Parker fuel polishing system installed

August 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A while ago I wrote about the Parker Fuel Polishing module that I found and purchased.  I finally had the time a week ago to finish my design and install it.  So far, I'm very pleased with it, although I appear to have a potential leak in one of my splices…

DSC00135

The whole installation took me about 3 hours, most of which was laying in odd positions and searching for tools that I had dropped or misplaced – the usual delays and challenges on any boat project.  In the picture above, you can see the pump, Racor fuel filter, and all of the fuel hose coming and going.  The fuel filter was already mounted in the current location, so it was relatively easy to install.

You can see the fuel line from the tank going into the Racor filter.  Behind the filter, a new fuel pipe connects the outflow to the inlet of the fuel polisher pump.  On the top of the pump is the new line I installed that goes back to the fuel return line (not in the picture) and into a tee that I installed into it.  The polished fuel returns to the tank via that line.  The final pipe leaving the pump heads out to the engine fuel pump.

DSC00142 In addition to the pump installation, I also purchased the Programmable Controller that allows for very detailed scheduling of fuel polishing – far more granularity than I needed.  I ended up running four cycles of 2 hours every day, giving me 8 hours of polishing.  This might be overkill on a 10 gallon tank of diesel, but I suppose it's not really doing any harm – it's not like it would wear the fuel out!

The controller is mounted quite a ways away from the pump, and it has a really watertight glass and machined aluminum cover (not on in the picture) that will keep it very safe and dry.

So far, the polisher has been running for a few days – I've checked on it several times to make sure there aren't any major leaks.  I can hear the fuel being returned into the main tank so I know it's working.  We'll see if this will end up solving some of the fuel problems I had in the past – I believe it will.  I also think it will require that I change the Racor filter more often, but that's OK too – I'd rather have good quality fuel.

The one concern is that the tee I used to connect into the existing fuel return line might be leaking.  Per my research, I used teflon pipe tape on all of my brass/bronze fittings.   For the tee, I used a bronze fitting, and then three 3/8" brass pipe connectors and clamps.  All three of the connectors have teflon tape around their threads – only one layer – I read that more than that can cause leaks/problems.   Nevertheless, I can see the edge of some of the pipe tape on one of the connections, and it appears to be soaking up diesel fuel.  I have not seen any leaks or anything else, but if the diesel has miscolored the teflon, I would imagine over time it is going to leak.

Should I have used something other than this quite large hunk of metal parts as a tee?  I looked high and low for a one part tee for a fuel line, and couldn't find anything.  I did a bunch of research, and came up with my current solution.  I'll keep an eye on it, but if anyone has suggestions, they would be appreciated.

I'll follow up in a while on how the polishing is going.

Filed Under: Engine, fuel problems, sail, Sailing Tagged With: , ,

Fuel polishing

May 14, 2010 By 4 Comments

For a while I have been searching for a solution to polish my fuel on the sailboat.  My motivation stemmed from one harrowing sail which I wrote about where dirt caused the engine to fail, and two other times where I've had to deal with the fuel filter at inopportune times – just when you need the engine the most as it always seems!
Most of the systems I've looked at before are far too complicated, or require a huge amount of space.  One I've always admired is the Filter Boss from KTI Systems – it allows you to switch fuel filters on the fly with the engine still running.  While it's primary purpose is to have filter redundancy, there are also ways of configuring it to provide fuel polishing.
Besides the space required, many of the other systems require a separate fuel polishing loop, which I also wanted to avoid.  Due to space constraints when my engine was redone, the filter was placed on the opposite side of the boat from the fuel tank.  Adding another fuel filter and loop just for polishing has never really been an option due to space and connections into my existing tank.
Recently I was reading online and found Parker Fuel Polishing.  After reviewing various sources online and reading a lot of material about their systems, I ordered their FPM-050 Fuel Polishing Module, and Programmable Timer.  Their system is much smaller (one small pump) and it can be used in-line.  I liked this approach since by default it's left in an open state, allowing fuel to flow through, when it's not in use.  Combine that with the Programmable Timer, and you have a really good system that will pull fuel through while you're not using the engine, and keep it in good shape for when you need it.
I think this system will be good to keep the fuel clean and usable while using the existing filter and system, and not requiring a huge amount of new equipment and space.
More after it's installed…

