Water separator general question

[109jb]

I have a Sea Sense fuel/water separator that uses a spin on canister filter. It is the style like in the first picture below. I would like to switch to a filter that has a clear bowl and drain for draining water off. I would think that if I buy the kit in the second picture that has a filter and bowl but no bracket that I could use it with my existing bracket. Anyone know if this will work/not work.

Thanks.

 

[robert graham]

Re: Water separator general question

I've thought of doing the same thing on mine, so I'll be interested if somebody on here knows about this. It has to be better to see the water and be able to drain it out with that little valve.

 

[robert graham]

Re: Water separator general question

Also, please let me know where you buy that Mallory filter with the clear bowl. If this will work, I'm going to do it. Thanks!

 

[109jb]

Re: Water separator general question

Her is a link to the mallory kit that has the filter and clear bowl. It saves about $30 to $40 not having to buy the bracket and I wouldn't have to mess with replacing the bracket.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MAA-9-37882

 

[dingbat]

Re: Water separator general question

There are only two types of filter heads on the market.

One is the "Mercury type", called that because it was OEM for Mercury Marine. The other is what they call the OMC/Evinrude Style, because it was OEM OMC/ Evinrude type.

The Merc head has 11/16"-16 thread and the OMC has a 1"-12 thread. Most filter heads have the 11/16"-16 thread but I would check before ordering.

Can't speak for the other brands but the Racor B32103 fits the merc heads and the Racor B32014 fits the OMC head

FWIW: The filter is the most important parts of the system yet few know the difference between a good and bad filter. Most just assume that as long as they both filter to 10 um they are equal in performance. In reality, that couldn?t be further from the truth.

The pressure drop (flow restriction) thru a filter is critical to the performance of both the filter and the fuel pump. A lower pressure filter keeps the load on the fuel pump at a minimun and will last longer than ones with a higher PD. I have seen filters with pressure drops of 2-3 psi.

You also want to check the water separation efficiencies. Filter efficiencies vary from less than 90% to 99.9% efficient.

The filters I use cost a couple of dollars more per filter, but they have less than a ?-psi drop thru them and they are 99.9% efficient in water removal.

 

[d.boat]

Re: Water separator general question

There are only two types of filter heads on the market.

One is the "Mercury type", called that because it was OEM for Mercury Marine. The other is what they call the OMC/Evinrude Style, because it was OEM OMC/ Evinrude type.

The Merc head has 11/16"-16 thread and the OMC has a 1"-12 thread. Most filter heads have the 11/16"-16 thread but I would check before ordering.

Can't speak for the other brands but the Racor B32103 fits the merc heads and the Racor B32014 fits the OMC head

FWIW: The filter is the most important parts of the system yet few know the difference between a good and bad filter. Most just assume that as long as they both filter to 10 um they are equal in performance. In reality, that couldn?t be further from the truth.

The pressure drop (flow restriction) thru a filter is critical to the performance of both the filter and the fuel pump. A lower pressure filter keeps the load on the fuel pump at a minimun and will last longer than ones with a higher PD. I have seen filters with pressure drops of 2-3 psi.

You also want to check the water separation efficiencies. Filter efficiencies vary from less than 90% to 99.9% efficient.

The filters I use cost a couple of dollars more per filter, but they have less than a ?-psi drop thru them and they are 99.9% efficient in water removal.

Good information. I knew everything except the quality stuff. I did happen to see that my Racor filters claim 99% efficiency in the water removal, but kind of assumed every filter sold for water separation purposes would have the same - near total water removal. Why would anyone market a filter that doesn't remove virtually all the water? I can't believe anyone would actually buy one regardless of how much cheaper they are.

Now that I know there are differences among brands I'll look closely if ever given a choice. I'll have to pay attention to the pressure drop too, because my big 200 HP V6 with built in aluminum fuel tanks needs all the help it can get with both fuel flow and water removal! I've never seen anything locally other than Racor (for the drain bowl type filter I'm using now), so I've never had the temptation to spend less money, and had no idea that there would be a difference in performance.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: Water separator general question

Here is a link about fuel filters. It's been around the 'net for a while.

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/fuelFilter.pdf