What to do if water trips Racor alarm and/or fuel filter alarm

[tudorsailor]

I do not have this problem, but wonder what to do if I do?!

I have a Racor with an alarm. If this goes off due to water in the diesel what do I do? I know that I can open the drain on the Racor and let out the water, but how much water can the Racor deal with? Can I continue to motor if essential until the Fuel filter alarm goes off too?!

The Yanmar has a water sensor on the base of the fuel filter. What should I do if this alarm goes off? Am I right that this will happen when the Racor has been overwhelmed by the volume of water in the fuel? Do I shut the engine down to prevent irreparable damage - even if in a situation where an engine is essential? Will the engine shut itself down?!

Sorry for being so ignorant. Please be gentle with the replies!

TudorSailor

 

[prv]

The Racor element is supposed to block water, which collects on the surface, clumps together, and runs down into the bottom of the bowl. I assume a certain amount of it needs to accumulate before the alarm goes off.

I would think that all you need to do at that point is open the bowl drain to let the water out, then carry on. If the filter's under vacuum then you might need to stop the engine while you do that to prevent air being sucked in, but possibly not. Maybe worth a try while safely tied up alongside to find out? If the bowl's clear you'll be able to see whether bubbles rush in or not.

Keep an eye on the bowl after draining water, to see if it's building up again. If so, then you have water in the tank and should see about draining that (through a sump drain if you have one, or by suction from the top).

Pete