Help - broken down boat!

MapisM said:
Excellent point.
I half thought to mention this when I read the thread, but I didn't want to sound a scaremonger: my main fear (hence the other thread I posted on this subject) with fuel troubles is that if they find their way to the injectors, the repair bill can be much worse than the cost/time/nuisance involved in replacing filter... :ambivalence:
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Thanks for that!

I think it's time for me to resurrect and modify a Peter Kay joke....

"What's wrong with the boat?"
"There's sh1t in the filter"
"Who's done that?"
 
Whilst you need to find the exact cause, it doesn't sound that surprising: engines unused for 18 months, then a couple of vigorous shake-down blasts across the Solent. Better now than when you're taking her across to France, or from France to Spain.
 
benjenbav said:
Whilst you need to find the exact cause, it doesn't sound that surprising: engines unused for 18 months, then a couple of vigorous shake-down blasts across the Solent. Better now than when you're taking her across to France, or from France to Spain.
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I agree, I'm pretty sanguine about it. The plan was always to have a six week shake down and fix any issues. Inspection hatches and a comprehensive clean of the tanks, which is happening this week, feels like £500 well spent to me if it reduces the likelihood of issues in the future. Incidentally a boat that we didn't buy in Mallorca had bad fuel and the quote to fix that was €5000.
 
burgundyben said:
Sorry, didn't get chance to help, been a manic day. I'll be there tomorrow if you need anything,
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No problem Ben. Boat back on its berth now awaiting a tank clean and new filters.

Incidentally, does anyone know how to gain access to the fuel tank (it's between the engine bay and aft cabin bulkheads). Could it be via the false bottom of the starboard side single seat and portside cockpit locker?

Also, how many microns should the filters be?

Thanks all.
 
N
Portofino said:
My 0.02 p worth
Pete dirty filters are a show stopper .
In an ideal set up it needs to be easy @ sea rolling around to access and change ---maybe quickly too .

I find the Racor type canister those with a T bar and flat lid the best .FG 500/900'series
They centrifuge the fuel and the water and crud is spun to the bottom of the glass bowl underneath , making glass bowl thing usefull as intended to spot crud .
We also have Water In Fuel (WIF) sensors too .They allow about 3 inches at the bottom of the glass before the alarm on the dash goes off .

Now the critical bit having established which kit ,is how it's fitted .
Just bear with me --
Racor FG 500. S for your boat ( mine had FG900 ,s ) need to be lower than the tank (s) or as low as possible .
This means @ sea to do a quick change
Turn the tank cock off
Sipn off the T
Lift the lid
Grab the plastic handle lift out the cartridge ( ASAP 30 micron £7-8 a piece carry 6-8 )
Insert a new one ,replace the rubber O ring on the lid and T ( o rings come with cartridge )
Now answering your Q on "bleeding " ---place the lid on start to screw the T ,but just B4 the lid closes open the tank cock
Cos it's below the fuel level -as said mounted low it floods the canister as you tighten = no air lock. = no bleeding .
Ok potential for a bit of diesel spilage in the bilge -sort that later .

As mentioned put installing Racors on the upgrade list -timescale 12/12 ish .

In the mean time dummy run a filter change and carry spares .
I have 6-8 primary 30 microns and a set 4 secondary think 2micron on the engines .

WIF too .
$hit in the fuel and especially water is an injector killer ,which can go large and seriously damage the engine ,

How ever having said all this I realise as an ex owner -- in an outdrive boat ,tight engine room there just may not be enough space to fit low racors and be able to benefit from gravity to skip bleeding ,plus reach the bleed cock under them ,nevermind be able to observe the crud in the bowls.
There's also some obscure fire regs re the glass bowls distance ,heat and what type of fire protection is fitted .
That why some are all metal --in close confined E rooms .
How ever if poss and safe do consider upgrading ?
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+ 1000

We had Separ filters on our first boat. They had a compession screw with a spring under each one and prone if you did not tighten each a bit of a time to not seal correctly. I found this out changing the filters on the berth but would have had no chance at sea. Changed to Racor FG's which allow you to see any contamination in the bowl so a good steer as to what is going on, a doddle to change at sea. I check bowls and drain each time I check Oil levels as a pre start check.
 
On my kad300,s we had 20 mc spin on metal bowl racor primarys and what ever VP official part engine filters suspect 2 or 5 mc
None CR -
With MAN primary is 30 mc racor paper cartridge , in a centrifuge canister FG900 -WIF ,glass bowls -the engines have two parallel 2 mc spin metal ones with seperate drain taps --agian none CR

here's some info but I suspect it's a how long a a piece of string Q .
Salient point is water ,or nor letting get to the pump/injector s

https://www.sbmar.com/articles/marine-fuel-filtration-the-seaboard-way/

You need to carry spares and learn how to do a quick change .Try it in the marina 1st ,knack is NOT to get to much air in the system .
 
petem said:
No problem Ben. Boat back on its berth now awaiting a tank clean and new filters.

Incidentally, does anyone know how to gain access to the fuel tank (it's between the engine bay and aft cabin bulkheads). Could it be via the false bottom of the starboard side single seat and portside cockpit locker?

Also, how many microns should the filters be?

Thanks all.
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Remove corner seat which is held by quick release clips and from memory tank lid is either hinged or held down with self taps
 
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