One diesel filter for engine and planar heater

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pauldowrick

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Hello all,

Paid to have a professional install a planar 4kW heater onto a 39 ketch about 6 weeks ago. 2 weeks ago the fuel pump failed. I was told my fuel was dirty but the filter had a crack in it. The pump was replaced on warranty but for some reason no filter was installed !!! The pump has now failed again !!! No surprise really. As a side note, we are currently on the hard so no great tank agitation and I recently filled it with white diesel (the tank was half empty).

So... if my fuel really is that filthy I would predict injector problems down the line.

What do you all think about replacing the 2 existing filters with a single Racor 120A diesel spin on fuel filter with a 2 micro filter feeding both engine and heater?

All opinions welcome
 
Could it be easier just to fit a small in-line filter, the sort you would have for an outboard, couple of quid and minutes to fit, at least you would then also see any dirt in the fuel as well
 
I think I would keep the plumbing of the heater totally separate, because air in the fuel from changing a filter can be painful with heaters.
And an air leak on the heater branch could stop your engine.
I used a small inline filter in clear plastic to trap any air going to the heater. Well away from anything hot!
I'm not convinced a Russian or Chinese heater needs the finest filter available, but if you with to go that way, a filter from any high-end diesel car should be good enough.

If the fuel in your tank is dirty, I'd suggest sorting it out.
 
As already said keep the fuel systems seperate then if you get any intermittent problems with engine or heater it will be easier to sort.
 
pauldowrick said:
Paid to have a professional install a planar 4kW heater onto a 39 ketch about 6 weeks ago. 2 weeks ago the fuel pump failed. I was told my fuel was dirty but the filter had a crack in it. The pump was replaced on warranty but for some reason no filter was installed !!! The pump has now failed again !!! No surprise really. As a side note, we are currently on the hard so no great tank agitation and I recently filled it with white diesel (the tank was half empty).
Click to expand...

Doesn't sound very "professional"!
 
pauldowrick said:
Hello all,

Paid to have a professional install a planar 4kW heater onto a 39 ketch about 6 weeks ago. 2 weeks ago the fuel pump failed. I was told my fuel was dirty but the filter had a crack in it. The pump was replaced on warranty but for some reason no filter was installed !!! The pump has now failed again !!! No surprise really. As a side note, we are currently on the hard so no great tank agitation and I recently filled it with white diesel (the tank was half empty).

So... if my fuel really is that filthy I would predict injector problems down the line.

What do you all think about replacing the 2 existing filters with a single Racor 120A diesel spin on fuel filter with a 2 micro filter feeding both engine and heater?

All opinions welcome
Click to expand...

You say it's a Planar heater, is that the Russian Planar, or a Chinese Eberspacher clone, marketed on Ebay as a Planar ?

Do you have a picture of it ?

If it's a genuine Planar it should look like this:

1612204162788.jpeg
 
First, have you spoken to the importers: https://planarheaters.co.uk/

If so, what did they advise ? If not, would be well worth a call.

What has your installer suggested ?

Who said it's dirty diesel and how did they arrive at that assessment ?

If it is dirty diesel, you need to address that, not try and cover it up by fitting smaller micron filters, which won't work anyway. If the fuel is dirty it will block a 2 micron filter very quickly. 2 microns is too fine for a primary filter anyway.

What filters do you currently have fitted ?

There is nothing wrong with the heater sharing the primary fuel filter, depending on the type of filter. Unless you fit a totally separate supply from the tank to the heater (new dip pipe etc) it's no different to sharing the filter anyway. Changing the filter should not let air into the heater, any air in the system will bleed out when you bleed the engine circuit.
 
PaulRainbow said:
First, have you spoken to the importers: https://planarheaters.co.uk/

If so, what did they advise ? If not, would be well worth a call.

What has your installer suggested ?

Who said it's dirty diesel and how did they arrive at that assessment ?

If it is dirty diesel, you need to address that, not try and cover it up by fitting smaller micron filters, which won't work anyway. If the fuel is dirty it will block a 2 micron filter very quickly. 2 microns is too fine for a primary filter anyway.

What filters do you currently have fitted ?

There is nothing wrong with the heater sharing the primary fuel filter, depending on the type of filter. Unless you fit a totally separate supply from the tank to the heater (new dip pipe etc) it's no different to sharing the filter anyway. Changing the filter should not let air into the heater, any air in the system will bleed out when you bleed the engine circuit.
Click to expand...
 
One problem with a shared source is that an air leak in one will affect the other. E.g., if the engine lift pump has a bit of a leak, insufficient to affect engine running, the heater pump may draw air in that way.
 
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