Advice on fuel system / water separator racor

[whgoffrn]

I am now upgrading my fuel system from 2 x 6 gal tanks to the 4x 6gal scepter tanks and while at it i decided to put in a racor fuel filter and water separator.....for those that have added one of these ..do they require an electric fuel pump or is the outboard suctioning fuel in enough to pull fuel through the filter? Also im assuming the primer pump goes before the filter right?

[Herschel]

I have a fuel/water filter in line between tanks and engine. Not aware of its brand. It is passive, however, no additional pump. I am 95% sure my inline bulb pump is between the filter and the engine. I'll go up and take a look at the boat next Monday and report back. You can just make out the pump in this pic, and it is clearly after the filter.

[Ixneigh]

I have a canister type filter and it's located between the tank and the primer bulb.
It seems to work fine just like that.
Ix

[whgoffrn]

So I believe I have mine hooked up wrong then I have mine tank bulb filter engine

[Jimmyt]

You're fine. We could debate this at length, but if the engine pump can draw fuel through both, order isn't relevant. Priming might be more difficult with the filter between bulb and tank, but it appears that folks are successfully running that way as well. If the bulb is between the filter and engine, it might serve as a dirty filter alarm if you see it go flat...

The filter should be upstream of any fuel pumps to allow the water separator to work (don't blend the water and fuel together before you try to separate it). OK, you might blend a little water during priming, but not sure it's worth worrying about. Some manufacturers indicate the bulb should be downstream of the filter, but don't give a reason for it. Legally, you should install it according to the manufacturer's instructions. The hot rodder in me says put it where it works best for you. Can you mount the filter where you can get to the priming bulb after a tank change if the bulb is on the engine side of the filter? Will you have to run an extra 10 feet of hose, or hang upside down to re-prime? Things to consider...

[whgoffrn]

I think the instructions do say filter first then bulb but I figured it wouldn't matter as long as the engine can suck fuel through both ....i may put it after just as u said so I can tell if the filter is clogged it will flatten out the bulb

[Estate Sail]

Three years ago I installed a rancor filter water separator like yours. I installed it below the seat on the forward vertical surface of the transom. No fuel pump required and the bulb is between the filter and fuel tank. Make sure the hose barbs are the largest diameter that will work or the engine will starve for fuel. Also, change the fuel filter every year. A great peace of mind mod.

[Ponaldpe]

I put the primer bulb between the filter and the fuel tank ,to me it seems to prime the filter better. It has worked fine for about a year , I mostly use the motor the get away from or back to the dock. But next time out I plan on running the tanks down to out in new fuel. That maybe a few weeks to many things going on to get out on the water.

[kurz]

I installed a bigger fuel filter / water separater INSIDE the merc50.

It is one linke this:

[Tomfoolery]

Wow, that looks just like the glass bowl water separators that were used on small engines back in the day. Small engines as in lawn mowers (reel) and similar machines. I remember the old Reo mowers used them (Reo Royale and Trim-a-lawn, which used the same engine), as those were my first playthings with engines when I was a kid in elementary school.

[Highlander]

Wow, that looks just like the glass bowl water separators that were used on small engines back in the day. Small engines as in lawn mowers (reel) and similar machines. I remember the old Reo mowers used them (Reo Royale and Trim-a-lawn, which used the same engine), as those were my first playthings with engines when I was a kid in elementary school.

Yep I,m pretty sure that,s just a water separator not a filter bad idea with installing inside the out board out of site out of mind ?

I have bought the same racor fuel filter / water separator it has two inlets & outlets so as u can run two fuel lines for two different engines through it nice feature if u also have a kicker engine but both engines must b either 2 stroke or 4 stroke unless the 2 stroke is oil injected directly

I,ll b mounting mine under the helmans seat but below it so as it is visible at all times easy to access the lower it is mounted the better for easier priming & easier on the fuel pump but with enough room below it to allow easy access to drain out water if need b & to allow the bowl to b removed to change the fuel filter , the barbs need to b the same size as ur fuel line I/D

whgoffrn
look,s like u have ur filter fuel lines on wrong I,m sure one side is inlet & the other is outlet , so u either have both fuel lines going thro inlets or outlets which means u r basically bypassing the filter altogether
I,ll check mine out it,s sitting in the back seat of my truck lol, I,ll check the manufactures installation instructions also , but I,ll most likely install the the primer bulb between the fuel tank & water/fuel filter it will make it easier to prime the whole system "my thinkin"

J
PS I bought a spare filter to keep on the boat also , also I believe the filter is flow directional , Ill check

[kurz]

well to be exact:
It is the water separator that has a filter inside that you can change:

[Highlander]

well to be exact:
It is the water separator that has a filter inside that you can change:

Now I see a filter ha ha

J

[Highlander]

whgoffrn
look,s like u have ur filter fuel lines on wrong I,m sure one side is inlet & the other is outlet , so u either have both fuel lines going thro inlets or outlets which means u r basically bypassing the filter altogether
I,ll check mine out it,s sitting in the back seat of my truck lol, I,ll check the manufactures installation instructions also , but I,ll most likely install the the primer bulb between the fuel tank & water/fuel filter it will make it easier to prime the whole system "my thinkin"

Looks like I was wrong after checking my Racor filter which is still in it,s box I see u can hook them up the way u did , u can use the inlet & outlet on the same side

J

[whgoffrn]

Yeah the top of the filter has the diagram showing 1,2,3,4 i may just put a bulb on both ends I can see good reason for either...the filter is just a paper filter so if the bulb is pre filter you could hypothetically put too much pressure priming it and blow a chunk through the paper filter rendering it useless ...however i can see how priming would be more difficult and take longer sucking fuel through it if the bulb was after the filter....a bulb is 10 bux I'll just get 2