That's right... just like an oil filter change. Be sure to get the special
wrench to remove the bowl from the old cartridge. You can do it with a
couple of oil filter wrenches, but you'll bust a lot of knuckles and cuss a
lot.

The thing you have to think about is the cost. The spin-on elements are a
lot more expensive than the cartridges. I have a Racor 900 as my first
filter, but replaced that dual cartridge filter setup on the Lehman with a
spin-on Racor. Since I use 2 micron in both, the final filter shouldn't have
to be changed nearly as much, and I just HATED changing out those dual
cartridges. I could NEVER get them on without leaking for at least two
tries.

--


Keith
__
You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick
is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.
"Roy G. Biv" wrote in message
om...
these are really nice, I always try to drain the bowl......

http://www.defender.com/cgi-bin/Web_...ta log=301012

Marc Auslander wrote in message news:...
My old Raycor with its replaceable element has failed. What I see now
in the catalogs are units with spin on filters.

With the old style, when you removed the old filter, the fuel stayed
in the bowl. Put in a new filter, top up, and close it. The old
filter had almost no fuel in it, and it took almost nothing to top up.

How do the new units work? I'm imagining a procedure similar to an oil
filter replacement, except that after I remove the old, I have to fill
the new
one with fuel.

--

Get the type (filter head casting) with the integral hand operated
priming pump (plunger); or, see below.

How do the new units work? I'm imagining a procedure similar to an oil
filter replacement, except that after I remove the old, I have to fill the new
one with fuel.

Install a 12v fuel pump between the tank and the first filter. Energize
the pump with a switch.
When installing new filters, etc. turn on the pump and then sequentially
bleed all the filters, lift pump, final filter. Also serves as a
'back-up' lift pump. When not energized the integral valves in the pump
will allow the fuel delivery system to operate just as before.

Actually lift pumps on engines shouldn't be located where they are, they
should be at the tank. Then you have a positive pressure system that
cant suck air from leaky joints, etc. Additionally a positive pressure
system will vastly increase the service life of the filters!

RichH wrote in message ...
Get the type (filter head casting) with the integral hand operated
priming pump (plunger); or, see below.

How do the new units work? I'm imagining a procedure similar to an oil
filter replacement, except that after I remove the old, I have to fill the new
one with fuel.

Install a 12v fuel pump between the tank and the first filter. Energize
the pump with a switch.
When installing new filters, etc. turn on the pump and then sequentially
bleed all the filters, lift pump, final filter. Also serves as a
'back-up' lift pump. When not energized the integral valves in the pump
will allow the fuel delivery system to operate just as before.

Actually lift pumps on engines shouldn't be located where they are, they
should be at the tank. Then you have a positive pressure system that
cant suck air from leaky joints, etc. Additionally a positive pressure
system will vastly increase the service life of the filters!


The only bad side to the positive pressure is if you have a leak. I
was on a large boat once that had a leak by the injection pump. The
boat was running fine, but I make it a habit to take a look at the
engines every so many hours. So I go down for a peek, find about 3 to
4 inches of diesel in the bilge. The dangerous part, some of the fuel
was in the form of a fine mist, not a good thing, thank God for water
cooled turbo's. My point is, I think I'd rather live with the problem
of finding an air leak.