Fuel Polishing System for AT 34

My Tug did not have the dual RACOR Engine filter option (well worth selecting) so I retrofitted it. The Devil truly makes work for idle hands, because I installed a fuel polishing system while I was messing with the fuel system.

I’ve heard that most Diesel problems are caused by ‘bad’ fuel, so a Dual Filter system is a wise investment. As is a vacuum gauge and a water sensor

Incidentally, the indicator light for that sensor is already on the instrument panel, and the wiring leads to 2 pink/black wires and a non-connected plug down by the port rear engine mount….

This photo shows:

·     The new dual filter in the middle. It is a RACOR 75/900MAX, and comes complete with the vacuum gauge, selector valve and piping. I added 2 water sensors and brass drain valves. I think the list price is some $1300, but I found it online for around $700.

·     I moved the original RACOR 500 generator filter to the right, which necessitated longer fuel lines.

·     I used the original RACOR 900 filter (on the left) as the polisher filter.

·     I re-used the original Starboard backboard (on the upper right of the photo) and made 2 additional pieces to fit around it. Yeah, I’m cheap..

The Plumbing:

This photo shows the supply and return manifolds.

I bought a new VA-3 3-valve manifold from Reverso (who supply the original manifold to Tomco)

http://www.reversopumps.com/

I moved the original supply line from the tanks to the left side of that manifold, and connected the Engine, Generator and Polisher supply lines to separate valves. I have the East Coast/AC boat, so if you have the Espar Diesel heater you may have another supply line.

I re-used the original 2-valve manifold for the return manifold. The engine and Polisher return lines go to valves, and then the common return line goes thru the bulkhead.

The Pump:

The Polisher fuel supply goes thru the RACOR 900 filter, then thru a Reverso GP-301 gear-drive pump to the return manifold.

I wanted to ability to isolate the polisher from the main engine fuel systems so I installed the small ball-valves-on the supply and return manifolds. I think that is probably over-kill: valves on the return side are unnecessary, and dangerous if not set correctly….

Last, and definitely not least, in keeping with that fine Tomco practice, I labeled the heck out of everything. I use Avery Clear Mailing Labels (1 X 2 ¾), setup in MS Word,  and printed on a HP laser printer.

I’m still using 10-micron filters on the engine and generator, but 2 micron filters in the polisher. As setup here. it pumps around 90 gall/hr thru the filter, so I try to ‘turn-over’ all the fuel every 2 weeks or so.

As a comparison, at 2800RPM, the Cummins pumps around 60 gall/hr from the tanks and, sadly, only returns around 40-45 galls of that….

Jeremy Bell.   AT34- 48 “Tardis”