Model 501

 

Features	Benefits
Stainless steel hermetically sealed double walled electronic sensor designed for the marine industry	Maintains the required air free fuel environment necessary with redundancy, while providing precise vacuum levels.
Bright blue display	Displays vacuum levels for sensor
Yellow bar progressive visual indicators	Visually informs operator. Know in a quick glance if filters are good, getting dirty or may cause an engine failure.
Audible alarm	Loud alarm to alert operator when filter becomes seriously degraded.
12VDC or 24VDC operation	Power conditioning circuitry to insure smooth and reliable operation in a variety of environments.
Internally fused and reverse polarity protected	Insures robust protection of instrument.
Alternate display	Allows one set of sensors to be displayed at 2 different helm stations.
No complex bulky connectors	The device is designed with the use of industry standard butt-splice   connectors, to make field installation easy and marine grade.
Compact design	Easily fits in industry standard 2 1/6" diameter hole.

Model 501 Product Sheet

The DigiVac Fail-Safe Fuel Filter Alert System Description:

• A straightforward vacuum instrument designed to detect fuel filter degradation and alert the operator—so action can be taken before an engine failure. 

• Audible and visual alarm to alert you to a problem before you reach failure point—to help avoid costly repairs and engine failure.

Why use the DigiVac Fail-Safe Fuel Filter Alert System?

• If you have the information that your engines are about to fail, you can take evasive action to avoid a dangerous engine failure in a crowded seaway during deteriorating weather.
• This system enables you to increase operating safety margins, by giving you more time to make better decisions about the vessel.
• Clogged fuel filters are responsible for entirely too many engine failures (see references). 
• The DigiVac Fail-Safe Filter Alert System can monitor the function of the filters through the use of a robust vacuum sensor, placed between the filter element and the engine. 
• The sensor, combined with the visual feedback presented by the display, allows the operator to see the gradual degradation of the filter, thus allowing plenty of time for corrective maintenance. 

How does the The DigiVac Fail-Safe Filter Alert System Work?

The DigiVac Fail-Safe Filter Alert System works on the principal of maintaining fuel flow. In a healthy fuel system, the engine low pressure pump will pull fuel from the tank through a filter. As the filter does its job and collects contaminants, the filter flow is reduced. As the flow is reduced, the lift pump has to work harder to pull fuel to the engine. There is a point where the filter becomes too clogged to support the flow necessary for the running of the engine. When there is not enough fuel flow, the engine first loses power, then stops. Unfortunately, a filter is very likely to clog in precisely the kind of situation when you need a reliable running engine the most.  When rough seas toss the boat, they also mix-up the contents of the fuel tank, and more contaminants are likely to find their way to the fuel filter, resulting in engine degredation and failure.

How is the DigiVac Fail-Safe Filter Alert System Different?

Before this solution, one of the only ways to get the filter pressure levels to the cockpit involved extending the very sensitive closed diesel fuel system by 10-50 feet.  Extending the fuel system up to the cockpit can add significant risk to the fuel system, through increased likelihood of air leaks that could cause an engine failure.  Additionally, it would require the operator to constantly monitor the gauge. The DigiVac Model 501 adds close to zero risk of any air entering the system, since it replaces the T-Handle (which comes standard with Racor 500, 900 and 1000) with a stainless steel, double walled, hermetically sealed sensor.  Also available in an NPT vacuum interface for tee installation in the fuel line. Even if the sensor fails, the fuel system will not be exposed to air. Additionally, the DigiVac Fail-Safe Filter Alert has multiple visual indications, and a loud siren, to notify of a dirty filter that could stop the engine.   

The DigiVac model 501 not only gives a remote indication, but also shows a trend of a filter becoming clogged. Healthy systems show up as normal, and systems that are in danger of starving the engine are “in the red”, with a loud auditory sound and the descriptive message "Filter Dirty." Before the model 501, an operator would have to choose a filter replacement interval that would keep the engine running, and frequently visually inspect the engine and filter for debris in the fuel bowls, an indication that the filters may only be marginally effective. The Fail-Safe alert allows the operator to constantly monitor the filter status while at the helm, and while the engines are running. 

The DigiVac Model 501 Fail-Safe Filter Alert enables the operator to have one additional key input to the engine's health, and allows the operator to focus on other critical safety factors, instead of fearing that the next rough sea will kick up enough muck to stop the boat in a crowded seaway.