Jump to content

See-through fuel filter bowls


Sea Dog

Featured Posts

Am I wrong in thinking that the BSS requires a fuel pre-filter, agglomerator, or whatever, to have a metal bowl with a metal drain plug? I ask because the reassuringly expensive Fuel Guard FGD1120's marketing says a clear bowl "lets you see your fuel".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, you are wrong.

 

The BSS says:

 

. .12.2 Are all fuel filters inside engine spaces fire resistant? Check all fuel filters(including drain plugs) located inside engine spaces are marked or recognised as fire resistant. If not marked or recognised as being suitably fire resistant, verify this by examining any presented declaration from the manufacturer or supplier. Fuel filters(including drain plugs) located inside engine spaces must have intrinsic fire resistance of at least 2.5 minutes at 600C.

 

NOTE all metal fuel filters are accepted as being sufficiently fire resistant.

 

NOTE fuel filters marked with ISO 10088 are acceptable.

 

So the questions are:

 

1. Is the bowl to be located inside the engine space?

 

2. Is the bowl suitably marked?

 

3. If not will the supplier provide written documentation showing it meets ISO 10088 of has a suitable PROVEN fire resistance.

 

Even it it was approved there is no way I would have a glass one though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Tony. Technically wrong but a reasonable working assumption unless ISO10088 is clearly evidenced then.

 

Fuel Guard seem a bit too expensive for what's on offer, so I doubt I'll be buying one, and I share your aversion to glass bowls, but I thought I'd ask.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Tony. Technically wrong but a reasonable working assumption unless ISO10088 is clearly evidenced then.

 

Fuel Guard seem a bit too expensive for what's on offer, so I doubt I'll be buying one, and I share your aversion to glass bowls, but I thought I'd ask.

i have a fuel guard as well it was expensive but as i had no fuel filter before my pump i had to fit something [ old pump wrecked with crud]. it can also stop the fuel bug and water as a plus it should also lengthen the life of your other filters so for me it was worth it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I too fell foul of this as my boat failed on a non fireproof filter. I fitted the Fuel Guard jobster although my inspector did say I could keep the old one if I put it in a fireproof boxing (biscuit tin or similar!!) I didn't fancy that solution as it would be open to failure by the next inspector that looked at it. Be careful though as it might not be a simple swap. The inlet and outlets on the existing installation in our boat were the opposite way round for the Fuel Guards fittings. I fitted it backwards on spacers off the bulkhead just to get the job done. Not the most elegant solution and I'll probably replumb the system to make it all 'pretty' again.

 

Ian.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And aint it daft that the BSS and the MCA dont even have the same set of standards. As a for instance on the boat I skippered until last year that carried nearly 200 passengers and had three diesel engines running in the engine room we had filter bowls with plastic bungs in and when I asked the MCA inspector bloke who came every year and was megga keen ( fair enough ) if they complied he said they were not a problem. Funny isnt it and I could be moored in a lock with a piddly little narrowboat with one person on who couldnt have a plastic bung in his filter. Our boats did not need BSS because we were too big and had to be covered by the MCA but still strange in my opinion.

 

Tim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are Lexan polycarbonate see through fuel bowls available that are fire retartdent although the documented spec is a little grey. An associated plastic drain plug is to be avoided though, must be metal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Fuel Guard Filter comes with full documentation which says it complies with BSS,it is a good piece of kit but expensive for what it is,there is nothing wrong with pre filters having polycarbonate bowls to allow you to see what is accumulating,however,the powers that be regarding BSS are very good at the theory but from my experience have little or no practical knowledge of what goes on in the real world,in seagoing commercial vessels such as trawlers we are allowed to have fuel pre filters with glass bowls,this gives at a glance if you are having a problem with dirty fuel,on my boat I run with glass bowl pre filters and when BSS inspection time comes I fit the pre filter with the metal bowl to comply for the inspection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do wonder how many engine fires there have been recorded on narrowboats prior to the BSS being introduced,or did someone just sit there and say "What if the engine catches fire, the fuel filter my crack and leak 25 ml of diesel onto the fire.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Much of the BSS is almost a copy of the old Thames Conservancy Launch Regulations that pre-date the BSS by many years. The TC Navigation Officers who did the inspections seemed all to be ex Merchant or Royal Navy engineering officers and the TC also seemed to be a very "status" aware organisation so I suspect those Launch Regulations were originally drafted by a committee of qualified but maybe not very practical engineering types over pink gins. I must say I got on well with the Navigation Officers I dealt with.

