MAY 2025 Column WATER SEPARATING FUEL FILTER- A MUST-HAVE FOR YOUR MARINE ENGINE By Capt. John N.Raguso If you are a boater, having a quality water-separating fuel filter on your vessel is one of those must-have, mandatory acces- sories. Whatever engines power your ride, from a single 25-HP outboard on a John Dory, to a single diesel downeaster, to a quad outboard go-fast center console, to a twin diesel convertible sportfisher, each one of the engines that powers your plat- form should have its own water-separating fuel filter that’s readily accessible, located between the fuel tank and the engine’s fuel intake line. Whether it’s old or bad fuel, contaminated fuel, water in the fuel, algae or sludge in diesel juice, or whatever, any of these issues can totally ruin your planned trip and necessitate a call to your local towing service, which can be a very expensive
and frustrating detour to a fun day out on the water. To understand more about water-separating fuel filters, let’s take a closer look at the science of how they work. Talk to the Experts I reached out to the folks at Parker’s Racor to get some intel on the nature of water separating fuel filters. According to their engi- neering team, modern engines now inject fuel at over 36,000 psi and with injector tolerances measured in microns, even a small amount of dirt or water corrosion can cause damaged compo- nents, reduced engine efficiency and in severe cases, complete injector break-down.
Racor’s Marine Spin-On Series of water-separating fuel filters provide maximum protection of modern marine diesel and gasoline engines by effectively removing contaminants from fuel, such as water, silica, sand, dirt and rust. The unique spin-on filter design is easy to service and features a reusable clear engineered plastic or metal contaminant collection bowl with a self-venting drain or metal plug. Filters can be mounted on-engine or remotely in-line, with some offering hand-operated fuel priming pumps, which allow for quick and air purge. When it’s time for service, only the filter element is replaced, the bowl and drain plug are reused. Water-in-fuel (WIF) sensor upgrades are available for diesel applications to alert operators to drain accumulated water from the bowl. All Marine Spin-On Series Fuel Filter Water Separators utilize Racor’s high- efficiency Aquabloc engineered media, which repels water and removes solid
contaminants from fuel at 98% efficiency of their micron rating. Depending on the product selected, three different micron ratings are available, including: • 30 micron (98%@30 micron) – Ideally suited as a pre-filter to protect downstream filters from excessive contamination. Extends the life of on-engine filters. • 10 micron (98%@10 micron) - Captures more contaminants than 30 micron elements and is more effective at stopping water. Extends the life of on-engine filters, plus the entire fuel system. • “2”micron (98%@4 microns) – Provides maximum water removal and filtration and is capable of protecting all modern injection systems, while greatly extending the life of difficult-to-service on-engine filters.
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