Racor Filter:on Priming Bulb and Plated Steel NPT Port Fittings

[Bryanbt]

Just installed the new Racor fuel filter this weekend. Don, your suggestion to install an priming bulb between the gas tank and the filter is excellent! It saved me a ton of time and avoided what would have been a very messy job had I followed Racor's suggesting of filling the bowl with gasoline and then "spinning" it back on...if you could see the contortions I'd have to go through in my C&C 30 to do this, you know that I'd be wearing some of that gasoline and the rest would be in my bilge.

Best of all the priming bulb helped me detect a leak in the port fittings in the filter. Turns out I had non NPT brass fittings...Racor recommends steel plated NPT in/out port fittings but I did not have any. I thought the brass ones I had worked fine.....until I pressurized the system with the bulb....leaks everywhere at the fittings...better to find out now than after launching! I then spent a while running around different specialty shops until I found the fittings ( a local hydraulic shop had them). Filter is now fully installed with no leaks. Thanks to that priming bulb idea!

Incidentally, Don, others may also have trouble finding those fittings and I don't think there is a note about them being so essential on your Racor page in the online catalogue....you might want to include a note about this....better yet, add them to your inventory...I would gladly have bought two off you with the filter had I known I needed them.

[Don Moyer]

I really don't know why RACOR recommends steel plated fittings, but when I
installed a RACOR filter on our own boat some years ago I used regular brass
NPT fittings as I always do and everything seems fine. I'll try to remember
to call RACOR later today and ask them why they recommend steel fittings.

We try to keep things simple, and it seems a little foolish to stock special
fittings for this one application if there's really no tangible benefit.

Don

[Don Moyer]

I just got off the phone with RACOR tech service and learned that plated steel fittings are recommended in the RACOR instructions as opposed to regular steel fittings in a marine environment. I was told that brass fittings should work as well.

Don