Fuel/water separator change?? When

[natedog337]

Wondering what the best time to change my 10 micron separator. Before I take boat out the first time in the season or after the first run??

 

[JoLin]

Re: Fuel/water separator change?? When

It's an item I change annually, before the boat is splashed.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Fuel/water separator change?? When

I like to change it after the first run of the season. My logic is that water that built up over the off-season will be trapped during the first run of the season.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Fuel/water separator change?? When

+1 with the first tune up of the year and every 100 hours thereafter if you're a high use boater.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Fuel/water separator change?? When

A filter will last anywhere from 10 minutes to 5 years, depending on the amount of "stuff" you have in your fuel. Changing the filter a time based schedule is no better than changing the oil in your car every 90 days if you drive it or not.

The only real way to determine the useful life of a filter is to monitor vacuum required to pull the fuel thru the filter. I use a simple, screw in vacuum monitor that screws into the extra port on the filter base and lets me know when the filter is starting to see some restriction. With filters running $25-30 each, the monitor has paid for itself many times over since I installed it 5 years ago.

What I’ve found in the past 5 years is that filters start to rust out (~ 2 years) long before they need changed for performance purposes.

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: Fuel/water separator change?? When

I fill up on the way to the Lake at the gas station I use for my vehicles, I rarely if ever use the Marina gas and I normally put about 70 hours a season on my boat, knowing that I change my Separator at the beginning of the year with the spring tune up.