Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Fuel transfer/polishing pump
On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 13:33:12 -0500, "Doug Dotson"
wrote: Steve, Your approach is pretty much the solution I am tending towards. Polish using a papertowel filter followed by a Raycor. I also can't believe that some dust dosen't come out of the PT filter so a Raycor following seems the solution. Here's a picture of my installation. http://members.ispwest.com/shelikoff/trip/Image20.jpg The two GCF filters are the black cylinders center left. The Racor after them is the white one lower left. The engine final filter isn't visible but it's just behind the air intake, which is just behind the oil fill. The plumbing behind the filters lets me do things like bypass the filters so I can change them when the engine is running, power prime the engine, shutoff fuel to the engine while I'm polishing, etc. The pump isn't visible but the hose in front coming off the Racor with the vacuum gauge on it leads to the pump. Closer up, http://members.ispwest.com/shelikoff/trip/Image18.jpg Yes, it looks like a plumbers nightmare. But it's all pretty straight foward to figure out and operate. Normally, all valves are open except for the one letting fuel bypass the GCF filters. There are 3 vacuum gauges, one before the GCF filters, one between the GCF and the Racor and one after the Racor. If the vacuum difference is more then a couple of lbs between the input and output of a filter, it's time for an element change. "Steven Shelikoff" wrote in message ... On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 11:03:52 -0500, "Doug Dotson" wrote: This helps alot, thanks! LaBomba suggested that just amking the primary filter bigger would solve the problem. I was thinking that this might be a easier solution, but it appears that a separate polishing system does have advantages over just using a filter that does not clog up so quickly. My intended strategy is to oly fill one tank at a time, set the newly filled tank to polishing while running the engine off of the other tank. Then when the engine tank gets low, switch the engine to the polished tank, then fill and polish the other tank. That way I always have clean fuel ready and waiting (and plenty of it) and I don;t have to rush to fill again. I'm still in a quandry about Raycor style filters vs the paper towel roll type. Perhaps RichH will chime in on this one since he is an expert on filtration systems. Does Safeway carry 15 uM paper towels? RichH doesn't like the paper towel or TP filters. He's said they shed material and that they can pass some fluid unfiltered by the edge. This, I agree, makes them unsuitable as the only filter for an engine. However, I think they are great for fuel polishing very dirty fuel *if* you have a good quality filter, like a Racor, after them to trap any shed material and the tiny percentage of unfiltered fuel. For recirculating fuel polishing, it doesn't matter if they let some unfiltered fuel past since it'll get filtered next time around. And I've found that the Racor beyond the paper filters last *much* longer trapping the tiny amount of shed fibers from the TP filter then if they got the dirty fuel directly without the TP filter. 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. On my boat, I got into some rough weather that stirred the fuel up and clogged the Racor I had at the time in only around 20 mins. I put in my backup element and it also clogged in around 20 mins. So I was stuck without a filter. I ended up having to take fuel out of the main tank, manually pour it through a funnel with a paper towel sheet in it like a coffee filter and into another tank and run the engine from that with only the primary engine filter beyond that. The paper towel sheet had lots of black particles on it after filtering only a small amount of fuel, like a half gallon. After that experience, I installed a pair of the TP filters, the walbro pump, etc., from the trawlerworld site. Without cleaning the tank, I've not had a single dirty fuel problem since. The used TP rolls come out with a lot of black on them. The Racor 2 micron filter that's past the TP filters is now 2 years old and is still clean. I monitor the filter condition with vacuum gauges. When I'm polishing, fuel goes through a pair of TP filters and then through the 2 micron Racor and back to the tank. The fact that the 2 micron Racor is still clean after 2 years with a very dirty tank tells me that the TP filters are doing something, especially since I clogged 2 of the Racors after 20 minutes without the TP filters. Fuel going to the engine goes through one more filter, the engine mounted final filter. I'm not sure what particle size that's rated for but it's probably a 10 or 15 micron. Yes, my results are entirely non-scientific. I've not done any measurements of how well the filters are working. I only know they are working great for me. Steve |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Problem changing out my fuel pump | General | |||
Engine dies- Putters when trying to plane- engine under under heavy load | General | |||
Can a single 72 gal per hour fuel pump run two 392 cu inch motors? | General | |||
Inboard won't run above 2800 RPM | General | |||
Fuel pump to carbs fuel line replacement | General |