Thanks Dennis--looks like the Racor is the likely culprit from your perspective.
Whether that is the case in my situation or not, a Racor bypass sounds like a very good idea to quickly get fuel flowing again to get back to a dock. Thanks, Charlie cenel...@aol.com -----Original Message----- From: Dennis C. via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> To: CnClist <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: Dennis C. <capt...@gmail.com> Sent: Mon, Jun 26, 2017 9:20 am Subject: Re: Stus-List Air in fuel line My experience suggested 4 likely culprits; Racor o-ring, Racor gasket, rough sealing surface on the top of the Racor body and bowed cover for the Racor. Put the Racor cover on a flat surface or use a straight edge across the cover. If it is "dished" downward, it may not be sealing well. If you want to pin it down quickly, temporarily bypass the Racor with a jumper line with a cheap inline filter in it. If the problem persists, look elsewhere. Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA On Sun, Jun 25, 2017 at 7:31 PM, Charlie Nelson via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: My Beta 28 fuel system has recently developed a penchant for sucking air into the system somewhere upstream of my electric fuel pumps. (I have 2 installed in parallel so that I can switch between them if one dies or get clogged, etc.) These pumps are downstream of my Racor 500 30 micron fuel filter/water separator. The input to the separator goes directly to the pickup tube assembly on the top of my fuel tank via a diesel fuel hose secured with hose-clamps--recently installed. (I motored at flank speed for about 8 hours after the installation without any issues). The tank pickup tube assembly looks identical to a Moeller Fuel pick-up tube which mounts to the tank top and has nylon tube which goes straight down into the tank about 12 inches. Something is allowing air to get in since my engine will stall frequently but randomly. On the first occurrence, I changed both the engine and the Racor filter. When it happened again within an hour of the filter change, I opened the system at the input to the engine filter and found either frothy fuel (lots of bubbles in it) or just an empty hose. Since the filters had just been changed, I figured it had to be a vacuum leak. (I was able to pump fuel into the line and get the engine started again each time it happened--over the course of a full day of motoring I would guess that it happened on average every 1/2 hour). I tightened all the clamps and the Racor seal as much as I dared and this did not prevent the stalls. My mechanic is as mystified as I am but will likely check-out/replace both the Racor entirely and the fuel-pick-up tube. The pick-up tube is original which makes it about 22 years old. My thoughts are the Racor filter or vacuum gauge seals are bad/scored or just not seated properly OR the pickup tube assembly is leaking at the tank seal or the nylon tube itself has developed small holes or cracks that allow air to enter, especially with my fuel pump sucking fuel more efficiently than was possible with the mechanical pump on the engine (since bypassed). My questions to the list are--am I missing something else that could cause this? Has anyone else had similar vacuum issues and what was the cause/solution? Thanks, Charlie Nelson Water Phantom 1995 C&C 36 XL/kcb cenel...@aol.com _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All Contributions are greatly appreciated! _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
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