Fuel Line Filter / Water Separator

[Kelly Hanson East]

There might be a misconception that these external filters separate water from water-ethanol-fuel mixtures. They dont.

Mercury engines come with a water separator under the cowl already of course. I check mine before each weeklong cruise.

[c130king]

...Mercury engines come with a water separator under the cowl already of course. I check mine before each weeklong cruise.

Did not know that. Does that apply to 2-strokes as well? Will have to check that on my Merc. I have one of those glass tube type in-line filters on the fuel line coming out of my tank. It came "unscrewed" one time and since it is upstream of the bulb I could get no pressure when I pumped the bulb...was just pulling air through the unscrewed glass tube. But it was a very easy fix once I figured out what was wrong.

Jim

[Waterbear]

Information resource WMC 2010:
Racor 10 mic, "Racor's famous Aquabloc filter separates water into the bottom of
the drain bowel and ensures virtually 100% removal of water and
solid contaminants".
Also "designed for use on suction side of pump"

Sierra Filters: "10 micron filter eliminates harmful contaminants at over 90%
efficiency, while removing over 98% of emulsified water".

[Kelly Hanson East]

hile removing over 98% of emulsified water".

The emulsified being the key word there. The problem is, in a water-ethanol-gasoline solution, the water is no longer emulisified, but in a true chemical solution that the filter will not separate - up to about 0.5% water vol/vol IIRC....

[ROAD Soldier]

You know what happens to a Jet engine when you fly through rain? It cleans out the engine and has better performance after it stops raining. Back before fuel injection became the mainstay for cars I used to dribble a glass of water down a carburetor at high idle to cause a sudden temperature change in the cylinders that would make all the soot break up and go out the exhaust causing it to run better. Now unless you are stupid enough to leave you vent open for months at a time or you leave the vent open while you are pressure washing that area with my 2600PSI pressure washer then don't worry about that little bit of water vapor that may or may not get absorbed. It may actually do more good than harm after you burn all that fuel and then refuel that tank.

[NiceAft]

ROAD Soldier said: I

used to dribble a glass of water down a carburetor

My father was a chief petty officer in the engine rooms of destroyers during WWII. He told me that once he served on a PT boat tender in the south pacific. The PT boats had airplane engines in them, and a trick that was used to make them go even faster was to drip water directly into the carburetors from a bottle overhead. My father said the steam created when the gas was combusted, produced even more power.

Ray

[ROAD Soldier]

It makes the air mixture more dense. The P 51 mustang had water injection that it used at high altitude in order to make that thin air more dense so it couldl out climb any Nazi properller driven Aircraft.

[Russ]

Yea, I remember seeing "water injection" system in the JC Whitney catalog. Was supposed to help engine performance.

Gasoline engines don't hate water in fuel as much as diesel engines.
Dirt and such is bad for all engines.


--Russ

[Waterbear]

If I put a jet engine, PT Boat engine, or diesel engine on my 26X, I'll considered
taking the filter off, but until then the 100.00 investment is much cheeper than
carb rebuilding, and for some reason gives me a sense of security.

[The Mutt]

As Russ mentiones diesels don't like water, our tow vehicle has 4 filters and 2 water separators (from factory) and yes the second water separator is needed.

With petrol will the old trick of putting a bit of metho in the tank to help when a bit of water in the fuel work with a 2 stroke?

Glenn

[Russ]

If I put a jet engine, PT Boat engine, or diesel engine on my 26X, I'll considered
taking the filter off, but until then the 100.00 investment is much cheeper than
carb rebuilding, and for some reason gives me a sense of security.

Well, if you put a diesel engine in, you better ADD another filter or two. They don't likes the Dihydrogen Monoxide in the fuel.

Like I said, there is NOTHING wrong with being prudent. And if I were taking my Mac offshore to Catalina, Block Island or using unknown gas pumps, I might want some added security as well. A $100 investment for peace of mind, priceless. Just make sure you hook it up properly and use quality clamps.

--Russ

[Sumner]

....Like I said, there is NOTHING wrong with being prudent.............. or using unknown gas pumps, I might want some added security as well. A $100 investment for peace of mind, priceless. Just make sure you hook it up properly and use quality clamps......--Russ

Exactly our thoughts .

We are adding an inboard 16 fuel tank to the Mac for planned trips and who knows how long that gas might be in there before we use it. We will not be in a situation where it can be replaced every 2 weeks. We haven't even burned 16 gallons, since we got the Mac, but plan more trips on Powell where we might motor over 100 miles to see and sail different remote areas of the lake. Also we hope to be in Florida for maybe 3 months and don't want to have to find marina's to re-fuel at on a regular basis. We are also tired of having the individual gas containers and the safety hazards associated with those. We will add Marine STA-BIL to the gas and I'll be making a way to empty the tank at the end of the season and using the unused gas in one of our vehicles.

If gas has some water in it I can see possibly adding a can of heet to the gas, but the concept of having ethanol/gas mix like what you buy and having it remove water is totally different. The ethanol blend is not going to remove water, but possibly draw water to the fuel. It makes no difference to me if one wants to not run a water separator, but for our situation Russ said it "A $100 investment for peace of mind, priceless."

c ya,

Sum

Our Trips to...

Our Mac Pages

Mac Links

[trip01]

I found this one...

http://www.whitworths.com.au/main_itemd ... lutePage=1

In the smaller 25GPH size for the 60hp though.

Now where to mount so it can be used from either side fuel tank.

Anyone already installed Photos

Kind Rgds
Dave
26M / Yamaha 60 4 str

[Kelly Hanson East]

Glenn - I think you have to be careful with methanol in 2 stroke mixed gas with older ones (higher oil:gas ratios)

On Seagulls, the viscosity of the oil fuel mix determines the mixture so methanol will mess that up. On an injected engine, my guess is that wont matter. Check with the MFG to see if methanol is recommended though

[The Mutt]

Glenn - I think you have to be careful with methanol in 2 stroke mixed gas with older ones (higher oil:gas ratios)

On Seagulls, the viscosity of the oil fuel mix determines the mixture so methanol will mess that up. On an injected engine, my guess is that wont matter. Check with the MFG to see if methanol is recommended though

Aussie slang strikes again .... what we call Metho in Oz is also known as Metholated Spirit, from memory you will know it as Denatured alchohol, the same stuff you use in your stove, a half cup in cars fuel tank mixes with the water particles allowing them to pass and burn easier, when you travel in some of the more remote parts of Oz it's a good trick to minimize problems .... some of the fuel tanks you get your fuel from in arid locations are 44 gallon drums that look like left-overs from the war, possibly the Great War, when the next fuel is up to 1000 KM's or more away you take what you can get, I have also got water from petrol stations in the Sydney Metro area, half cup Metho a few speed humps and the motor starts settling down to an acceptable level.

Glenn