Racor R15P vs. R20P

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Breakin Away

Some interesting specs and pricing on Racor spin-on filters.

My boat was supplied with a Racor R15P filter, and I've used exact replacements for the last few years. I'm looking for another one (or two), and getting sticker shock on the prices. Spin-on prices are much higher than the turbine-type filters, but vertical clearance is very limited in my boat, so these spin-on types fit better despite the high price on filter elements. I assume that is why Catalina used them on the MkII boats.

I'm currently getting about 13 months life out of my primary filters. I'm working on improving my fuel management to reduce filterable debris. Another alternative is a slightly larger filter element, which would basically trap more stuff before clogging. I might want to do both (belt and suspenders approach). The Racor R20P filter is 3/4" longer than the R15P and has about 30% more solids capacity (SAE J905 test method). In shopping around, I noticed that the R20P filters are about $10 less expensive than the smaller R15P!

I've measured that I have 1.5"-2" clearance to the hull under my filter bowl petcock, which I think would allow sufficient clearance to spin off/on the longer R20P filter element.

Do any other MkII owners have any experience with switching over to the R20P?

2001 MkII Breakin' Away, #1535, TR/WK, M35BC, Mantus 35# (at Rock Hall Landing Marina)

Stu Jackson

What you might want to do is find out what the fuel flow of the R15 is before you consider changing over.  Parker Filters is the website.  You may be surprised to see that the GPH or GPM rating of those filters is far in excess of the fuel flow for your engine.

Also, CY used these filters because the housing for the more expensive filters is a lot less expensive than the housings for the less expensive filters.  This has been true for decades.

You may not have to change anything.
Stu Jackson, C34 IA Secretary, #224 1986, "Aquavite"  Cowichan Bay, BC  Maple Bay Marina  SR/FK, M25, Rocna 10 (22#) (NZ model)

"There is no problem so great that it can't be solved."

Breakin Away

I have all the Racor specs and engineering drawings. The flow of R15P is plenty, and R20P is double that. My reasons for considering the change is less frequent filter changes (or greater safety factor if I continue to change annually), and lower cost of the better filter.

Catalina's reasons may have been cost, but turbine filters won't fit in that location regardless of price. Other locations seem to be in the way of things.

2001 MkII Breakin' Away, #1535, TR/WK, M35BC, Mantus 35# (at Rock Hall Landing Marina)

Ron Hill

#3
Breaking : Why not give the 20P a try? and then report back to us on your findings?

I did that on hundreds of items. It was either an "At-a-Boy" or an "Aw Shi_" 

A thought   :thumb:
Ron, Apache #788

Breakin Away

Quote from: Ron Hill on March 07, 2020, 01:01:59 PM
Breaking : Why not give the 20P a try? and then report back to us on your findings?

I did that on hundreds of items. It was either an "At-a-Boy" or an "Aw Shi_" 

A thought   :thumb:
That's what I plan to do unless someone says, "I tried it and it won't fit because xxxx." If that's the case, I'd avoid wasting my money.

2001 MkII Breakin' Away, #1535, TR/WK, M35BC, Mantus 35# (at Rock Hall Landing Marina)

Jon W

I'm curious, since you're using the r215 with a 30 micron Racor element instead of 10 micron, how frequently do you change the on engine fuel filter?
Jon W.
s/v Della Jean
Hull #493, 1987 MK 1, M25XP, 35# Mantus, Std Rig
San Diego, Ca

Breakin Away

#6
Quote from: Jon W on March 07, 2020, 03:00:58 PM
I’m curious, since you’re using the r215 with a 30 micron Racor element instead of 10 micron, how frequently do you change the on engine fuel filter?
Out of an abundance of caution, I've been changing the engine filter every 2 years, with no sign that it needed it. I might get more years out of it, but it's not worth the risk to try.

Racor says that the 10 micron R2xxT filters are meant for secondary filtration, not primary.

2001 MkII Breakin' Away, #1535, TR/WK, M35BC, Mantus 35# (at Rock Hall Landing Marina)

Jon W

10 micron can be used for the primary or secondary.
Jon W.
s/v Della Jean
Hull #493, 1987 MK 1, M25XP, 35# Mantus, Std Rig
San Diego, Ca

Breakin Away

#8
Quote from: Jon W on March 08, 2020, 12:46:47 AM
10 micron can be used for the primary or secondary.
I was careful to say that Racor recommends the RxxT filters for secondary (and RxxP for primary), as shown in the attached spec sheet. What any individual boat owner chooses to use is up to the owner, and will almost certainly not damage the engine or injectors so long as you are using the specified Universal filter on the engine itself.

