MEP002A Priming

[Another Ahab]

NOW I Get It

Lone Star light is like sex in a canoe. It's %*@!ing close to water.

 

[TexAndy]

What part number is the filter base from NAPA?

 

[mkcoen]

What part number is the filter base from NAPA?

4309

 

[hurst01]

Are you replacing the water strainer (first can) and both filters with just one? I might be misunderstanding but I see no reason to remove the water strainer. Any moisture at all is TOTAL DEATH to a diesel. They designed the water strainer and two filters (all with drains) for that reason. Or, is it that you don't have anything else mounted yet?
I don't care how careful anyone is, it is too easy to get moisture in the fuel system and as finicky as the injector pumps are and prone to the plunger sticking you need all the prevention you can get. And if any moisture happens to get past the injector pump without destroying it, and stopping up the injectors... BENT CONNECTING RODS! Maybe I missed something about you completing the installation, if so, sorry about bringing it up.

 

[DieselAddict]

I personally plan to install redundant filters when I change mine over. The filter he is using is a water separator as well as a particulate filter. Other than the extra piece of mind you get with dual filters is there another reason to be concerned about a single filter? My jetta tdi has only one on the fuel system.

 

[hurst01]

I guess that is what makes us all different, we all have different views and opinions. Your TDI gets filled on a regular basis from filtered pumps. The gensets sometimes sit for months and months at a time, not always topped off and condensation forms in the tank. They also get filled with 5 gallon cans that can sit outside or who knows where and in what kind of conditions and condensation can form in them. There is a reason that the MEP fuel tanks rust so easily inside... water.
The first can which is a water strainer, is not meant to totally keep water out but merely act as a preliminary trap. There has been several times that I have drained mine, and others, to see water in the first can, a little in the first filter and droplets in the second filter (last can). Peace of mind... yes.
Small airplanes also have fuel filters but it is deadly to not drain a bit from each tank to check for water before each flight. It depends on how much peace of mind you are comfortable with. The gensets are not so critical as an airplane but can be costly to repair and a real pain if you need it and has water in the system. I am not saying it would ever come to that extreme, but you asked.
What he did is a nice, neat looking job but I personally want more protection than a single filter. If it were mine, I would be satisfied with the first can in place AND the new filter he installed. BUT it is not up to me to be satisfied with any of it, just making an observation.

 

[rustystud]

I guess that is what makes us all different, we all have different views and opinions. Your TDI gets filled on a regular basis from filtered pumps. The gensets sometimes sit for months and months at a time, not always topped off and condensation forms in the tank. They also get filled with 5 gallon cans that can sit outside or who knows where and in what kind of conditions and condensation can form in them. There is a reason that the MEP fuel tanks rust so easily inside... water.
The first can which is a water strainer, is not meant to totally keep water out but merely act as a preliminary trap. There has been several times that I have drained mine, and others, to see water in the first can, a little in the first filter and droplets in the second filter (last can). Peace of mind... yes.
Small airplanes also have fuel filters but it is deadly to not drain a bit from each tank to check for water before each flight. It depends on how much peace of mind you are comfortable with. The gensets are not so critical as an airplane but can be costly to repair and a real pain if you need it and has water in the system. I am not saying it would ever come to that extreme, but you asked.
What he did is a nice, neat looking job but I personally want more protection than a single filter. If it were mine, I would be satisfied with the first can in place AND the new filter he installed. BUT it is not up to me to be satisfied with any of it, just making an observation.

When I replaced my filters with spin-ons , I installed a good water/fuel filter as the first filter then a good 10 micron filter as the last or "secondary" filter. I also always keep my tanks topped off and I try and run my generators at least once a month if not more. This way the fuel is not setting and the water is not collecting for very long.

 

[mkcoen]

I guess that is what makes us all different, we all have different views and opinions. Your TDI gets filled on a regular basis from filtered pumps. The gensets sometimes sit for months and months at a time, not always topped off and condensation forms in the tank. They also get filled with 5 gallon cans that can sit outside or who knows where and in what kind of conditions and condensation can form in them.

