Fuel filters.

[Mercury]

I am thinking of fitting a fuel filter / water separator, to my sr4. Are they fuel specific ie. petrol / diesel? and will they all filter water out of the fuel, or is that another specific? The reason I ask is because the boat was swamped yesterday and the fuel tanks were submerged, although the caps and vents were screwed down there is still a chance I got some water ingress. Also can anyone recommend one, and will they all use much the same bracket?

[Pikey Dave]

Racor do a range of filters. Get one with the clear bowl then you can see what's going on. About £60 for the initial kit & then a tenner a time for the elements.

[Peter_C]

Personally I don't like anything breakable IE plastic mounted on a fuel filter. A steel canister is much more robust. Either way fuel filters with water separators built in are a great addition.

Although not swamping the boat helps to keep the water out of the fuel tanks too

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Peter_C

Personally I don't like anything breakable IE plastic mounted on a fuel filter. A steel canister is much more robust. Either way fuel filters with water separators built in are a great addition.

Although not swamping the boat helps to keep the water out of the fuel tanks too

The plastic bowls on the Racors are stronger than the tin can filter elements, you certainly wouldn't stick a screwdriver through 'em

[Peter_C]

Is the drain cock (Black plastic part in photo below) stronger than a tin can? What about kicking it with a foot, or hitting it with a solid object bouncing around in rough water? Having replaced many radiator drain cocks due to failure I guess I am predisposed. Plus adding more failure points aka gaskets below fuel level is not something I consider a good idea either, and why Holley carbs suck vs Edelbrock for safety. Or so "my opinion" goes.

[longjohn]

and if you tighten the flimsy black tap too much (very easy to do) the rubber seal jumps off and you have a fuel leak

[Pikey Dave]

Doesn't look like a Racor to me

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Peter_C

Is the drain cock (Black plastic part in photo below) stronger than a tin can? What about kicking it with a foot, or hitting it with a solid object bouncing around in rough water? Having replaced many radiator drain cocks due to failure I guess I am predisposed. Plus adding more failure points aka gaskets below fuel level is not something I consider a good idea either, and why Holley carbs suck vs Edelbrock for safety. Or so "my opinion" goes.

Don't go around hitting it with heavy objects then!! I suppose you don't have a gps, vhf, or compass on board in case it get's hit by a heavy object The application of a little common sense goes a long way.

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Don't go around hitting it with heavy objects then!! I suppose you don't have a gps, vhf, or compass on board in case it get's hit by a heavy object The application of a little common sense goes a long way.

Racor fitted and never managed to break one

[Peter_C]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Don't go around hitting it with heavy objects then!!

HA! Last night when putting my motor back on I pushed the motor to transom bolt too far back into the filter, whoops! It now has a dent in it, but no fear it will still continue to work.

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

I suppose you don't have a gps, vhf, or compass on board in case it get's hit by a heavy object

I do have a GPS, VHF, and my compass lives on my wrist (Probably should put a spare compass into my save-a-boat-dive kit). Everything is protected up off the floor in a custom built ABS mini tower that keeps them out of harms way. I rest my foot on my fuel filter, and often my double HP100 cf tanks or a single HP130 cf are found resting against my transom. There is no safe place in a small boat Your big boat doesn't have the space issues of a little boat.

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

The application of a little common sense goes a long way.

Yup and mine still tells me failure points are not a good thing.

Let me ask you this..."Why do you need the plastic see thru part?" On a small boat you can see into the fuel tank, and a standard canister also serves as a water separator.

BTW I have seen Racor's fail from over tightening. Fortunately it was diesel.