Fuel polisher question

sndog said:

I am looking at building and installing a fuel polishing system for my boat. My main tank is around 2700 gallons and my other main tank is around 800 gallons. Both can fill, what is called my day tank, which is about 300 gallons. I am wondering if I need to use 1, or 2, racor 1000 filters for fuel polishing system.

Thank you

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Delfin said:

There's no perfect answer. I have two for redundancy, and also to allow polishing at 10 microns and transferring to the day tank thru a 2 micron which matches the filtration of the CAT OEM filter. The other issue is the pump motors. There's no point in having two 1000s if the pump only puts out 3gpm, which is the limit of the Racor. I have two pumps - 1/3 HP ac motors spinning 180 gph carbonator pumps, so can push 6 gpm if both are engaged. The final consideration is what plan B would be if a single pump craps out. In my case, getting fuel to the day tank without the pumps would be very tough, so redundant pumps makes sense for me.

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Mac2 said:

My tankage is similar to yours. I tapped into my transfer manifold for the input to the polisher and added a return line to the top of each tank (5). I added a voltage regulator to the system shown to slow down the flow rate. I run through both filters-30 micron then 10 micron. I have long runs (up to 100 feet both ways) through 3/4 inch fuel line, so vacuum gauge is in the red but I have reference points. The only issue I had was blowing up procon pumps. I tried two different procon pumps but both failed. The below pump has worked perfectly for the past year. I used Marine Tex for most of the fittings and haven’t had a single leak. Good luck with your system. Picture below shows Procon pump which was replaced.

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Mac2 said:

My tankage is similar to yours. I tapped into my transfer manifold for the input to the polisher and added a return line to the top of each tank (5). I added a voltage regulator to the system shown to slow down the flow rate. I run through both filters-30 micron then 10 micron. I have long runs (up to 100 feet both ways) through 3/4 inch fuel line, so vacuum gauge is in the red but I have reference points. The only issue I had was blowing up procon pumps. I tried two different procon pumps but both failed. The below pump has worked perfectly for the past year. I used Marine Tex for most of the fittings and haven’t had a single leak. Good luck with your system. Picture below shows Procon pump which was replaced.

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Delfin said:

Curious what the specific issue was with the Procon pumps. I have 17 years on mine with no problems.

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O C Diver said:

To answer your original question, I would and did use one Racor 1000 filter separator. Below is a picture of my setup. A Racor 1000 is rated for 180 GPH.

What I would do differently next time would be 2 pumps. In essence, you want a fast pump for fuel transfer (3 GPM) and a slower (50 GPH) (bullet proof) pump to run continuously whenever the engine is running or you need to clean suspect fuel.

My choice for the second pump would be a plunger style, most likely Facet / Purolator. Basically they're a magnet coil pulling a plunger up against a spring with 2 simple check valves. They are incredibly reliable, often used in sub 12KW generators, and light sport aircraft. Part of the appeal of plunger style pump is simplicity and a failure of the mechanism can't cause a leak.

Regarding Procon pumps:
The below picture includes a Procon pump. That is my second one. The first one was covered under warranty by WW Grainger. The pump locked up and damaged the motor.



Ted

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