Which Fuel/water separator is best?

[Jeepster04]

Our boat has 3 Fuel/Water separators so getting filters at $10 a pop can get pretty costly. We usually replace them at least once per year and sometimes more depending on what happens. I believe the tanks are kinda nasty, so I want at least a 10 micron filter. So far weve been using Sierra fuel filter(18-7944). I can get them for $4 from marinepartssource. Ive not read anything about the quality of these filters so I was curious what others use and how much they cost.

Napa has the Napa Gold filters but they are $8 a pop. Kinda hard to spend close to $30 on just fuel filters per year when we also need oil and oil filters for 3 engines.

 

[Bifflefan]

Re: Which Fuel/water separate is best?

Re: Which Fuel/water separate is best?

I think i'd take 2 of them out of the line. Get a seperator that has a drain and call it good.
Maybe even clean out the tank.
As for the question, I just run the cheapo's from wally world. But my tank is clean as a whistle.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Which Fuel/water separate is best?

Re: Which Fuel/water separate is best?

Our boat has 3 Fuel/Water separators so getting filters at $10 a pop can get pretty costly. We usually replace them at least once per year and sometimes more depending on what happens. I believe the tanks are kinda nasty, so I want at least a 10 micron filter. So far weve been using Sierra fuel filter(18-7944). I can get them for $4 from marinepartssource. Ive not read anything about the quality of these filters so I was curious what others use and how much they cost.

Napa has the Napa Gold filters but they are $8 a pop. Kinda hard to spend close to $30 on just fuel filters per year when we also need oil and oil filters for 3 engines.

Um,


I am a little cornfused here...... $30 in filters (about equal to 10gal of gas) is a "lot of money" and you're running Dual Chevy 305's with Volvo DP's


Does someone else pay for your gas?...............just asking.....

I use Baldwin filters. Napa is fine and so is Sierra.

Neither Napa, Sierra, Volvo, Mercury, Ford, GM, or any other OEM manufactures filters.

Baldwin and Wix are a couple of manufacturers..... With the others, It's hard to know who actually is making your particular brand of filter since they change from time to time.

Most boats have 1 filter (or maybe 1 per engine)

You should ensure that your fuel tank is clean, replace your filters and then go boating.


regards,


Rick

 

[Don S]

Re: Which Fuel/water separate is best?

Re: Which Fuel/water separate is best?

Kinda hard to spend close to $30 on just fuel filters per year when we also need oil and oil filters for 3 engines.

Maybe you need a smaller boat, with 2 less engines. If you think $5 or $10 savings on buying cheap filters is how to save money, have you considered the cost of carb and fuel system repairs if your cheapy filters don't prevent problems?

 

[Jeepster04]

Re: Which Fuel/water separator is best?

Yes, we have rebuilt all 3 carbs on this boat so we know exactly how much it costs.. Its $20 for a gallon of carb cleaner and labor is free.. We do our own work.. Do you have any input on what kind of fuel filter is a quality filter?

Either way, the boat has 3 engines so each engine has its own filter. It does not have 3 filters in a series.

So one uses the filters from walmart(I assume you mean the MerCruiser filters? Those are 32 micron I believe), and another uses baldwin. Where do you buy baldwin filters and how many micron are they?

We have no way of removing the fuel tanks without taking the engines out of the boat, which will not be happening. So far were having no problems, both Volvos ran great all summer, I was just curious what brand filter everyone prefers and where they get the filters.

 

[Beefer]

Re: Which Fuel/water separator is best?

I've used the Sierra 10 micron and the Racor 10 micron. Mine are $30 each, so quite yer grippin'

I haven't noticed any difference between them, and as long as they are 10 micron, they should both do essentially the same job. I'd stick with the Sierra.