Is a fuel primer bulb legit?

[thataway41]

Put in an electric fuel pump before the Racors (can be an alternative line) it will pay for itself by making priming the injector pump and injector in an emergency, and refilling the racer during routine maintenance. You do need a mesh filter before an electric fuel pump.

[sailorladd]

Believe it or not, I had a Yanmar 10 hp in my sailboat and someone suggested I put a similar bulb in between my fuel line and filter... and it worked ok for a while but soon it started malfunctioning, and introducing air into the system somehow, and I removed it.... it was a useful idea to bleed the system in the beginning, but it did not last long.... this was my experience with that idea..I now have a self bleeding system in my Vetus 24 hp.

[GrowleyMonster]

Very handy to have one of these in the fuel system, but for safety, you should have a bypass and isolation arrangement. Either 3 way valves or tees and ball valves. That way if it leaks you just isolate it out of the system and the fuel flow bypasses it. Or probably more professionally, keep it normally isolated and only line it up with the valves when it is needed.

[sailores35]

If you are concerned about safety install a small electric fuel pump. Put in a shutoff switch. Helps tremendously for bleeding system, replacing filters, or getting you home if Yanmar pump fails. Be sure pump is for diesel and does not have a rubber diaphragm.

[Bangorang]

Those things work great! I’ve used them for years with twin Yanmars. Probably not ABYC compliant though. Alternatively, you could rig a bypass with a couple of 3-way valves, but I never bothered.

[AJA]

Keep the bulb. I’ve been using one for years to advance the fuel in bleeding air from the system. It works much better than the one on the engine fuel pump.

[GILow]

My boat has one of those. Got us out of a very nasty situation once when super rough conditions were drawing air into the fuel system. (My mistake, I hadn’t kept track of fuel levels).

A crew member just stood next to the engine for twenty minutes giving the odd hand pump every time the engine started to falter. After that, we were out of the worst of it and could safely top up the fuel again.

I accept that it may not be ABYC compliant, but thankfully those rules don’t apply where I am and, frankly, some of those rules are just plain silly. In the case of my boat, that particular bulb was over 20 years old and I only replaced it because it seemed a sensible precaution to keep such a useful device in top condition, the bulb itself felt fine.

And frankly, the biggest risk from a diesel leak is the smell.

[Mauruuru]

My boat came from the factory with one installed.....its very useful in filling the Racor after cleaning/changing filter......never a problem.

[Compass790]

+4 years with outboard primer bulb from Alislow China, no issues tho its paralleld with ball v/v's in case. Rightly or wrongly I thought petrol would be more agressive than diesel to bulb material so wasn't too concerned. It's a godsend when bleeding compared to the lever on Yanmar mechanical pump which causes rage & frustration. Have an electrical pump as well for a spare for the mechanical but haven't wired/plumbed it in yet.
No insurance issues here & I would never be without a primer bulb or electric pump again.

[I14]

I had one on my Perkins 4236 motor and it was brilliant. These motors are super fussy to bleed and with the bulb I could get it to squirt out of the injector pump bleed screw, then with an injector cracked it would fire up straight away. An alternative is some diesel cars come with a primer plunger atop the primary filter, Mazda utes for example. You can get one from a wrecker and they work well too though ultimately air can leak down the plunger shaft so not as reliable longterm as the bulb.

[aclmck]

I have had several in machines I have and I just purchased a 2020 Asv terex track loader it has one as standard, used to get fuelthrough a new filter and into the pump as the tank pickup is lower than the motor, they work well and our 12 year old model still has the original bulb, it gets used daily for several hours and is in a very confined area so also gets very hot from engine heat.

I would keep a bulb for 3 reasons

Bleeding fuel, help in finding faulty fuel failures,pump lines pump etc, and if a failed pump you can hand pump fuel to get out of a situation

[StoneCrab]

I have a diesel engine on my boat and diesels in lots of heavy equipment. The first thing I do is add a fuel bulb. Ever run out of diesel? A bulb will get you back up and running in minutes verses the standard bleeding process and using those ridiculous engine mounted manual fuel pump levers.

I replace them when they look tired or cracked, but I've never had a failure.

[Iguana Dance]

We've used an inline primer bulb on both of our Volvo Penta motors. Over the years they deteriorated from the inside and clogged the plunger on the racor filter more than once. That was a problem but easy to fix and they were so handy the rest of the time I just replaced them when they went bad about every 7 years. I wouldn't be without them!

[lgreenlee]

I can't speak to regulations and I am not sure if anyone has said this already so forgive the repeat if so...

If you ever have a need to purge some or all of your fuel from your fuel tank due to something like water entering via your vent (speaking from experience), this is a great tool for doing so. Make sure that the bleed valve on the bottom of the racor is easily accessible.

It is also useful for repriming the fuel system. In the manual for the Yanmar 4jh45 it recommend 60 pumps of the priming bulb which leads me to believe that it is a normal part of a motor installation.

As with all things they may get crusty and require a looking at from time to time but I think this applies to just about anything spending time in saltwater.

Logan

[Palarran]

I didn't bother to read all this but do have a suggestion if the use of the bulb is to prime the Racor. Usually boats have hand pumps to inflate their dingy's. Instead of using the inflate side, use the deflate and stick the hose on the top of the Racor where the t-handle bolt goes. Suck the air out, fuel in, until it's full.

I learned this the hard way when something plugged up the end of my fuel pickup in the tank. Couldn't figure out how to unplug until I looked over at the pump. 5 minutes later the plug was blown out, another 5 and the Racor was back full of diesel.