Many of you have asked me to once again go through the procedure of how to purge and clean a cartridge-type fuel filter without removing it. Here we go again.... The pump I use is a Jabsco Handy Boy Hand Pump, model number 34060-0010, originally designed for pumping out lube oil from engines. The method I use will work on any cartridge-type filter that has a plug or spout on the bottom for purposes of draining. On my boat I have installed vaccuum gauges on my fuel filters to make me aware of when they are beginning to clog with dirt. My procedure is to slide a tight fitting hose over the drain spigot of my Racor filters and have a handy container to pump into, and then pump furiously to build up suction in the filter bowl. You will notice the bowl will get black with dirt because what you are doing is back flushing the cartridge filter. I keep pumping until the fuel in the bowl becomes clear then I know I've flushed the filter as much as I am able to. Close the spigot and you now have a fairly clean filter cartridge. The proof of this is previous to cleaning my vaccuum gauge would show about 12-15lbs. of vaccuum with the engines running at cruise and after cleaning, the vaccuum is usually approximately 3-5 lbs. My Racor filter cartridges now have about 2,000 hours on them and have gone through 5 or 6 cleanings. I removed one of the cartridges to check its condition and it looks almost as clean as new. The method I've outlined is much quicker, more economical, and much easier and cleaner to do than to change thecartridge, take a chance of getting air into the system and refill the bowl. This pump is handy to have along in the event you are somewhere and your filters begin to clog up and you can't find a replacement cartridge. Just take out your trusty little Handy Boy and in less than 5 minutes, you will have cleaned your filter. I believe this will also work on the Dahl for it has a similar drain spigot on the bottom and it will work on any other cartridge-type filter that comes with a spigot or one that you have installed to prepare for a purging. I hope I have been clear in the madness to my method of cleaning filters. Also please record it for your own information for the future for I've done this 3 times now, and three strikes you're out. I hope this will make your engine room duties a lot easier, save a few bucks and perhaps get you out of trouble a long way from home and access to filter cartridges. Captain Al . Captain Al Pilvinis "M/V Driftwood"--Prairie 47 2630 N.E. 41st Street Lighthouse Point, Fl 33064-8064 Voice 954-941-2556 Fax 954 788-2666 Email yourcaptain@earthlink.net Website http://home.earthlink.net/~yourcaptain

----- Original Message ----- From: Al Pilvinis <yourcaptain@earthlink.net> > My procedure is to slide a tight fitting hose > over the drain spigot of my Racor filters and have a handy container to > pump into, and then pump furiously to build up suction in the filter bowl. > You will notice the bowl will get black with dirt because what you are > doing is back flushing the cartridge filter. I keep pumping until the fuel > in the bowl becomes clear then I know I've flushed the filter as much as I > am able to. > > I believe this will also work on the Dahl for it has a similar drain spigot > on the bottom and it will work on any other cartridge-type filter that > comes with a spigot or one that you have installed to prepare for a purging. > First, let me say that I don't argue with results. Having said that, I've got a couple of questions and/or comments. The flow diagram for the Dahl filter (presumably very similar to Racor) shows that fuel enters at the top and is first sent down to the separation zone at the bottom and then rises up to the filter element near the top where it flows from the outside to the inside and the exits to the engine. This implies that fuel is being drawn from the engine side of the filter in order to backflush the element. Is that assumption correct? Most paper filter elements are intended to pass fluids in one direction only and if my assumption is correct about this procedure then pumping "furiously" would seem to create the potential for rupturing the element. Therefore, I would caution people using this technique to beware of the vacuum gauge showing too low a reading (i.e. zero inches) which would indicate a failure of the element. Curiously yours, Alex

At 08:16 AM 12/1/99 -0800, you wrote: > >----- Original Message ----- >From: Al Pilvinis <yourcaptain@earthlink.net> >> My procedure is to slide a tight fitting hose >> over the drain spigot of my Racor filters and have a handy container to >> pump into, and then pump furiously to build up suction in the filter bowl. >> You will notice the bowl will get black with dirt because what you are >> doing is back flushing the cartridge filter. I keep pumping until the >fuel >> in the bowl becomes clear then I know I've flushed the filter as much as I >> am able to. >> >> I believe this will also work on the Dahl for it has a similar drain >spigot >> on the bottom and it will work on any other cartridge-type filter that >> comes with a spigot or one that you have installed to prepare for a >purging. >> > >First, let me say that I don't argue with results. Having said that, I've >got a couple of questions and/or comments. > >The flow diagram for the Dahl filter (presumably very similar to Racor) >shows that fuel enters at the top and is first sent down to the separation >zone at the bottom and then rises up to the filter element near the top >where it flows from the outside to the inside and the exits to the engine. >This implies that fuel is being drawn from the engine side of the filter in >order to backflush the element. Is that assumption correct? > >Most paper filter elements are intended to pass fluids in one direction only >and if my assumption is correct about this procedure then pumping >"furiously" would seem to create the potential for rupturing the element. >Therefore, I would caution people using this technique to beware of the >vacuum gauge showing too low a reading (i.e. zero inches) which would >indicate a failure of the element. > > >Curiously yours, > >Alex ===================================================== Alex thind about it, you can' draw fuel from the engine side. The filter is clensed from the tank side. Once again The fuel comes from the tank and the centrifuge creates a swirling action that washes away the dirt on the tank side of the filter and you suck it all out into a container. Hope this helps. AL . Captain Al Pilvinis "M/V Driftwood"--Prairie 47 2630 N.E. 41st Street Lighthouse Point, Fl 33064-8064 Voice 954-941-2556 Fax 954 788-2666 Email yourcaptain@earthlink.net Website http://home.earthlink.net/~yourcaptain