Thanks for your experience with the copy Racor.

Glad it was helpful!

Thanks for your kind comments. The July edition of Practical Boat Owner (on sale today!) has an article about the project, with the part numbers shown in the layout drawing.

Yes, thanks. It seems to be working well to prevent growth at the bottom of the tank.

Thanks for your kind comments. I think a second filter might be expensive overkill but you could just leave the pump circulating with the 10 micron then swap the Racor filter element for a 2 micron and continue circulating for extra peace of mind

Hi Joe, thanks for the comments. I think that the the two valves are necessary to stop diesel leaking out of the filter when the unit is in storage. I bolted everything to the 8mm plywood back board then bolted that into the case with 4 bolts drilled and tapped through the feet of the case, with a little sealant added.

Thanks for the comment. I think that if the bottom of your tank is badly contaminated then removing the top plate to get between the baffles is the only solution. Friends of ours had to cut an access port into their tank to do this, and found thcik gloop that had to be scooped out by hand!. Our kit is really designed for routine, preventative polishing - I'm thinking every 2-3 months or so - to prevent the bug getting a hold by removing any water from the bottom of the tank.

I'd suggest that our solution is for regular maintenance of your fuel and prevention of diesel bug. If the tank is really contaminated, the filter will clog up very quickly so I think the best course of action would be to get the tank professionally cleaned

Thanks for your comments. Going for a higher volume pump would cut down the time to circulate all the fuel in your tank through the filter but will cost more. In reality the important fuel to filter is the 25 litres or so at the bottom of the tank (this is where any diesel bug will be) so running the 120 litre per hour pump for an hour every now and then is all you need I think. I’d only go for a bigger pump if you were primarily planning to use this as a fuel transfer system from jerrycans. I went for 10 micron filter size on advice from the technical guys at ASAP supplies. You could opt for the 2 micron version but they reckon that the gelatinous nature of fuel bug would mean that the 10 micron would get it all.

@@Maunie38 Thank you for the input. I think, I will also install 10 microns. The rationale for faster pump and bigger filter due in part on the size of my fuel tank at 1100 gallons. And, I have the space. 2005 Viking Princess 67 (2) C15 Cats. I believe Cat requires a filtering minimum of 30 microns.

We have a similar in line set up for the engine and, yes, this polisher is a preventative maintenance system. I ran it the other day after the boat was laid up in the yard for 5 months - initially the diesel looked a bit opaque in the filter bowl but after a few minutes it was completely clear. The cloudiness probably wouldn’t have been bad enough to stop the engine but it would have partially clogged the primary (and possibly secondly ) filter. so this pre-filtering / polishing has given me peace of mind before re-launching the boat (particularly because I know I’ve got at the very bottom of the tank where any water or sediment had settled and which would have been mixed up into the rest of the diesel as soon as we started sailing in bumpy conditions).

We followed ASAP's advice so the fuel goes through the filter first then the pump - seems to work perfectly.

The pipe is 3/8” (about 10mm) outside diameter, about 7mm inside diameter. The internal measurements of the case are 500 x 350 mm x 160mm I could have got away with a smaller case if I’d used 90 degree spigots on the Racor but you need to make sure there’s enough space above the top of the Racor to allow the filter element to be removed.

@@Maunie38 Thank you!

Cleanliness is essential for fuel systems so for when the polisher stored and not in use I would say yes.

If you're looking at your fuel filter whilst motoring that is. My fuel filter is invisible from where I steer the boat.

​@@SuperDirk1965Well you don't look at the filter all the time but check it frequently. Cut a little sight glass and rig up a light so you can see it. Always check the last of the Jerry can for debris and crud. Pour the last half pint in to a clear container.

the pump is after the Racor

not found that to be a problem - we tend to use it on a fairly full tank so the returning fuel probably only disturbs the top couple of inches in the tank,

Here’s a link to the PBO article that covers the project. It includes a schematic with the part numbers (from ASAP Supplies) for each component. www.pbo.co.uk/expert-advice/diy-marine-fuel-polishing-system-protect-boat-dirty-diesel-71857?.com&fbclid=IwAR2h0NrWKUk9RXapKXhIcfgPV9C2_pEhiyn7_hLSDX8vSJVGMVA68NW4mPY

Initially I took the lid off the Racor and put some clean fuel into the bowl; it then primed straight away. after that I close the valves after use so the pump and Racor have fuel in them and it primes immediately

Is the pump on the outfeed side of the filter (so that it's only pumping clean, filtered fuel?). The fact that both pumps failed suggests a problem with the routing of the pipes maybe?

@@Maunie38 Yes it is. So, as you say, should only be pumping filtered fuel. The failure of the Facet pump is electrical (no noise from pump). The failure of the Chinese copy is something else, as it is making a noise, but not creating suction.

I did consider that but because you can easily see the flow rate of fuel from the outlet pipe back into the tank, the MK1 eyeball works perfectly to tell you when the filter is getting blocked.

Thanks! I got the case from CPC Farnell Here’s the link cpc.farnell.com/c/tools-maintenance/storage/water-resistant-cases?mckv=_dm%7Cpcrid%7C%7Ckword%7C%7Cmatch%7C%7Cplid%7C%7Cslid%7C%7Cproduct%7C%7Cpgrid%7C%7Cptaid%7C%7C&cpgnid=17494878465&adext=&CMP=KNC-GUK-CPC-PMax-17494878465-&s_kwcid=AL!5616!3!!!!network%7D!!&gclid=Cj0KCQjwnvOaBhDTARIsAJf8eVN7qk9O7NXcbBlorKK7jFk9iNpD7lWSqPvQzW9Bd4dqG09e87dg0LkaAvIXEALw_wcB

@@Maunie38 Tx - great :-)

No, the diesel I used for the test was road diesel, hence the colour.

Why would you want to remove red dye 🤔

According to Wikipedia (arbiter of all knowledge) Fuel Polishing is described as: “Fuel polishing is the technical cleaning process used to remove or filter microbial contamination from oil and hydrocarbon fuel in storage. It is essentially the removal of water, sediment and microbial contamination from such fuels as diesel, red diesel and biodiesel.” Which is, I think, exactly what this set up does! LOL

Google “fuel polishing”and you’ll discover that’s exactly what the process has become widely known as! Sure, it’s filtering but the commercial guys who charge a lot for the process obviously thought polishing sounded better and so the description joined the yachting vernacular. Who cares - The most important thing is to get the bugs out of your tank.