What size Racor fuel/water seperator?

[Rockinar]

I have some no name filter on my Universal M18 which is 14HP. Im going to replace it with a Racor filter/sperator. What model Racor do I need? Not sure which model to get for my specific GPH.

Ideas?

[Bill O]

What is the typical fuel burn for your motor 0.25-0.3 gal/hr?

See page 6 in this Parker fuel catalog (Racor) for the low flow filters.
These may be overkill for flow amounts for your motor.

[Rockinar]

Originally Posted by Bill O

What is the typical fuel burn for your motor 0.25-0.3 gal/hr?

See page 6 in this Parker fuel catalog (Racor) for the low flow filters.
These may be overkill for flow amounts for your motor.

Ive never measured myself, but according to others with same engine and similar boat weight, about 1/4 to 1/3 GPH.

[Cheechako]

The smallest Racor makes is way too big, so you'll end up with that. They no longer make the 250. Big filter isn't a bad thing in case you end up with debris in the fuel...
So you will want something like a 500xxx model. (assuming you want the traditional Turbine style.)
They are big though and hard to work with cleaning and replacing in a tight space.
I always bought them, but for my last small boat, I opted for an off brand spin on. The holder was $25. The filters were cheap and huge. At least twice the size of a Racor 500 paper filter. Dirt cheap elements too even in a name brand Wix or other ...

[nuku34]

Hello to the OP:
I'm N.Z. based, but the following will apply wherever you are.



With respect, I would suggest you NOT get a Racor. Why?
1) Racor filter elements and the filter housings are ridiculously expensive. There is nothing "marine" about them. They just seem to have a lock on that market.

2) Unless Rocor have re-designed the clear bowl of their filter housings, you'll find they are in fact plastic, which after a while is subject to getting brittle and eventually cracking (usually at the bottom where the drain screws in).
3) As another commentor said, the smallest Racor unit is total overkill for the tiny amount of diesel your engine uses. (My 20hp 2 cylinder Bukh uses about 0.5L per hour).
4) I have no idea where in the world you are, but I assume you have access to auto parts stores and/or non-marine diesel mechanic.



Ok. My reccomendation is to go to your auto parts stores and/or non-marine diesel mechanic, and get an after-market filter/water separator unit made for generic diesel engines. You might also find a unit made for a specific small diesel car.
Since millions of these are made, the prices for the units and for the filters are very cheap compared to Raycor. You should be able to find a small sized unit made for small diesels.

You'll find several choices, and some will have very thick glass bowls which is what you want. The elements will be widely available and dirt cheap. My unit is made by Delphy (a UK company) and the filter elements cost about US$7. Raycors would be 3X that or more.


I'm only making tis suggestion to save ya $ mate.

[Compass790]

Originally Posted by nuku34

Hello to the OP:
I'm N.Z. based, but the following will apply wherever you are.



With respect, I would suggest you NOT get a Racor. Why?
1) Racor filter elements and the filter housings are ridiculously expensive. There is nothing "marine" about them. They just seem to have a lock on that market.

2) Unless Rocor have re-designed the clear bowl of their filter housings, you'll find they are in fact plastic, which after a while is subject to getting brittle and eventually cracking (usually at the bottom where the drain screws in).
3) As another commentor said, the smallest Racor unit is total overkill for the tiny amount of diesel your engine uses. (My 20hp 2 cylinder Bukh uses about 0.5L per hour).
4) I have no idea where in the world you are, but I assume you have access to auto parts stores and/or non-marine diesel mechanic.



Ok. My reccomendation is to go to your auto parts stores and/or non-marine diesel mechanic, and get an after-market filter/water separator unit made for generic diesel engines. You might also find a unit made for a specific small diesel car.
Since millions of these are made, the prices for the units and for the filters are very cheap compared to Raycor. You should be able to find a small sized unit made for small diesels.

You'll find several choices, and some will have very thick glass bowls which is what you want. The elements will be widely available and dirt cheap. My unit is made by Delphy (a UK company) and the filter elements cost about US$7. Raycors would be 3X that or more.


