Fuel Filter - too many?

[Mattyb]

Hi All

I am in the process of servicing my engine for the first time. It has a Delphi HDF 296 water separating filter and the engine has 2 inline crossland 522 filters. While trying to find the relevant Ryco filter which I can get locally it seems they can all be replaced by the same Ryco R2132P. So basically I have 3 of the same filter. Is there any benefit to this? I would have thought a step down each time in microns etc would be the way to go. Is 3 of the same having any more effect than just the 2 on the engine?

[jimbunyard]

Plagarized this from the web.


FUEL MANAGER - PRIMARY (PRE) FILTRATION
Primary filters, sometimes called a pre filter are plumbed before the factory filter.
Fuel passes through this relatively coarse filter first before continuing on to the vehicle’s factory installed filter, then to the high pressure pump. The filter media in a primary filter is rated at 30 micron. A micron is a unit on length equal to one millionth of a metre, or to break this down further; one micron is one thousandth of a millimetre.

So, a 30 micron filter will remove particles the size of 30 x 1,000ths of a millimetre. This may sound very small, and it is, but not small enough to protect modern high pressure fuel systems from abrasive damage. Most factory filters on modern Common Rail systems are rated at 10 micron.

FUEL MANAGER - SECONDARY (FINAL) FILTRATION
Secondary filters, sometimes called a final filter are plumbed after the primary filter.
Fuel passes through the primary filter first before continuing on to the secondary filter, then to the high pressure pump.
The filter media in a final filter is rated at 2 micron or 5 micron, depending on the vehicle. So, a 2 micron final filter will remove particles the size of just 2 x 1,000th of a millimetre. Now that is very, very small!



So if the filters you have have the same micron rating, 2 of the filters are redundant. Best I could find was that the Ryco filter was 19 microns, so it would be good (though a little fine) for a primary filter. I couldn't find a rating for the Crosland filters, so who knows, maybe you're ok or maybe you've got the filtration reversed.

Kind of the industry standard is 30 micron primary and 2 or 5 micron secondary. Quality filters will clearly state what they are, and are usually available in different microns for the same filter head.

[Mattyb]

Thanks Jim. Looks like the search begins for a 5 micron filter that will fit that housing


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[CarlF]

Is there any chance that the two Ryco filters are (or were once) plumbed so that you could switch to a spare if one became clogged?

If not, the change probably takes a "Y" valve, a tee, and a few clamps.

Very handy if the engine starts to lose RPM in a bad sea.

[Mattyb]

Hi Carl
No they are seperate but in the same housing. I have 2 external seperating that I could do that with though so good idea!


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[Pelagic]

I second the idea of having a switchable duplex primary filter each with a vacuum gauge to indicate blockage.

This is where the flow will stop if tank is contaminated and it is nice to switch underway without stopping engine.

[shakey doug]

What make of engine are you running [Ford]???
Starting at the tank please describe your set up in particular the primary filter ie. full alloy body or glass bowl type.

[Mattyb]

Yep it is a ford lehs or lees I forget how the spelling goes as it's new to me. There is a Delphi HDf 296 water separating filter external to the engine just above the tank. This is with the glass bowl. Then there are 2 cross land 522 filters on the engine with the aluminium housing but still has a drain on the bottom.

Looks like I have opened a can of worms.....again!!!!


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[shakey doug]

Matt,
Lees Marine early models marinized in N Z later models Brisbane. The bowl version also acts as a water sediment trap widely use in aust & sth pacific area normally takes a Cav 296 Std 10 micron 0r ryco 21320p Std 20 micron, the engine came standard with a inline twin bowl setup using a 10 micron 296 element, the FleetGuard 167A must be an A element as these are 5.5 micron can be used for better protection.
If your engine is fitted with a inline Minimec fuel pump do not forget to change the cam box oil.
You probably will find the nylon drain screw in the primary filter has swollen this should be replaced with a SS bolt. Do not throw away the seal ring between glass & alloy bottom section as they are a separate part number & not supplied with new elements. When tightening these filters rotate back and forth as you tighten them it should FEEL spongy get them offline and the glass bowl will chip or break. Use this technique with all ''O'' ring filters to avoid leaks of product & Air.

[Mattyb]

That's great info shakey doug thanks heaps. I will source some of those filters


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[Mattyb]

Oh and I believe it is one from Brisbane going by the receipt. Not sure on the fuel pump but thanks for the heads up I will look into it.


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[Wotname]

What shakey doug said +1

[olaf hart]

Doug, any idea what size thread is used for the nylon drain plug?

[adlib2]

I have multiple Racor Filters installed parallel in order to use one at a time. if one plugs I isolate it and put another in line.
Are yours in series or parallel?

[GrahamHO]

Originally Posted by CarlF

Is there any chance that the two Ryco filters are (or were once) plumbed so that you could switch to a spare if one became clogged?

If not, the change probably takes a "Y" valve, a tee, and a few clamps.

Very handy if the engine starts to lose RPM in a bad sea.

This made me think that; why not have 2 Ryco (or similar) primary filters in parallel working all the time. Then hypothetically, in a situation where 1 filter as you suggest becomes clogged; if you have 2 in parallel they will each only be half "clogged" in a bad sea and not lose RPM and no need to fiddle around with clamps. The only thing is that you would have no warning.

Then if you routinely change 2 filters elements at the same period as you would change 1 filter you have double the filtering capacity.The elements are not very expensive.

Theoretically, I think, with 2 filters working in parallel all the time you could use a smaller micron rating if available. Having 2 smaller micron rated filters working in parallel would not restrict the fuel flow on the suction side as much as 1.

But if you have that situation with perhaps bad fuel where one filter gets clogged, a second one it will soon become clogged also.

Many years ago as an aircraft engineering apprentice I was told about a piston engined aircraft where all 4 engines cut out one by one. It was found that a tank where the fuel had been stored prior to refuelling had earlier been cleaned while empty. Lint from the cloths used for cleaning the interior of the tank had contaminated the avgas and blocked all the filters in all engines. I can't remember if it was a military or civilian aircraft.

I'm not knocking your suggestion of switching filters just pondering on it.