF filters and bypass them to keep the engine running if it's
necessary. I do have to shut off fuel to the engine to bleed them
properly, although filling them with fuel before putting the lid on
really helps there so if it was really an emergency, I could probably
keep the engine running.

BTW if you buy filter elements by the carton, you can carry a lot of
them
and not pay much.

The main problem is that I had to change 2 of the Racor elements when
the engine died after operating only 20 minutes each. And with the
amount of crud in the tank, that trend was likely to continue for a
long
time. That's totally unacceptable no matter how cheap you get the
elements (they're still expensive even by the case) or how many you
carry. The GCF 01-Jr filters before the Racor totally solved the
problem and cost me about the same as having the tank cleaned and the
fuel in it polished. Now, I have that accomplished and still have the
system installed for future use.

I know a lot of people here will tell you a lot of bad things about the
GCF PT or TP filters. But probably none of those people actually used
them to solve a specific problem. I have first hand experience and for
me, they're working great.

Steve