Racor Filter change question

[furball]

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to suck all the fuel, water and crap out of the entire unit from the top. It's a Racor 900. Getting to that hex nut on the bottom looks to be a bit of a pain. The past two years the filters have been changed but I don't think the lower bowl was emptied, just the filter replaced. There's bound to be something worth removing in there. Just wondering if I can get a piece of tubing to the bottom from the top once the cartridge is removed.
Thanks,
John

[Russell]

I am not sure you can get a hose down in the bottom of the filter. One of the best things I purchased was a shut off valve that fits in place of the bolt. Periodically before starting the engine I will drain out a little fuel along with dirt and a few drops of water. The valve allows it to be done with no spill or mess. The valves are available here: http://designatedengineer.com/Valves.html

[Carl]

John, What Russel said. I found one at West Marine this spring in the section with the fuel line fittings and hoses. Makes things much easier, and now I am more than willing to drain a small cup of junk out every once in a while. I was amazed when I drained the bowl to install the valve how much crap came out.
I beleive the valve was 3/8". Take the plug out and take it with you, the valve screws into the bowl, and the plug you took out screws into the the other end of the valve.

[RobS]

Not sure how your unit is mounted but I found it too easy to simply remove the screws holding the mounting board in place and remove the entire assembly. In 5 minutes it was out. Having it out of the boat and in hand allowed me to wash it out with soap and pressurized water and then rinse it with fresh fuel. This cleaned out any gunk that was on the side walls, etc that may not drain out naturally. Went back in looking new. Every other season should be fine unless you may have other contributing issues... My 500 unit is mounted over a stringer so there is not much clearance underneath it to install any valves, fittings, etc. anyway

[N4QC]

I am not familiar with the Racor 900 but do clean my Racor 500 FG’s bowl from the top. The location of the filter unit makes for great difficulty in accessing the drain port, plus the nature of the crud has at times not flowed through the drain port. Other major problem is that of having a catch container under the port opening.

My solution was to build a siphoning set up utilizing a marine gas tank siphon bulb, a length of clear plastic tubing to use as the “in” and “out” lines and a length of stiff plastic tubing. The stiff plastic tubing is of a diameter which will allow passage of the tube past the turbine centrifuge into the bottom of the bowl. The end going to the bottom of the bowl is cut at an angle so as to minimize clogging when sucking out the crud.

The other end of the stiff tube is connected into the “in” line going to the siphon bulb. The “out” line of the siphon bulb is placed in a catch bottle. Make sure that the opening of the catch bottle is wide enough to allow both a finger and the siphon line to pass through at the same time as it may be necessary to prime the siphoning action by placing the finger over the end of the line. ( Check valve in the bulb doesn’t always work as expected due to angles involved.)

The siphon bulb came with an assortment of fittings. The clear plastic tubing allows you to see what is happening. Recommend a turkey baster to stir up the crud so that it will flow. A flashlight will help you to see how well the purging is working. You may have to put more diesel back into the bowl. I use some of the diesel that accumulates in the catch container after the sediment has settled by using the siphon in reverse. Fresh diesel is used on the last go round and to replace that which was removed.

Don’t forget to turn the fuel shut off valves (intake and return) OFF when you start and the back ON after you put every thing back together and before you start the engine.

You may want to add a drag pointer gauge to your system. The designated engineer is a good source...

[furball]

Thanks,
Looks like I'll remove the mounting bracket and tip the filter housing to get access to the plug. While I'm at it, replace the plug with the valve. I'm gonna try a piece of tubing just to check but I might as well do the valve install. I've got the primer bulb and tubing already but I need to find a valve.
Thanks again,
John