How does a Racor water separator work?

[cowboyup]

I've got the kind with the clear blue bowl and a drain at the bottom. I used a mason jar the other day to catch what came out of the filter. It quickly separated into two sections...a tan/brownish section (at the bottom) with very small, weird shaped things floating in it and a clear top section. How do you know when to change the filter? I run offshore so I burn 40 - 50 gallons a trip so there's a lot of fuel being filtered. Thanks for your help.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: How does a Racor water separator work?

[colour=blue]The paper element is treated with a chemical that allows gas to pass but not water, the water will run off the element and into the bowl.

You should change the filter at set maintenance periods or if dirty fuel is suspected. A small amount of water in the bowl is quite normal (from condensation in the tank), a large amount of water should raise the red flag.

Carry a spare.

 

[Mark42]

Re: How does a Racor water separator work?

You might want to siphon the bottom of your tank off to into a 5 or 6 gallon gas tank to see how much water might be in there.

Regardless, the junk you found does not sound good. Brown stuff is probably rusty water. Do you have metal tanks? Maybe your supplier has contaminants.

How old is the filter element? Like Dunaruna said, be sure to carry a spare filter.

 

[cowboyup]

Re: How does a Racor water separator work?

Thanks fellas. Yes I do have an aluminum 85 gallon fuel tank that I've personally rebuilt thanks to this forum. I use the same gas station for my truck with no problems. I'll try new filters though, as they're cheap and give me peace of mind. I think seawater may be entering through the fuel fill vents on the side of the boat. It's been through rough seas recently so I might put a larger clamshell over the existing vents. I'll run it this week and see if I get the same amount of water.

 

[Mark42]

Re: How does a Racor water separator work?

Seawater will look brown. Best to siphon off what you can rather than leave it in there for the filters to deal with.