Probably not a good idea. There's a filtration professional somewhere here on sailboatowners, and there was an excellent discussion of this topic on the forum. Can't look for links right now.
Engine Hours and Maintenance Done to date
- Thread starter JK_Boston_Catalina310
- Start date
I've read all of MaineSail's stuff on here, and have done a lot of research on the topic. In your case I offer that the alternators you installed weren't necessarily cheap, and not inherently bad for being made in China, but they were improperly specified. One characteristic of alternators is that they are all 150A alternators, it's just a matter of how long they remain alternators.
You can certainly get a high-capacity Chinese alternator that will last a long time. And, you needn't spend $800 on a sufficiently-sized alternator.
Mainesail has discussed this several times. But 2 micron in the Racor are redundant because that is the size of the on engine filter. Also he has pointed out that sucking through that size filter will kill lift pumps.
It wasn't the size of the alternator but the external regulator with a temp sensor on the alternator that I paid for. The alternator was less than half of the total upgrade cost.I've read all of MaineSail's stuff on here, and have done a lot of research on the topic. In your case I offer that the alternators you installed weren't necessarily cheap, and not inherently bad for being made in China, but they were improperly specified. One characteristic of alternators is that they are all 150A alternators, it's just a matter of how long they remain alternators.
Regarding fuel lift pump life: If my engine uses only two quarts of diesel per hour of operation and the lift pump and injector pump are below the tank height I do not see how a two micron primary filter has much effect on the life of the lift pump. The last time I replaced the lift pump (and not because of failure) was nine years ago when I rebuilt the motor. I kept the old one as a spare. I usually replace the 2 micron primary filter every two years and leave the secondary alone. I put about one hundred hours a year on the motor. That translates to fifty gallons of diesel passing through the filter annually. That Racor is rated for 15 gallons per hour maximum flow rate and as stated above I use only two quarts per hour. Light duty all around. That has been my experience, anyway.
You are running a lot more than a 1/2 gallon per hour thru the filter. More diesel glows back to the tank than is consumed by the engine. I suspect I’m flowing about 20gal per hour thru my M25 (I leave bleed valve open a crack).
Something is certainly odd here? Even if you're using 2 micron filters that's still a lot of pumps? I have seen these Facet pumps go thousands and thousands of hours.
This one also seems a bit odd, if schedule 80 iron pipe was used, which is an ABYC requirement. If it was schedule 40 it may make more sense.
Not odd at all.. Many boat owners chew through cheap Chinese alternators like pop-corn in a movie theater. Sadly it has driven some OEM suppliers such as Mando & Hitachi out of the marine alternator business and hey are now biting the ankles of really good manufacturers such as Leece-Neville. Now all we are left with are the cheaper units that don't tend to last or to build one from the raw component level, something a DIY is cerainly not going to do.
You may want to check with Hansen or Westerbeke on this I seem to remember some of these breaking and a service bulletin being issued but it could have just been in conversations with Bob B. or Joe J.???
With the exception of those noted items I believe your engine/hours/maintenance is pretty typical of an owner who actually pays attention to it, and fixes things before it costs more. Trust me I just came from a severely water & smoke damaged boat yesterday. Original 42 year old exhaust hose finally let go....
I would have to look at my engine log but I am pretty sure we are over 4K hours at this point (engine driven refrigeration). Nothing made by Mitsubishi (base engine) has failed not even the fresh water pump. The only thing I replaced, that came from Mitsubishi, was the rear main seal, because I was already in there, for the damper plate, not because it needed it. I also replaced the glow plugs because our LiFePO4 battery toasted them keeping the same hold time as lead acid. Everything that has needed fixing was installed by Westerbeke in the marinizing process. Oh and still on the original exhaust elbow..
4 of the lift pumps were the cheap, Me. Diesel pumps that cost about $35-50. I went cheap after the Facet went. Some would last a year, one two weeks. If you read the reviews of the pumps on Amazon that's a common experience. When I was done playing that game I looked at the Facet and the Wahlbro. I went with the Wahlbro because its more serviceable if something goes wrong. I still have 4 of the cheap pumps. They do make a quick fuel polisher with a filter when you are in a pinch.
The factory elbow was sch 80 stainless. That broke at the weld for the water nipple. I then built my own from sch 40 from Home Depot. That lasted for 3 years and started to get some pin hole leaks where you could see rust streaks. But hey, 3 years for $50 wasn't bad. So I did it again just as we started cruising. Then I spent some time and sourced some Sch 80 stainless and rebuilt it a third time. I don't expect to have to rebuild this one anytime soon. But I do remove it and clean/check the inside for build up once a year.
Yeah. I found out about the service bulletin after the fact. I was off of Little Farmers Cay in the Bahamas when it broke. I fabricated a temporary bracket out of some aluminum bars I had. That got me to Georgetown where I was able to get some materials to fabricate a long term fix.
Thanks for the feedback.
Fair winds,
Jesse