Filed Under: Engine, Sailing

Yearly haul out

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This last week I finished off a bunch of work on the sailboat and it was re-floated after the bottom was painted (them), topsides were waxed (me), and hull was waxed (them).  There was a bunch of work on thru-hulls to make sure they were safe – we found one that was not even clamped on the far end!
Jammy PSS shaft seal The big job was removing the shaft and propeller and replacing the PSS shaft seal that had been there since who-knows-when.  As far as we could tell, the old one was so old it was made of some sort of rubber and didn't have much spring left in it, which is important in it's operation.  The most annoying thing was at low idle, when a loud banging noise was produced.
I originally wrote about this back in 2008 right after my new engine was put in.  The noise never got any better than that visit, and it was still really loud and annoying.  My bigger worry was what it was doing to the shaft, shaft log, and anything else.
The good news is that it appears to have been the PSS – replacing it with a modern one has resulted in virtually no noise at idle.  And, the guy who did the repair talked with Coastal Marine Engine, the place I had the new motor put in from, and they think adjusting the idle might help get rid of it completely.
Sadly, while I was in the boat yard, the folks who did the waxing found a lot of problems with my paint job on the hull.  The red stripes above and below the blue color are coming off rapidly, and look poorly painted.  The blue center section has a lot of patch jobs where the previous owner tried to match colors of paint, and failed miserably.  You can see it quite obviously in some of my close up pictures which I will post in a few days.
So, I'm faced with repainting things completely, which is pretty expensive, and requires removing the mast and all standing rigging so they can wheel the boat in and out of their paint sheds.  Seaview West, where I go, uses Alexseal paint which seems to have a good following – it's claim is that it is much easier to repair than Awlgrip and it's similar types, but still looks close to those types of paints.
I'm going to do a bit of research, as I don't plan on having her painted until November of this year, and hopefully I'll find exactly what I want, color, type, etc.  I also have engaged a friend in helping with the logo as that will have to be redone.
The good news is that the bottom looks in really good shape, and is ready for another couple of seasons in the water.  I intend on taking advantage of that this year!

Filed Under: Cleaning, Engine, Sailing

BioSok

April 22, 2008 By 1 Comment

My previous engine had a meltdown before I had it removed, and that included dumping a huge quantity of watery oil into my bilge.  Ever since then, oil makes it's reappearance almost weekly within the bilge.  I suppose I will never get rid of it completely…
I've tried all sorts of things, from absorbent pads, to simply sucking it out with a high volume pump, and disposing of it appropriately.  Nothing seems to work that well, at least not until I found BioSok.
It's some sort of powdery looking chemical that reacts to oil and fuel, and pulls it into it, then uses some microbes to eat off the oil.  I ended up buying two of the cloth socks, and one small bin of powder.  I used the powder directly throughout the bilge on the surface to get the oil that had been in there for a while since the repower.  I have the socks standing by to be used once the initial cleaning is done.
So far, the powder has been in the bilge about a month, and it has turned a nasty dark brown color.  I don't see any oil in the water, or on any other surfaces of the bilge, which is good.  I guess that means it's doing it's thing.  At this point, I think I leave it for a while so the microbes can eat, or I could dispose of it appropriately somewhere.  The stuff is the consistency of chocolate fudge – I'm sure it doesn't taste as good though.
I'm hoping in a few weeks things will dissipate more, and if not, I'll clean it all out.  At that point, I'll drop one of those socks into the bilge in case there's any other problems during the season.
So far, these things look pretty convenient, and environmentally friendly.

Filed Under: biosok, Cleaning, Engine