DIY Fuel Polishing System

Our yacht's engine faltered and stopped as we motored down the Irish Sea - contaminated fuel had blocked the primary filter. Replacing the filter in a rolling boat wasn't a huge amount of fun! With biofuel now increasing the risk of diesel bug, we decided to build a portable fuel polishing system to prevent this happening again.

[hughburton]

Thanks so much for sharing! As a new to diesel powered sailboat owner I’m still in the “who knew?” Category and didn’t know diesel polishing was a thing

[mrjweate]

I just did an emergency first filter and fine filter change in heaving seas on the way to Lord Howe Island from Sydney. A life time of gunk and water had been stirred up and my Racor 500 bowel was a dark brown. And the engine dead. Success. But what a hassle.
In Sydney, I cannot find a professional fuel polishing and tank-cleaning service. Go figure!
I realised I would need to DIY, but didn’t know where to start.
Thanks for a great timely video. Keep me posted on updates.

[leftcoastcruising]

Great setup, thanks for sharing - from another Keating in British Columbia, Canada.

[HenryBoshoff]

Do have a look at Acorn Filtration on the DAT1 onboard diesel filter. The filters will not only remove free water, but they will even remove saturated water with an efficiency of 99.9%. One can simply drain the water from the bowl when necessary. It is also equipped with a 10-micron, 3-micron, or even submicron particle filter cartridge option. Nice to know info. Henry Boshoff

[pippashaw]

We made a system like that for our boat but we shopped around and picked up a copy racor filter fg500 for £38 on-line. It’s been working for the last 5 + years and still going fine. It take’s the same filters.

Sailed a lot on a Vancouver 38 Pilot. Great boats.

[miketcq]

Great video Graham, one of the best diesel fuel polisher I've seen here on YouTube.

[MondoRockable]

Piece of mind from clean tanks and diesel ... priceless.

[eliasgordon]

Cool set up! Good idea adding some color to the water, it was impressive seeing how quickly it collected at the bottom of the separator.

[mymobile]

I am just starting to look for solution and this is the easiest, simplest one I have seen so far. Prices have gone up somewhat but hey ho. Thanks for a great video.

[MrKeeponrolin]

You wouldn't want to go through airport security with that case.

[sailingaphrodite]

A smashing video as I always use diesel from the local garage and fill from jerry cans via a Mr Funnel which takes ages.

A parts list would be really, really useful.

[ianmac]

Thank you for such a clear and easy to understand video. I reckon that even I could now make one of those for my 1985 cruiser. Very much appreciated.

[davetaylor]

Brilliant video! Came across it when searching for DIY fuel polishing for our 57ft canal narrowboat. Now assembling the components to build my own. Found a Chinese Racor 500G copy for less than £30. I gather it's important to make sure that the filter is completely flooded with fuel, otherwise air can remain trapped at the top and so some of the filter remains unused. How did you overcome that with your suction system?

[faisalalhashar]

Great video and well technically presented - you should try to make a few of these a year and sell them for a good profit, there are many of us out there that are not technically competent or don’t have the time, would be interested in buying a ready made one. I checked in the internet, there is no system available for sale.

[nigeanddonnassailingadventures]

Thank you Graham a very nice and informative video on something that affects us all .We just suffered the same cough and splutter of a chocked filter while trying to set anchor late into the evening. We’re off to the chandeliers in Marsala Sicily tomorrow to see what parts we can muster up to try and build something similar.
Thanks.Nige and Donna.😊

[matui]

If you want to step up your " polishing system" then install a magnetic filter in the suction side then an ultra-violet light inside a box or tube that the fuel can pass thru then a fuel heater ( up to around 40C) then into your choice of Racor/Dahl or even a double CAV filter style but use biggest 796 cartridges instead of std 296 units. Electric pump needs to be capable of up to 15psi and biggest flow rate that your filters can accept. A vaccuum gauge is also a great investment. A vortex filter can be made and installed also. Been doing this method for last 30 years.

[lynalllynall]

Excellent, just bought the pump and seperator to do the same job, then thought why not take a look on youtube? and theres your video, like the build it in a box idea.

[matthewbattie]

Buy a FASS and you will have a whole system that separates, filters, and heats. They work awesome and can go inline, taking place of your OEM pump!

[DirkJacobsz]

Stunning - inspiring - i want one - thank you

[CliveParry-iv]

Hi, Excellent design so I am about to build one of these. The "package" of parts costs over £500 from ASAP (a firm I use and like) but I see much cheaper alternatives elsewhere. Normally, I say "do it once and do it properly"... but for a non-critical item, what are the pitfalls of cheap alternatives??