Deisel filters

[billyfish]

Is there any reason for not installing another inline filter on the fuel system. I have one but it's a pig to get to but I could fit one in a locker before it which would be easy to get a bowl under and change quickly if needed. Had fuel bug last year in the middle of Lyme bay and had to wait till I got to harbour before sorting it out.

 

[Daydream believer]

My filter was awkward to get to so I fitted long flexible fuel lines each side. Then I mounted the filter unit on studs. I originally used butterfly nuts, but found that I can use standard nuts.
To change the filter I undo the nuts, Swing the filter unit over a bucket in a more accessible place. Change the filter . Then stick it back on the studs. I have a set of bellows after the filter to bleed the filter & this is placed where I can easily reach it.

 

[R.Ems]

If you fit a top-loading Chinese Racor 500 clone, you won't need a bowl..or faffing with O-rings..I am almost an evangelist for these housings, I wish I had seen the light years ago! No reason you can't fit an extra filter.

 

[Stemar]

Do you mean an additional one? If so, I would suggest that it isn't a good idea because, if the inaccessible one blocks, you're in the same pickle. By all means move it, using flexible pipe. WHile you're faffing around doing it, you may think about putting two in parallel with taps so you can run on one and switch in seconds in the event of a problem. I did this on my old boat and only changed the filters because they had become rusty enough to be a concern - after 10 years! I now have a cat with two engines, so I haven't done that, but I have fitted a bulb pump between each tank and its filter. It makes priming them a doddle.

 

[R.Ems]

He could remove the element from the inaccessible one, so it would never block.

 

[Stemar]

He could remove the element from the inaccessible one, so it would never block.

On mine, that would leave a big gap between the filter mount and the water trap!

 

[billyfish]

I was thinking a additional filter/ water trap

 

[billyfish]

But I like the idea of having two with taps

 

[Stemar]

But I like the idea of having two with taps

For my previous boat, I went to a car breakers and got a matching pair of spin-on filters for £30. Taps from ASAP and a few other bits and pieces came to about £50. I saved a good bit more than that by not changing the filters every year. That was over £15 years ago, so you'll pay a bit more now.

The change was provoked by a blockage that resulted in a highly stressful entry into Portsmouth harbour under sail in a 24 footer in F6-7. The ability to switch to a clean filter in seconds meant, of course, that I never had another blockage. If you put a bulb pump before each filter, you could change a blocked filter and prime it with the engine running.

 

[R.Ems]

I was thinking a additional filter/ water trap

The Racor 500 copies (and presumably genuine ones) have a transparent bowl, with clever red ring which floats in water not diesel, giving a clear visual indication of water at a glance. Which you can then drain out the bottom.
They take genuine Racor filters.