First time I've seen this one

Steamhead

This is a Fulflo FB-4 oil filter housing, in which someone had installed a cartridge for a smaller General/Unifilter housing:



You can see the cartridge was not tall enough to seal against the top of the housing, so all the dirt and sludge bypassed it. I found the fuel unit strainer plugged and the coupling sheared- fortunately, the lack of lubrication didn't burn the fuel unit out. Come on guys, they really do make replacement cartridges for these that vastly outperform the originals...................

This was on a 2-line hookup to a Carlin 702CRD, so this size housing was too small to begin with. And a new fuel unit would have been big bucks.

I replaced it with a Unifilter 99, which I had on the truck. Its 25 GPH capacity well exceeds the fuel unit's 16 GPH strainer capacity, and if someone other than us has to replace the cartridge they're less likely to make this mistake. Note to spin-on filter fans- we do use these on some jobs, but in general I like to be able to see the condition of the old cartridge when I install a new one. This lets me diagnose issues such as excessive sludge or water in the tank. I haven't yet seen a spin-on that will let me do this.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Was never a fan of FulFlow. The old yarn elements always passed dirt and sludge and when you went on a call the nozzle, pump strainer and filter (and maybe the oil line) would be all plugged up. And they always leaked with the paper cardboard gasket. (Remember the old fulflows with the 4 7/16 hex bolts?)

The small Generals with the wool element were pretty good. On a call the filter might be plugged but the nozzle etc were ok.

Now with the microfiber elements and better gaskets either is ok (with the right element installed)

Your one of the very few that looks at pump capacity versus filter size, most don't have a clue.

I preferred the large general with 1/2" tappings but the supply houses seldom have them available now, maybe special order.

STEVEusaPA

Sadly I've seen that too. When they put the wrong replacement in, they probably kept the old gaskets, as the ones that came with the replacement don't quite fit right.
The Fulflo FB-4 replacement cartridges are readily available, but many newer techs are probably unaware, or lazy, or both.
At least they didn't try to jamb the bigger General replacement in there or use the felt cartridge, cut the screen and take off a few rungs-2 things I've seen hacked in.

I too like to see what's going on inside so I can advise if fuel treatment is necessary. You also tend to see 'evidence' on the pump strainer, but the filter gives the best clues.

GBart

Saw a ton like that, few companies stock their trucks with Fulflo or the Firomatic RC20's so rather than upgrade a customer to a spin on and make some profit they do this, seen techs cut A25's for the RC20, can be done but must be done perfectly, and if the customer has a service agreement you are about to lose money because you'll be back, 1, 2, 3 times this winter fixing the fuel system for free.

Steamhead

GBart said:

........ few companies stock their trucks with Fulflo or the Firomatic RC20's so rather than upgrade a customer to a spin on and make some profit they do this, seen techs cut A25's for the RC20, can be done but must be done perfectly, and if the customer has a service agreement you are about to lose money because you'll be back, 1, 2, 3 times this winter fixing the fuel system for free.

In other words, you can't fix stupid.

Big Ed_4

I have not seen a FulFlo in years ..... They were good if you needed a roll of string

Alan Welch

Best one I ever saw was the filter assembly installed between the oil tank and shut off valve, had been serviced by another company for years. also another one where the arrow on top of the filter housing pointed toward the tank, plugged up the inside of the filter but the outer part was clean.

Steamhead

Alan Welch said:

Best one I ever saw was the filter assembly installed between the oil tank and shut off valve, had been serviced by another company for years. also another one where the arrow on top of the filter housing pointed toward the tank, plugged up the inside of the filter but the outer part was clean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVSRm80WzZk

happydave

Or clueless guys dump a firomatic can and lose the washer that holds up the filter