Thanks for your responses. To answer some of the questions raised, the pumps were placed downstream of the Racor for a couple of reasons.
1. The pump original location was upstream of the Racor (30 micron) which was recommended by the Beta engineer because these small pumps do not have much vertical lift capability. OTOH, their internals have a very small orifice that can and did block the fuel flow since it was unfiltered at that location. Since they were in-line pumps, the solution was to swap out the pump or filter (some have a small one on the inlet to the pump). However, doing this in the small confines of the pump location was a giant PITA, especially since they failed while the motor was in use--while on the water! Rigging a parallel set in this upstream location was also difficult because of the limited space. 2. To mitigate this failure possibility, 2 pumps with check valves were installed in parallel powered by the ignition switch, with another switch that would select which pump to use. Both of these have enough lift capability (I think!) to suck filtered fuel thru the Racor and push it to the primary filter. They certainly pumped fuel well when I took the hose off the engine filter--albeit initially with frothy fuel or just air in the line. Plus at this location, any fuel they see has passed thru the Racor so they are very unlikely to clog themselves. 3. My diesel mechanic is to determine the source of the problem today--if he can. If not, he will replace the pick-up tube assembly and install a new, possibly different Racor filter/separator. IMHO, the model I have (500?) has a poorly designed, double O-ring top seal, which on my boat is impossible to see because of where the Racor is mounted (high and on the other side from the access panel). Getting the filter replaced, complete with 2 new O rings, is possible but not easy. Plus there is no way I can determine if the seas are clean except by 'feel'. Maybe I will know more by tonight--if nothing else, both the Racor and the pickup assemble will be 'new'. Thanks again for your thoughts, Charlie Nelson Water Phantom 1995 C&C 36XL/kcb cenel...@aol.com
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