Fuel polishing filters?

[Kalimniosjohn]

A while ago the seal on my fuel cap must have been leaking a d let a bunch of water into my tank. I've been battling the fuel bug ever since. So I've built a fuel polishing system with a regular thread on filter head and two racor filters. I use the screw on filter as the particulate filter and then a 10 micron filter in the first racor followed by a two micron in the second racor. This is a continuous loop from the tank and back to the tank again, or from main tank to day tank. I'm hoping this with bioside I'll be able to finally get back to good clean fuel!

So as I'm trying to save money on filters I'm wondering if I can switch out the screw on filter element for a standard 10x2.5" water filter? These are readily available in sizes down to 1 micron and super cheap compared to regular fuel filters. Is there any reason these can't work to filter out the enzymes in my fuel polishing system?

[mvweebles]

While I applaud your setup including staged filtration of 10 micron then 2 micron, in my opinion you are over-filtering your fuel.

First, your biggest issue is water. Solve that and your other issues will be manageable at any filtration - algea forms at the boundary layer of fuel and water. Remove the water, and you remove the host conditions . You do not mention what type of racor filters you have, but you must move enough volume of fuel to move the moisture along with it.

Second, assuming you do have some sort of biological matter, on a molecular scale, it's large particle. You do not need to filter down to 2 micron. 30 micron will be fine for polishing. Your main filtration system will do the rest.

You need to move some fuel here. Tiny pumps do not produce any turbidity in your tanks which will help dislodge particles.

I can't answer whether hardware store filters will do the trick. You may want to try a toilet paper bypass filter from. Frantz or similar. But I'd focus on water before you worry about particles.

https://www.frantzfilters.com/

Peter

[Kalimniosjohn]

Peter, thanks for your reply. I have changed the seals on my fuel caps and it seems to have solved the issue of water getting into the fuel. My task now is removing what's already in there. I have matched the flow rate of the racor filters with a pump that delivers the max possible flow rate. So far the system does a good job but whenever I go offshore the turbidity knocks a lot of gunk off the tank walls and floor and it seems to clog the system pretty quick. Racor filters arent cheap so that's why I'm looking to change out the thread on filters for the 10x2.5" filters. These are cheap and I can swap them out however many times is necessary to get the fuel clean again.

[Singularity]

Check out this thread and contact the poster if he used the water filters from McMaster (I assume so).
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...me-183623.html

https://www.mcmaster.com/filters/fil...nt-in-water-9/

[mvweebles]

Not sure what would be cheaper than rolls of toilet paper for filter media as used in the Frantz bypass filter. If you have space, there is also a filter - Gulf Coast Filter - that uses a roll of paper towels as the media.

I don't see a reason you couldn't plumb a household filter housing into the system. Not sure if the O-Ring would survive, but worth a shot. I would not include it in the fuel delivery circuit going to my engine though. Would only use as bypass, same as TP and Paper Towel filters mentioned above.

I realize you fixed the source of water intrusion. How did you remove water from the tanks?

[Kalimniosjohn]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

Not sure what would be cheaper than rolls of toilet paper for filter media as used in the Frantz bypass filter. If you have space, there is also a filter - Gulf Coast Filter - that uses a roll of paper towels as the media.

I don't see a reason you couldn't plumb a household filter housing into the system. Not sure if the O-Ring would survive, but worth a shot. I would not include it in the fuel delivery circuit going to my engine though. Would only use as bypass, same as TP and Paper Towel filters mentioned above.

I realize you fixed the source of water intrusion. How did you remove water from the tanks?

I filtered all the water out that I could with the fuel polishing system, then I put in some additive that mixed the rest of the water into the fuel to be burned off. Now i never get any water in the racor filter bowls, just tons of sludgy enzyme stuff.

I prefer to use the 10x2.5 inch filters because i buy them in bulk for my water maker pre-filters in 20 and 5 micron. So I have many readily available already.

[Lepke]

Farmers that make their own biodiesel use Big Blue (4.5x20) water filter housings with water filter elements. They use spun fiberglass, not paper filters. Since you have a water problem, drill and tap a drain cock in the bottom of the housing so it works like a big Racor.

[Kalimniosjohn]

Thanks for the info everyone. I bought a new housing today. I'll post results as soon as its installed.