Opinion: Goldenrod Filter/Water Separator???

[mvweebles]

My engine room does not have vertical clearance for a Racor 1000 (definitely not a Gulf Coast paper towel). For poliishing only, I am looking mostly for water separation with coarse filtration to grab pigs & chickens after fill-up or after long settle times.

Any experience with US-made Goldenrod? Thoughts? Alternatives for water sep?

https://www.amazon.com/GOLDENROD-49...53&sprefix=goldenrod+495+bowl,aps,173&sr=8-12

Peter

 

[Simi 60]

Looked at these a while ago for a 240v transfer pump and filter setup.

Found golden rod, Baldwin and others doing same same

Baldwin B10
https://www.westernfilters.net.au/b...V3PoyHaYGuEh6yWcsZaO0fJZ9B4Hmk3hoCf34QAvD_BwE

B10 clone maybe ??
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001431098329.html

 

[O C Diver]

Does a Racor 900 fit? The water separator is the same as a 1000, but the filter is half the vertical height and maximum flow rate is halfed to 90 GPH. I had one of these on a previous boat with a Grey Marine 6-71. It worked quite well inspite of some dirty fuel tanks.

Ted

 

[mvweebles]

Does a Racor 900 fit? The water separator is the same as a 1000, but the filter is half the vertical height and maximum flow rate is halfed to 90 GPH. I had one of these on a previous boat with a Grey Marine 6-71. It worked quite well inspite of some dirty fuel tanks.

Ted

I think the 900 is the direction I will go. I like the Goldenrod because the filter media itself is clearly visible in the bowl, but mounting it is difficult: it's designed to have rigid NPT pipe which serves as the mounting brackets. Like most smaller boats, I use hose with barbed nipples.

Thanks

Peter

 

[twistedtree]

Whatever filter you pick, be sure the allowed flow rate meets your needs. A Racor 900, for example, is good for up to 90gph, but that’s only 1.5 gpm which is slow as a fuel transfer rate, and even slower for any sort of polishing.

 

[mvweebles]

Whatever filter you pick, be sure the allowed flow rate meets your needs. A Racor 900, for example, is good for up to 90gph, but that’s only 1.5 gpm which is slow as a fuel transfer rate, and even slower for any sort of polishing.

Good point - any suggestions for a bulkhead mount filter/water-sep that isnt the size of a small garbage can?

Peter

 

[rslifkin]

If you can fit 2 units side by side, you can always plumb 2 filters in parallel to get double the flow.

 

[O C Diver]

Whatever filter you pick, be sure the allowed flow rate meets your needs. A Racor 900, for example, is good for up to 90gph, but that’s only 1.5 gpm which is slow as a fuel transfer rate, and even slower for any sort of polishing.

While I agree with you in general, one needs to consider the volume of fuel being polished. For my 350 gallon tanks, a Racor 1000 with a 2.5 GPM works well and is reasonable for fuel transfer. The OP indicated that this was for polishing only and probably has a smaller tank capacity on his 36' boat.

Using a Racor 900 with a Facet 50 GPH plunger style pump could give him very reasonable polishing and that style of pump with a substantially longer life expectancy means that he could run it whenever the engine or generator was running.

Ted

 

[mvweebles]

I actually carry around 450 gallons of diesel. I'll know for sure in a few weeks when I fill the tanks from dry.

I called Dutton-Lainson and talked to an engineer. First, the "Goldenrod" filter is rated at up to 25 gpm (yes, per-minute). Steve D's article on fuel polishing discusses getting enough flow to cause some turbidity and agitation. I have a spare Groco Vane Pump rated at 6.5 gpm so will use that. BTW - the Dutton-Lainson company is headquartered in Hastings, Nebraska, and has been making their products in the US since 1886.

Second, they recommend their Goldenrod filters be placed on the pressure side of the pump (Racor recommends the vacuum side). Reason being is they have had some issues with air getting pulled in under high-flow situations.

Finally, mounting. Jeff, the engineer at Dutton, was unaware of any off-the-shelf options, but had seen pictures from people who had bulk-head mounted one with fabricated brackets. I'm in Mexico and have found a welder of decent skill and pretty reasonable price so may go that route.

For some reason, I feel like I'm always reinventing the wheel when I work on a boat. I'm far from an expert here, but my sense is polishing is a coarse filtration process - 30 micron is more than fine enough. Mostly I worry about water. The good side on the Racor is they have the turbine action which probably helps (couldn't hurt). But high flow and visible filter element makes sense too.

Let me know if any of the above causes concern.

Will update when I make a decision. Thanks for the input -

Peter

 

[C lectric]

Confirm this with others but my understanding is that a pressure fed application will emulsify the fuel and the water which then allow the water to pass through the filter media. THat will defeat your intention.
Be carefull.

 

[O C Diver]

Unless you are planning on returning the fuel horizontally across the bottom of the tank, I have a hard time visualizing 6.5 GPM stirring up the bottom if your dumping it on the top of a 450 gallon tank.

Ted

 

[Brooksie]

On my Willard, instead of a "mud filter" I came off the bottom of the tanks sloping down to the center of the bulkhead and put a tee pointing down with a standpipe (dripleg) going almost down to the shaft w/ a valve and plug. Part way down that standpipe (dripleg) is a tee that goes to the filters.
This way the gunk rolls into the dripleg and can be drained off and any air can just roll from one tank to the other and dissipate. Worked great for me.