Racor fuel filter modification question

[alpha]

I am down in the FL keys on holiday. fueled up the boat on the road at shell station 85 Gal diesel. Fueled up twice at local marine docks. Fuel alarm going off indicating water in fuel, remove plug at the bottom of racor drain out water, Trying to be as careful as possible to keep fuel from spilling into bilge .After doing this 3 times in 1 week I decide to replace the plug with a petcock which makes draining the water so much faster and cleaner. I also removed the heat deflector from the racor so that I can see into the sediment bowl. My Question is do I really need a heat deflector on my racor if the boat is only a pleasure craft.

[biffer]

you can leave it off if it's not near any heat, the separ filters have the option to have them or not

[Stringer Bell]

You are good, heat shield is only used when filter is nearly touching the motor.

Have fun!

[alpha]

WOW Thank you for the fast response. I thought the reason for the heat shield was about insurance or coast guard regulation. Makes more sense to me now. Here are a couple photos from todays boat trip.

[captnjack]

It is in coast guard rules, for inboard applications and inspected vessels. Not for private vessels, although its probably in ABYC and other guidelines.

I would be very wary of the petcock. A minor bump and that will be draining gas to your bilge - boom.

[alpha]

Originally Posted by captnjack

It is in coast guard rules, for inboard applications and inspected vessels. Not for private vessels, although its probably in ABYC and other guidelines.

I would be very wary of the petcock. A minor bump and that will be draining gas to your bilge - boom.

I Agree ... A minor bump could be A major problem gas or diesel.

What are ABYC guidelines ?

Maybe I could invert heat deflector as a petcock guard?