How Often Should Fuel Filter Be Changed
Text and photos © 2020 Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc.
Information technology's a truism; you can't alter your fuel filter too often. While it may be wasteful, filters toll coin and old ones simply end up in rubbish heaps or landfills, there's no harm in making certain the diesel fuel coursing through your engine's fuel injection system is as fresh and clean and as it can exist. Or is there? Filters, especially those used for air and fuel, tin can in fact endure from being replaced too oftentimes. Indeed, as hard as that concept may be to believe, the least efficient time in most filters' lives is when they are new. As a filter begins to capture contaminants it becomes more efficient at the process. The bits of belt grit and acoustic insulation that become lodged in paper air filter elements for instance meliorate the filter's ability to capture new droppings and contaminants as they pass through the filter media. Likewise for fuel filter elements, equally the element begins to capture the beginning bits of asphaltine, prophylactic hose particles and rust from steel tanks, it becomes more efficient at capturing yet more of this and other contaminants.
The cardinal to taking advantage of this not too frequent replacement of filters approach is anything just seat of the pants applied science. In that location's no way to know how contaminated or impacted your fuel and air filters are unless you utilize a measurement device or tool.
For air filters a vacuum measurement device can easily be installed on the make clean air side of the filter chemical element, i.e. between the air filter element and the engine intake manifold. Many larger diesel fuel engines supply these as standard equipment, notwithstanding, they are ofttimes excluded from smaller engines and auxiliaries. I've used air filter monitors from a company chosen Engineered Products, manufacturers of the Filter Minder. These are designed for aftermarket installation using null more than a stepped drill bit. The graduated scale on the monitor will measure and retain the highest vacuum reading, typically in inches of H20, enabling the user to determine, at a glance, whether the engine is running or not, the status of the air filter element. Air intake vacuum thresholds vary from engine manufacturer to engine manufacturer, withal, typically, anything over about 23 inches of H20 is considered ample reason to replace the element.
Primary fuel filter monitors work in much the same way. Installed betwixt the filter and the engine or its lift pump, they monitor the vacuum created on the "clean" side of the filter element (I use the Paring Gauge, with its expanded short range calibration and liquid-filled housing, it's rugged and reliable). If the vacuum is low, less than near 5 inches of mercury, then there's no demand to supersede the filter. College vacuum readings, on the other manus, point a filter that'south done its job and is in need of relief. It's important to recollect, fuel filter vacuum reading must either be taken while the engine is at cruising rpm or past using a recording vacuum approximate, ane that utilizes a re-settable drag needle that maintains the highest vacuum reading for afterwards observation, fifty-fifty when the engine is non running. Ideally, vacuum gauges installed on principal filters should not be the variety that replaces the T handle. Instead, they should be permanently installed on the filter outlet plumbing to retain the ease of service and avoid damage to the gauge when the filter element is replaced. Ultimately, even if your vacuum readings remain low, you lot should plan on filter replacement after two years.
How Often Should Fuel Filter Be Changed,
Source: https://vesselvanguard.com/filter-service-how-often-should-fuel-and-air-filters-be-changed/
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