I'm only making tis suggestion to save ya $ mate.

+1 for this advice.
Or you can get this type,
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000...a7e90d63ddb-26


I'm sure Amazon would have them too
The only thing you need to worry about is the micron rating pretty much.

[Calif.Ted]

Recently replaced one on a 27hp Yanmar using the 230 rmam which has a metal bowl and a UL listed filter. 30 gph but there's not much smaller and "when in doubt go stout".
https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?id=3325719

[nuku34]

To Cal.ted
Metal bowl fuel filter housings are "approved" for some commercial diesel applications and definitely required for use with petrol/gasoline, because the bowl will never crack or melt in a fire situation.

However, a clear bowl allows you to see the crud and water building up. That's why I suggested a thick glass bowl. With the metal bowls, you need to drain them at regular intervals to check if any water or crud is in the bowl. Some of those units have a water sensor built into the metal bowl that triggers an alarm.

Just saying....

[double u]

https://www.parker.com/literature/Ra...ine_Series.pdf
look no further! Spare cartridges available EVERYWHERE!

btw: flow through the filter is much more than fuel-consumption of engine!

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by double u

https://www.parker.com/literature/Ra...ine_Series.pdf
look no further! Spare cartridges available EVERYWHERE!

btw: flow through the filter is much more than fuel-consumption of engine!

This is the ticket.

It’s not about the name. It’s about the ease of changing!!

Even though the engine is only consuming .25-.5 gph it’s moving closer to 5 gph through the filter.

[Svsumurun]

Shameless plug here, but I have this one listed on ebay right now - might work for you

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284386883459

[Nicholson58]

https://www.mcmaster.com/diesel-fuel-filters/

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

https://www.mcmaster.com/diesel-fuel-filters/

That's not too bad of a price and could work especially w/the optional water removal cartridge.


A couple of design features I would look for in a diesel filter. It doesn't need to be Racor, but they do have the design elements in their filters I think are good in the larger filters (500 series).

1. A turbine design to create enough centrifugal force to drop out larger particles of crud and most water. They sell stand alone centrifugal filters and the great thing about these filters is they don't need a filter element. We have one on our fuel polishing system and does a good job. More discussion here about these types of filters.

2. Chemically impregnated filter paper to repel water. Not all filters are made equally and many do not have this feature. Sometimes this is ok if we are just grossly filtering the fuel, but for a primary filter (before the motor) I want to get as much of the residual water out of the fuel as possible. Originally went for the a "less expensive" Wix filter (than Racor), but then noticed they did not have this chemical impregnation (maybe different now) and didn't work as well. Eventually the Wix filter became the same price as the Racor so not real advantage to them.


While looking for more current info, I did stumble upon cheap "Racors" on ebay that could work for the OP. Haven't used them, but assume they work. The 500 series filters are relatively inexpensive (compared to some spin ons and have a good filtering capacity). (Do not believe these are CG compliant since they don't have the metal catch pan and the drain type isn't what they would like to have on the bowl).

Also found these RCI centrifugal filters for cheap for a previous model. We have/use the newer model for our polisher and these NOS are a fraction of the price of what we paid.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

https://www.mcmaster.com/diesel-fuel-filters/

A problem I’ve got with this filter, and all others that share its design are the requirement to drain a quantity of fuel from a bowl/canister to change the filter.

Might be OK on a larger motor vessel with a proper engine room. But when changing the filter on the average sailboat how does one avoid spillage, and what to do with the fuel from the bowl? Is it possible? Yes, is it desirable? Not on planet Matt.

[Nicholson58]

I agree regarding lost fuel and messes while changing elements. Our Racors, two with switching, are the 5 or 10 micron standard elements but they get fuel directly from my very large polisher, 1 micron. As a result, I have not had to change a Racor element or the even more agrievously horrid unit on the engine in 8 years. The polisher is changed annually and it’s easy. Polisher to the left of the Racors.