 

I am sure much of the Launch Regs. were not based on evidence. Of note was the blanket requirement to electrical bond all parts of a DIESEL fuel system, said to prevent vapour ignition by static when filling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Much of the BSS is almost a copy of the old Thames Conservancy Launch Regulations ........................................I am sure much of the Launch Regs. were not based on evidence. Of note was the blanket requirement to electrical bond all parts of a DIESEL fuel system, said to prevent vapour ignition by static when filling.

Temperatures exceeding the diesel flash point on the Thames? Even with global warming it's not going to happen during refueling.

See what you mean about theory over reality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Much of the BSS is almost a copy of the old Thames Conservancy Launch Regulations that pre-date the BSS by many years. The TC Navigation Officers who did the inspections seemed all to be ex Merchant or Royal Navy engineering officers and the TC also seemed to be a very "status" aware organisation so I suspect those Launch Regulations were originally drafted by a committee of qualified but maybe not very practical engineering types over pink gins. I must say I got on well with the Navigation Officers I dealt with.

 

I am sure much of the Launch Regs. were not based on evidence. Of note was the blanket requirement to electrical bond all parts of a DIESEL fuel system, said to prevent vapour ignition by static when filling.

You used to get a similar thing with local fire officers.

 

Standby a generator installations had to comply with section 20 of the London Building Regulations. In the early days of my career I installed a couple of 1000kVA generators into a London Building and had to have my design approved by the local Fire Officer.

 

Due to the need to have sufficient head, I installed the 2000 litre day tanks to fit in the tankroom, as the overhead ventilation plant and cable trays prevented the day tanks being located high enough in the engine room.

 

I approached the local Fire Officer and asked if I still needed to attach the engine room fire wire to a dump valve on the day tanks, as well as a fuel cut off valve, as the tanks were going to be in the adjacent tank room, along with the bulk tanks containing 100,000 litres of diesel. Operation of the fire wire was going to dump the day tank fuel about a metre into the top of the bulk tanks, so no fuel contained in the engine room.

 

He still insisted that we fit the dump valves, so I did. Later in the project he left and his replacement came to sign the installation off. "What idiot has put dump valves on the day tanks" he said. "They are pointless as the day tanks are not in the same room as the engines". " Your predecessor insisted they were fitted" I said. "No comment" he replied!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the theatre it is common practice to have lights in the wings covered with blue gel to give sufficient light for cast and crew to move around but be discreet enough to not leak onto the stage. As with the gels in front of all theatre lanterns the gel will gradually discolour and even blacken as it ages. All theatre coloured gels are self-extinguishing for obvious reasons.

 

A young fire officer gave an inspection and his report contained the item "Lights were placed at various points which had been covered with a blue plastic-type material. This material is already showing signs of breaking down and could present a fire risk. If the light is too bright, fit dimmer wattage bulbs".

 

We framed that report.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And aint it daft that the BSS and the MCA dont even have the same set of standards. As a for instance on the boat I skippered until last year that carried nearly 200 passengers and had three diesel engines running in the engine room we had filter bowls with plastic bungs in and when I asked the MCA inspector bloke who came every year and was megga keen ( fair enough ) if they complied he said they were not a problem. Funny isnt it and I could be moored in a lock with a piddly little narrowboat with one person on who couldnt have a plastic bung in his filter. Our boats did not need BSS because we were too big and had to be covered by the MCA but still strange in my opinion.

