Racor Fuel Filter - Metal Bowl

[britinusa]

I have read through many posts and the wiki about the fuel filters for our boats (1987 C34)

But did yet find a definitive answer to this question.

The filter on Eximius is a Racor R26T with a metal bowl.

It's the metal bowl that is my concern. Obviously, detecting water or grit in the bowl is not possible without removing the filter and then nearly impossible to detect if the fuel in the bowl has water in it. (I guess I could unspin the filter and drain the fuel into a bottle and let it settle)

So, I'm considering changing either bowl or the entire filter unit.

Questions comes down to:
#1 Can I just change the bowl (about $30) or the entire unit (about $250)

#Can anyone point out the correct replacement filter unit (yes, I've read the issues about 2mircon,10micron, etc.).

(Just trying to ward off any unnecessary 'go read the posts'  )

Paul

[Noah]

Don't know about switching bowl but the Racor 500 Turbine series is $215 at WM and you will save $ on the cartridges every filter change.

[Stu Jackson]

Noah's right.  Cheaper filters vs more expensive "guts."    In the larger scheme of things, conclusions vary.

Your boat, your choice.  

In my experience, many folks, when researching this "metal bowl vs clear plastic bowl" issue mistakenly believe that our filters (on Mark I series boats under the head sink) are in the engine room.

My understanding is that the metal bowl is needed in an engine room, but plastic is fine just where it is.  Makes reading the "contents" easier, too, Paul's right.

 

[Ron Hill]

Paul : I'm not familiar with the "metal" Racor bowl. 
However, the plastic Racor bowl does have the drain plug on the bottom just so you can drain water out of the bowl. 

You might want to check if the metal bowl has that feature.

A thought

[KWKloeber]

Paul : I'm not familiar with the "metal" Racor bowl. 
However, the plastic Racor bowl does have the drain plug on the bottom just so you can drain water out of the bowl. 

You might want to check if the metal bowl has that feature.

A thought

The metal bowls spin on series have a drain, but not a plastic twist thumb nut with the hose barb.  You have to unscrew a standard type pipe plug.

Just FYI, I replaced the OEM filter on my M-25 with a Racor 120 spin-on series filter - and have run it with that for nearly 20 years.  Have been very happy with it.  The 120 is the smallest footprint assembly and is plenty enough capacity for our diesels (rated like 30 gals/hour.) 

FWIW, I did research and comparisons of primary and secondary filters a few years ago and wrote for mfgr test results of filter efficiencies.  Although marketed/sold as a "2u" filter, by current test standards the Racor spin on filter are actually rated 4u.   Here's the statement by Racor.

99% or better @ 4 microns
"From what I understand, the 2 micron branding on our filters is a leftover from pre NIST counting standards (from before Wally started here in 1981) and is more of a marketing name than a designation based on test data." –Parker Hannifin, Racor Division 8/8/2012 email

For the secondary filter, I found that you can't buy a better filter than a FleetGuard brand.  The OEM filters are not as efficient as the FleetGuards.

FleetGuard
65% efficient @ 2u
82% efficient @ 10u
98.67% efficient @ 20u

Universal/Kubota
95% efficient @ 25u.

Ken

[britinusa]

thanks guys, great responses.

I'm considering replacing the current filter with one of these

Paul

[Roc]

That looks to be the one I have that came from Catalina (OEM) when I bought the boat.

[Solstice]

Stu is right, the metal bowl is designed for filters in an engine room. My 355 has a dedicated filter locker and came with a metal bowl. The very first thing I did is switch it out for a plastic bowl. I want to be able to see what my fuel looks like at a glance. I don't have the height for a 500 series, so I use a 20T sized filter.