MD2020 Fuel Filters

SteveA

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Does anyone know the specifications of the spin on fuel filter fitted on the engine of our MD2020B? The reason I ask is that I intended to replace the primary filter, which is presently a CAV cartridge type, with a Racor spin on type which can have either 2, 10 or 30 micron filter elements.
 

geem

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Does anyone know the specifications of the spin on fuel filter fitted on the engine of our MD2020B? The reason I ask is that I intended to replace the primary filter, which is presently a CAV cartridge type, with a Racor spin on type which can have either 2, 10 or 30 micron filter elements.
Have you thought about buying a standard spin on fuel filter head off Ebay? We bought one that is standard fit for a Merc truck. Brand new but cheap. Filters are about £10. It's a 5 micron high performance filter. It's large and I have it mounted remotely on our generator. It makes access to change it simple. I have no other fuel filter fitted to the generator. The one big high performance filter does it all
 

Neeves

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We added a remote spin on oil filter for our MD2020 as standard access for us is lying across the top of the engine and hanging down (upside down). The fuel filter is much more accessible as is. The new oil filter location is next to the relay box.

Jonathan
 

SteveA

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I should have added that the primary filter is actually a filter separator with a clear bowl at the bottom where any accumulated water can be easily drained. The new Racor will be the same. I don't want to put a finer filter as primary as it would make the engine fitted one pointless; that's why I'm try to find the spec for this one.
 

geem

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I should have added that the primary filter is actually a filter separator with a clear bowl at the bottom where any accumulated water can be easily drained. The new Racor will be the same. I don't want to put a finer filter as primary as it would make the engine fitted one pointless; that's why I'm try to find the spec for this one.
You can remove the engine fitted one. You won't need it. Most spin on fuel filters come with a drain on the bottom so you can still drain water. None of the complexity and risk of nipping a seal and getting an air leak that is so common on the CAV type combined filter and bowl. When you have a contaminated fuel filter the easiest thing is to spin one off and spin one on in an easy remote location and you can be back in operation in a couple of minutes. Did this on my old boat main engine. We did just that when leaving a busy harbour and the engine revs dropped. Blocked filter. Quicker filter change than a Quickfit fitter
 

SteveA

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It's why I'm changing from the CAV to a spin on. Recently the engine failed on our way to the IOM in some choppy weather and I decided it was unsafe to try and change the filter while rolling so much. A mate took me in tow but the CG made the call to launch the lifeboat to take over. Quite embarrassing as I know the whole crew and I think it will be a while before I'm allowed to forget it!
 

Plum

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Does anyone know the specifications of the spin on fuel filter fitted on the engine of our MD2020B? The reason I ask is that I intended to replace the primary filter, which is presently a CAV cartridge type, with a Racor spin on type which can have either 2, 10 or 30 micron filter elements.
Don't know what the manufacturer's spec is for your engine but my VP secondary is a 5micron and I have a Racor 500 primary with a 10 micron element. I would certainly not dispense with the secondary filter as if you look at filter specs they will say something like 5micron at 90% efficiency so some particles greater than 5 will still get through so a second filter, even if the same micron rating, will still be better than just one.

www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 

geem

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Don't know what the manufacturer's spec is for your engine but my VP secondary is a 5micron and I have a Racor 500 primary with a 10 micron element. I would certainly not dispense with the secondary filter as if you look at filter specs they will say something like 5micron at 90% efficiency so some particles greater than 5 will still get through so a second filter, even if the same micron rating, will still be better than just one.

www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
A single filter with 5 micron efficiency at 90% is an excellent level of filtration. Why add a second filter if one can do it all? I found my paper second filter never got dirty. It was better to remove it to reduce the number of possible air leaks in the system. Single fuel filters are commonplace on diesel vehicles
 

RivalRedwing

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It's why I'm changing from the CAV to a spin on. Recently the engine failed on our way to the IOM in some choppy weather and I decided it was unsafe to try and change the filter while rolling so much. A mate took me in tow but the CG made the call to launch the lifeboat to take over. Quite embarrassing as I know the whole crew and I think it will be a while before I'm allowed to forget it!
you can buy CAV / Delphi spin on filters (HDF496) but it will need a replacement head too. They are a tad cheaper than Mr Racor's offerings.
 

geem

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Because a £5 filter is cheaper than sorting out an issue if your single filter fails.
Have you ever seen a single filter fail? It doesn't happen on diesel vehicles fitted with single filters. Super easy to spin a new filter on in an emergency and know you only have one to do
 

lustyd

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Paper things fail all of the time, even when new. Statistically some filters will be delivered with a defect. Boats move about and dirt gets into the system, road vehicles less so. Why take the risk? The secondary filter isn't expensive so leave it be. The primary will catch everything, until it doesn't. Or until you let dirt through when changing it...
 

geem

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Paper things fail all of the time, even when new. Statistically some filters will be delivered with a defect. Boats move about and dirt gets into the system, road vehicles less so. Why take the risk? The secondary filter isn't expensive so leave it be. The primary will catch everything, until it doesn't. Or until you let dirt through when changing it...
So what do you do when you damage your secondary filter and the dirt has got to your primary and you need to change it. You might let dirt through. It's a silly argument. I had a single filter set up on my last boat using the same spin on filter as a transit van. Transit vans tend to move about rather a lot as well as boats. It simply works fine. My generator has a single Merc spin on filter. Works fine. It's so oversized being designed for a 5 litre engine it has massive dirt holding capacity. The generator is 500c. When I remove it any upstream fuel runs out of the filter head and flushed dirt away. No risk of dirt going downstream of the filter. It's up hill to the engine. The main reason why I removed the filter on the engine was to simplify the fuel system. I was chasing air leaks for fun. The tiny filter unit as fitted to the unit was fidly and unnecessary given the Merc filter head so I took it out of the system. Been like that for years now and runs great. I also converted to electric fuel pump as the mech pumps are lousy.
 

SteveA

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Don't know what the manufacturer's spec is for your engine but my VP secondary is a 5micron and I have a Racor 500 primary with a 10 micron element. I would certainly not dispense with the secondary filter as if you look at filter specs they will say something like 5micron at 90% efficiency so some particles greater than 5 will still get through so a second filter, even if the same micron rating, will still be better than just one.

www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
Plum, many thanks this just what I wanted to know - I'll fit a 10 micron on the Racor.
 
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