The MEP systems have redundancies because if something fails in the field the mission fails. If something fails for me all I have to worry about is my freezer thawing out. My redundancy is my MEP003 and in a pinch a 5kw gas generator. All that said, I don't store my fuel cans outside and, at 6 gallons, I can afford to keep the tank filled on this generator. Not that it really matters as I plan on selling it anyway.

 

[Keith_J]

The 002A shakes like Michael J Fox testifying before Congress, this causes water to suspend in the fuel, hence the need for all that filtration and straining. But in reality, if you keep the tank full of new diesel, a single filter is more than enough. Diesel has gotten much better in the past 30 years, all underground storage tanks are double walled with leak detection. Only time water is an issue is during floods.

 

[rustystud]

The 002A shakes like Michael J Fox testifying before Congress, this causes water to suspend in the fuel, hence the need for all that filtration and straining. But in reality, if you keep the tank full of new diesel, a single filter is more than enough. Diesel has gotten much better in the past 30 years, all underground storage tanks are double walled with leak detection. Only time water is an issue is during floods.

Or bad delivery companies. Our tanks at the transit dept. got a 20,000 gallon delivery that had hundreds of gallons of water in it.

 

[dangier]

I second that-find a fuel supplier you can trust and stick with them. One of my last positions on a local military base (won't disclose which one), I had to deal with a low bid contractor for #2 fuel oil. I think they found every tanker load that no one else wanted. Ended up with microbial growth in every boiler fuel system and storage tanks. We were changing fuel filters at least twice daily for the rest of the season (upwards of 200 boilers). I don't know how it turned out-changed jobs before everything was cleaned up.

 

[Keith_J]

All commercial diesel is ULSD, due to many factors, it can suspend more water. But when this happens, it turns noticeably cloudy. So it is easy to tell when it needs to be changed.

 

[Another Ahab]

I second that-find a fuel supplier you can trust and stick with them. One of my last positions on a local military base (won't disclose which one), I had to deal with a low bid contractor for #2 fuel oil. I think they found every tanker load that no one else wanted. Ended up with microbial growth in every boiler fuel system and storage tanks. We were changing fuel filters at least twice daily for the rest of the season (upwards of 200 boilers). I don't know how it turned out-changed jobs before everything was cleaned up.

For all the nightmares associated with Low Bid Awards, you'd think somebody would have come up with a better system by now:

- But then that would mean that somebody (Contract Officer, Legislator, SOMEBODY) was thinking.

Now where is that OP...

 

[mkcoen]

Back closer to the original topic; I stopped by a hydraulic shop today and finally got a replacement fuel hose. Nice to be able to drop in and 10 minutes later walk out with the new part. Surprisingly it went back in easier than the old one came out. Replaced it, ran the pre-heat (it is 30 out right now), and then cranked it up (well cranked it for a bit and then it fired right up). Only bad situation is that the one decent panel gauge (Battery Indicator) broke the needle when it started up. Now I'm down to the Hour Meter as the only working panel gauge. The good news is NO FUEL LEAKS! It took longer than I intended but then there were the holidays, my aversion to cold, lack of parts, my inherent laziness,...

 

[Isaac-1]

Sounds like an excuse to put a set of the drop in digital gauges that JimC makes

 

[rustystud]

Back closer to the original topic; I stopped by a hydraulic shop today and finally got a replacement fuel hose. Nice to be able to drop in and 10 minutes later walk out with the new part. Surprisingly it went back in easier than the old one came out. Replaced it, ran the pre-heat (it is 30 out right now), and then cranked it up (well cranked it for a bit and then it fired right up). Only bad situation is that the one decent panel gauge (Battery Indicator) broke the needle when it started up. Now I'm down to the Hour Meter as the only working panel gauge. The good news is NO FUEL LEAKS! It took longer than I intended but then there were the holidays, my aversion to cold, lack of parts, my inherent laziness,...

View attachment 536138

Old hoses can not only leak but become frayed inside causing no fuel to flow. That is why I replaced all my hoses with Polyethylene Hoses ( DOT air hoses work just fine) .

 

[Another Ahab]

Old hoses can not only leak but become frayed inside causing no fuel to flow. That is why I replaced all my hoses with Polyethylene Hoses ( DOT air hoses work just fine) .

That's Clean. Nice.