Now that you have convinced yourself that you want that
2 mic filtration regardless of the engines requirements (I have no issue with
that), but let's do it in a practical fashion.
The last thing we want is to have that 2 mic filter to be hit with the crud
coming from the tank. Filtering to 2 mic BEFORE the fuel gets to the engine
may become a maintenance nightmare unless you have extremely large capacity
in both unrestricted flow and element size, but would still have NO PRACTICAL
sense to it if using only a Racor 1000 w/ a 2 mic element. It may be fine for
a few hours of running ( a few to me is at least 50) , but most likely will
lead to fuel restriction problems quickly. Running a pair of these (switch-able
parallel), will certainly extend the time between element changes, but seems
to be another impractical solution... The last chance filter on your typical
engine is in the 5-10 mic range, and should be fed with clean fuel-no argument
as we believe that filter should stay clean for at least 500 hours or more.
But again, if you want more practical assurance of delivering clean fuel to
your engine (which is a GOOD thing) , filter before your Racor, or add another
in series, but filter your fuel in micron stages (60 / 30 / 20 / 15 /10 / 5
/ 2 mics ) as this is how practical filtering is done in all industries or
applications. And, as with the addition of any more filtration, your choice
of plumbing, and capacity and pressure drop across the total system when clean,
needs to be accounted for. Even my own "basic" sizes for fuel suction hoses
for applications that only needed ½" in the past, are now being re-evaluated
as many may now need 5/8" id (or larger) hose because of stricter fuel filter requirements
needed by newer engines.
Properly set-up, it is very easy to install a practical 3 or 4 stage fuel filter
system that has a pressure drop across the entire set of filters of less than
3" HG at a flow of 75GPH or higher, and one that gives extended service intervals.
But do this in reverse order with smaller sized filters in front, you'll now
have a system that will "clog" well before it should and will be much more
expensive and time consuming to maintain or diagnose. A vacuum gage installed
just after the last suction side filter will tell you when to change filters,
but will have "less meaning" unless the filtering is done in correct order,
from large to small. And, if your vessel use really dictates even more filtering
capacity, then double up by paralleling two identical systems or by paralleling
the primary - "primaries" only.
What I'm trying to get across is PRACTICAL fuel filtration - "filtering done
in stages" - that has been proven to be effective long before I came along,
but has been reinforced over the years from my own experience. My main customers
are fuel burners of well over 5,000 gallons per year per engine, with some
approaching 40,000+ gallons per year, so this is where I come from, NOT from
something "I read"...
For a typical 8-12 L marine engine w/ flow rates of around 75 GPH and someone
who wants to use a simple and very effective multi-state fuel system or a "primary
fuel system"* before feeding fuel to his engine last chance fuel filter, using
the Fleetguard FF5013 in combination with a FS 1000 is a proven and very effective
system. For a simple upgrade to this, using the new FS 19596 with a built-in
WIF sensor ( this is a new filter that fits/replaces where the FS1000 does,
has more dirt holding capacity, and is a 7-8 mic hi-performance unit rated
at 90GPH w/ a minimum pressure drop), he can't go wrong. This combo is miles
ahead in capacity, quality, safety of delivering clean fuel, and ease of use,
compared to a Racor 1000. |
