Racor Fuel/Water Separator

Azura C/C

Cadet
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
11
I was just wondering if somone could please tell me how you can tell when the bottom bowl of a Racor fuel water separator should be drained. I have a 30 gph Racor fuel/water separator on my boat and I do not quite understand how it exactly functions, I know that fuel is lighter than water so it flows above any water in the filter and that the heavier water is trapped in the filter but, is all of the liquid that I see in the bottom bowl of my filter water or fuel? Also, how can you tell when the filter should be changed? I am asking this because over the weekend when I had my boat out one day it was running like a top (brand new filter, never used) and the next day it was starting fine but, would not make top rpm's at WOT and seemed to be lossing rpm's slowly like it was starving for gas. Also, just out of curiosity I drained my bowl on my Racor and found that the contents did not seem to be strongly gas smelling (almosted seemed diluted) and that was after one day of low usage. I could reallly use any insite possible on this.

Also, If I am finding quite a bit of water in my fuel how do I go about draining it out of the tank? Can I just stick a hose into the bottom and pump it out? The boat was purchased used and the gas I am running in it is the first gas that has been run through it in the last 5 or so years and prior to that it sat outside neglected for many years.
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Racor Fuel/Water Separator

you don't what boat or motor, if you can get to the fuel sending unit, you can open it, get a hose small enough to go thru transom drain, and siphon it.
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Re: Racor Fuel/Water Separator

If you have any reason to believe there's a problem with the fuel system don't use the boat until it can be thoroughly cleaned or that new motor will be junk in a hurry.
 

dajohnson53

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Apr 28, 2004
Messages
1,627
Re: Racor Fuel/Water Separator

I was just wondering if somone could please tell me how you can tell when the bottom bowl of a Racor fuel water separator should be drained. I have a 30 gph Racor fuel/water separator on my boat and I do not quite understand how it exactly functions, I know that fuel is lighter than water so it flows above any water in the filter and that the heavier water is trapped in the filter but, is all of the liquid that I see in the bottom bowl of my filter water or fuel? Also, how can you tell when the filter should be changed? ....

I have a Racor filter with a "clear" (blue) bowl. Don't worry about deciding when to drain it. From the sounds of it, you should just drain it every time you use the engine until you get an idea of how often it's needed. I do it about every 10 hours of use.

I have never been able to tell if there's water or fuel in the bowl just by looking. What I do is keep a small glass jam jar with lid on board. I drain the bowl into the jar and look at it. You can tell if it's water, fuel or water/fuel gunk. If I'm getting pure fuel out, I just dump the jar back into the tank. If it's contaminated I dispose of as best I can. If it's totally water or totally contaminated fuel, I dump the jar and drain the bowl again until I finally get pure fuel.


I... I am asking this because over the weekend when I had my boat out one day it was running like a top (brand new filter, never used) and the next day it was starting fine but, would not make top rpm's at WOT and seemed to be lossing rpm's slowly like it was starving for gas. Also, just out of curiosity I drained my bowl on my Racor and found that the contents did not seem to be strongly gas smelling (almosted seemed diluted) and that was after one day of low usage. I could reallly use any insite possible on this....

That sounds like contaminated fuel. Just drain the bowl frequently like described above, and every time, drain it until you get pure fuel. Often it is obvious: a layer of fuel and a layer of water underneath it. Sometimes the smell is like varnish rather than gasoline. Pure fuel of course is clear (and tinted if you premix with oil) and smells only like gasoline.

...Also, If I am finding quite a bit of water in my fuel how do I go about draining it out of the tank? Can I just stick a hose into the bottom and pump it out? The boat was purchased used and the gas I am running in it is the first gas that has been run through it in the last 5 or so years and prior to that it sat outside neglected for many years.

One way to attack the problem is just to frequently (like every hour or so) and regularly drain the filter bowl. I've done that - drain every couple of hours or so to get rid of water in the tank. It's kind of a hassle to pump out a fuel tank, unless you can somehow get a siphon action going into 5 gallon cans. I can't with my tanks so I do it that way.
 

Azura C/C

Cadet
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
11
Re: Racor Fuel/Water Separator

Thanks guys:) Sounds like I need to just keep draining the bowl frequently of siphon off the bottom layer of my fuel tank because I do not need my new motor going to hell already and from the looks of it, it is being choked out at WOT due to insufficent fuel flowage.
 

lots of boats

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 28, 2008
Messages
116
Re: Racor Fuel/Water Separator

Hi
I use racor filters too, the replacement elements are 4 microns, which was recommended for 90 Tohatsu TLDI. The filter elements can accumulate enough contamination to restrict fuel flow, in other word it pays to carry a spare, and you must carry a spare if there is any chance of the filter freezing.

Cheers.
 
Last edited:

gss036

Commander
Joined
Jan 18, 2003
Messages
2,914
Re: Racor Fuel/Water Separator

You don't say what engine you are running, but you definately do not want to create alean fuel problem as that will cause you to "hole" a piston real quick. Keep a close watch on the filter and drain it often, what happens mainly is the water displaces the fuel capicity and it burns the fuel off the top of the water and leaves just water until you catch up with the flow again.
 
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