This debate over 30 vs. 10 vs. 2 micron primary fuel filtration has taken place many times here and on other websites. I will provide my own reasoning for what I do in a little more detail, but I have no intention of changing your mind. IMO the main purpose of the primary filter is to extend the life of the secondary filter on the engine. It is fairly well known that the Universal 298854 secondary filter is 10 micron nominal and 24-25 micron absolute. So putting a 30 micron primary filter before it will extend the life of the secondary filter by taking out the "boulders" (and water), and allowing the smaller stuff through to the secondary filter (thus also extending the life of the primary filter). By splitting the load, lifetime is greatly increased, especially when you consider that the more porous filter cake that builds up on the 30 micron filter allows it to continue running for a much longer time without fully clogging. It will keep going until the downstream pressure drop is too much for the lift pump to "suck" the fuel through any more.

Using a Racor 10 micron nominal filter as primary would provide almost infinite life to the 298854, since it takes out about 95% of the stuff that the 298854 filter would otherwise trap. However, the 10 micron filter will clog much faster than an otherwise identical 30 micron filter, partly because there is more stuff that is trapped, and also (and importantly) the resulting filter cake is much less porous than what would be trapped by the 30 micron filter. My experience has been that my Racor 30 micron lasts only about a year, less than half the life of the 298854 (which I've never clogged). Since the R15P costs over $30, and the Universal 298854 costs only $15, I see no reason to use a 10 micron primary filter that will clog much faster and cost twice as much to replace.

I've only had this boat for 4 years, so not that much experience with fuel filtration on it. But I've been designing and manufacturing inkjet inks for over 20 years, and have seen over and over again that a two-stage filtration (where the primary filter is 2-3x larger than the secondary filter) can have up to 10x more life than a filtration assembly where both filters are the same. So I come at this issue with some bias already.

2001 MkII Breakin' Away, #1535, TR/WK, M35BC, Mantus 35# (at Rock Hall Landing Marina)

Jon W

#9
I'll see your PDF and raise you mine  :D (see page 2 Installation Instructions - Filtration)

FWIW - My OEM diesel tank started to leak so I replaced it with a new tank with two access plates on the top. I also replaced my fuel hoses from the tank to the shut-off valve and from the valve to the Racor and from the Racor to the on engine filter. So my tank and fuel hoses are clean. I use Pri-D diesel fuel treatment, and I use a small and large funnel filter/water separator when adding diesel to the 5 gal Jerry Cans and to the tank. The funnel filter data is all over the map, but is most commonly listed at "down to 50 micron". Interesting side note when I bought the funnel filter/water separators, the ones on the shelf were wrapped in Racor packaging but had Mr. Funnel stickers on the actual funnel filter/water separator. Priced very differently, but appear to be made in the same place. At least that's what I'm choosing to believe.
Jon W.
s/v Della Jean
Hull #493, 1987 MK 1, M25XP, 35# Mantus, Std Rig
San Diego, Ca

Noah

#10
Jon- is this your portable filter? Did you pay $31 or also pay the extra $112 to have it installed ?!?!?  Really, they list a price to have the funnel installed! What? :shock: :?
Gotta love Amazon!!

Mr. Funnel AF8CB Fuel Filter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SOKE5E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_0ZyzEb6X10YFH

1990 hull #1014, San Diego, CA,  Fin Keel,
Standard Rig

Jon W

Can't find my receipt but that looks like them. Going by memory I bought the 5 and 3.5 gpm versions. The 5 gpm for filling Jerry cans quick at the fuel dock. The 3.5 gpm was the largest to fit without hitting the push pit when inserted in the deck fuel fill. Important to get the black ones which are non conductive. I'll be at the boat tomorrow and double check.
Jon W.
s/v Della Jean
Hull #493, 1987 MK 1, M25XP, 35# Mantus, Std Rig
San Diego, Ca

Breakin Away

To get back to the original topic, I went to the boat today and did some work on the fuel system. I opened the drain cock at the bottom of the Racor, and am concerned that the 1.5-2" clearance under it is the minimum that will allow me to use it. I could put the R20P filter in, but with the extra 3/4" depth I'd never get even the smallest container under the petcock to drain anything out of the bowl. Even though I very rarely use that drain cock, I don't think it would be wise to eliminate its use.

FYI, I have the Mr. Funnel filter funnels, and use it most of the time when I fuel up.

2001 MkII Breakin' Away, #1535, TR/WK, M35BC, Mantus 35# (at Rock Hall Landing Marina)

Jon W

Hi Noah, checked today and I have the 3.5 and 5 gallon filter funnels.
Jon W.
s/v Della Jean
Hull #493, 1987 MK 1, M25XP, 35# Mantus, Std Rig
San Diego, Ca

Noah

1990 hull #1014, San Diego, CA,  Fin Keel,
Standard Rig