Beta BD722 fuel filter change interval?

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neil1967

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How frequently should/do you change your primary fuel filter. The manual for my BD722 states every 750 hours, but I have also seen reference to every 2 years. As my engine is fitted to a yacht, I accumulate no more than 50 hours or so on engine a year. Whilst I am happy to replace the filter, i am reluctant to do so if it is of no benefit. Views?

Neil
 
neil1967 said:
How frequently should/do you change your primary fuel filter. The manual for my BD722 states every 750 hours, but I have also seen reference to every 2 years. As my engine is fitted to a yacht, I accumulate no more than 50 hours or so on engine a year. Whilst I am happy to replace the filter, i am reluctant to do so if it is of no benefit. Views?

Neil
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annually
 
neil1967 said:
How frequently should/do you change your primary fuel filter. The manual for my BD722 states every 750 hours, but I have also seen reference to every 2 years. As my engine is fitted to a yacht, I accumulate no more than 50 hours or so on engine a year. Whilst I am happy to replace the filter, i am reluctant to do so if it is of no benefit. Views?

Neil
Click to expand...

Annually!
 
I agree, annually, but I always do the oil filter at the end of the season, and the fuel filters at the start. Something to do with possible waxing over the winter.
 
neil1967 said:
How frequently should/do you change your primary fuel filter. The manual for my BD722 states every 750 hours, but I have also seen reference to every 2 years. As my engine is fitted to a yacht, I accumulate no more than 50 hours or so on engine a year. Whilst I am happy to replace the filter, i am reluctant to do so if it is of no benefit. Views?

Neil
Click to expand...


You will not the answer and possibly wonder who normally careful yotties are so extravagant when it comes to fuel filters. One reason is that the fuel filter condition is the first indicator of things going wrong to to bugs and or fuel instability and so the more frequently you change filters the sooner you detect a problem.
 
I have two pre filters before the primary, so does that make it the tertiary filter? I figure that most of the crud has been filtered out before it gets to the primary filter, and althought the others are regularly changed every year, and the first pre-filter which blocked this year and last, twice.
 
neil1967 said:
How frequently should/do you change your primary fuel filter. The manual for my BD722 states every 750 hours, but I have also seen reference to every 2 years. As my engine is fitted to a yacht, I accumulate no more than 50 hours or so on engine a year. Whilst I am happy to replace the filter, i am reluctant to do so if it is of no benefit. Views?

Neil
Click to expand...

I have just changed that filter after 3 years. It looked ok, so call me an old spendthrift if you like. ( I still kept the old one, a few spares onboard is a very good thing)
I do keep a beady eye on my pre filter though and any probelm there would have prompted me to quicker action.
 
doug748 said:
I have just changed that filter after 3 years. It looked ok, so call me an old spendthrift if you like. ( I still kept the old one, a few spares onboard is a very good thing)
I do keep a beady eye on my pre filter though and any probelm there would have prompted me to quicker action.
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I changed my filter after three years as well and it was clean.
 
WoodyP said:
the first pre-filter which blocked this year and last, twice.
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Whoopsie.....On the hours we do this is an indication of things not being right.

WHat are you finding in the filters...Please describe as this indicates a fuel problem.


The filters are of different filtering grades and the finest filter is usually the one
on the engine so do not assume nothing reaches it via the other filter.
 
Bilgediver said:
You will not the answer and possibly wonder who normally careful yotties are so extravagant when it comes to fuel filters. One reason is that the fuel filter condition is the first indicator of things going wrong to to bugs and or fuel instability and so the more frequently you change filters the sooner you detect a problem.
Click to expand...

Its also well worth looking at the condition of the old filters - black and horrid, you may have got a problem in the tank.

I also think it is well worth while on an annual basis to clean the bottom of the tank, thats if you can get at it. I use a pump on the end of a drill with a long 15mm copper tube in through the filler, being the only access, and remove about 10 ltres, into clean lemonade bottles, where you can see if there is rubbish. Each year it gets a bit cleaner, and it takes about 20 minutes each year.

If you leave for 20 years you will have thick sludge down there.

Another benefit if you have mild steel tanks, is that the tank will not rust if you remove the water, but will rust through quite quickly if water is left there.
 
The original poster is, I think, mistaken. Beta supplies only a secondary (spin-on type) filter with their engines. Their manual is slightly ambiguous but it is this that they suggest should be replaced every 750hrs. As others have posted, the primary should be replaced at least annually, depending on hours run.
 
stevebirch2002 said:
They are so cheap it seems foolish not to change them annuallye it? Why chance it?

Steve B.
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I also change both my primary and engine fuel filter annually - and I will aways do so after last year when out of interest I opened both the filters - the primary filter had 'sludge' in the top - I assume contaminated fuel but the engine filter was clear.
I will always carry changing my filter at layup time.
 
Bilgediver said:
Whoopsie.....On the hours we do this is an indication of things not being right.

WHat are you finding in the filters...Please describe as this indicates a fuel problem.


The filters are of different filtering grades and the finest filter is usually the one
on the engine so do not assume nothing reaches it via the other filter.
Click to expand...

Bilgediver,
The first filter was a fine paper inline petrol filter which blocked with a silty deposit. Since then I have pumped out all the old diesel and replaced with new. There was disappointingly little that came out of the bottom of the tank. I was expecting a bucket of sludge.
I have now replaced the paper filter with a coarser mesh, so expect the main pre- filter to block, but less frequently.
The tank is mild steel, set in the keels of a Kingfisher. I expect 30 years have taken their toll.
 
30boat said:
Yes but mine is buried under a lot of hardware at the back of the engine.New ones are at the front in the open.A lot easier.
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Think how much easier it is to change them whilst the boat is nice and still alongside rather than pitching and tossing in a seaway. I speak from experience.:eek:
 
petehb said:
Think how much easier it is to change them whilst the boat is nice and still alongside rather than pitching and tossing in a seaway. I speak from experience.:eek:
Click to expand...

You are right of course.I'll bolt the filter bracket to the bulkhead.It'll make filter changes a doddle.
 
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