 

Tim

The MCA inspections don't seem to cover very much apart from stability. I too was surprised how little they checked. No gas engine or electrical inspections.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The MCA inspections don't seem to cover very much apart from stability. I too was surprised how little they checked. No gas engine or electrical inspections.

There are a couple of different levels of inspection, I think, and even though the inspectors mostly checked paperwork the last time they were down, they did check the engine and generator spaces.

 

Then I had to ddemonstrate my ability to check them and knowledge of them for the practical part of my Boatmasters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Much of the BSS is almost a copy of the old Thames Conservancy Launch Regulations that pre-date the BSS by many years. The TC Navigation Officers who did the inspections seemed all to be ex Merchant or Royal Navy engineering officers and the TC also seemed to be a very "status" aware organisation so I suspect those Launch Regulations were originally drafted by a committee of qualified but maybe not very practical engineering types over pink gins. I must say I got on well with the Navigation Officers I dealt with.

 

I am sure much of the Launch Regs. were not based on evidence. Of note was the blanket requirement to electrical bond all parts of a DIESEL fuel system, said to prevent vapour ignition by static when filling.

I sat, painfully, through the whole process of setting out the very first compulsory set of BSS 'Standards' and the associated checking points. The starting point was the Thames Launch Regs( because otherwise the EA would not play) which were then garnished by the bees from the bonnets of the more prominent marine surveyors operating in the canal world at the time.

 

The whole process was managed by a man without any professional marine engineering training or experience. He absolutely refused to look at any form of risk-based justification or to provide any justification for any standard or checking point. His approach to real-world Standards was to comb the BSI catalogue and attempt to mandate anything that had a vaguely relevant title.He was also not interested in any form of Quality Assurance or control, examiner competence checks, pre-entry competences for examiners or any of the trappings of a sound scheme, except (IMO) ensuring he kept his job going for as long as possible. He also would not acknowledge the existence of the budding RCD.

 

The behaviour of the IWA and the RYA in all of it was disgraceful, as they, between them had the political clout to have had BW bring in a properly justified scheme, but they broadly ignored any inconvenient evidence.

 

As a result the initial BSS was over-prescriptive, terribly expensive to boaters and had to be radically revised after the Ombudsman decided against BW on several matters where they were changing the rules as they went along.

 

It still would benefit from being properly done, and made congruent with the RCD, but it won't be, because that would be to admit that a proper balls up was made.

 

N

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just in case anyone's getting twitchy about off topic posts here, since we've wandered from glass bowls to broader BSS and regulatory stuff, the OP (me) is finding these posts interesting and informative. :)

 

Thanks for the input chaps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do wonder how many engine fires there have been recorded on narrowboats prior to the BSS being introduced,or did someone just sit there and say "What if the engine catches fire, the fuel filter my crack and leak 25 ml of diesel onto the fire.

Looks like I have to eat my words http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/canal-boat-catches-fire-shepley-10698046

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
1 hour ago, mross said:

2.5 minutes' fire resistance seems too little to me.  In many narrow boats I suspect a melted filter bowl could dump half the fuel tank.  I'm sticking to metal filter bowls.  

I think most primary fuel filters/aglomerators are below the fuel tank like mine so would dump the complete tank contents. I too will stick to a metal filter bowl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Flyboy said:

I think most primary fuel filters/aglomerators are below the fuel tank like mine so would dump the complete tank contents. I too will stick to a metal filter bowl.

Mine is from above, and I would guess that this is more the standard these days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Robbo said:

Mine is from above, and I would guess that this is more the standard these days.

The one for my propulsion engine is about midway which is why I try to make sure I have a full tank before changing filters as it makes bleeding a doddle. The fuel tank for my built in generator sits about 18 inches below the gennie with the first filter sitting in between. That's why I've fitted a Fuelguard for that one as I'm fed up with taking the bowl off the old filter only to find its clean and then struggling to get the rubber O ring, that has spread a bit, back into its groove before refitting the bowl. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.