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BSS fail?


Gareth E

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I was chatting to another boater today, we got onto the BSS scheme, my test is due shortly. He told me that I'd fail because the fuel filter on my engine, a Vetus, has a plastic bolt on the bottom of it, designed to be unscrewed to release any water. This should be metal apparently, plastic is unacceptable.

Does anyone know if this is true? If so, I bought the filter from a large internet seller a couple of years ago. Why would they sell an item that's obviously for a boat when fitting it will make it fail a test? Should I get on to the supplier and tell them they should stop selling them, and ask them to send me something that will enable my boat to pass the test? Any other thoughts?   

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Gareth,

There are different standards for different boats.

Our previoius boat was a 40ft Sailing Yacht that we bought new in the Uk and sailed around the UK and Europe. I fitted a Racor 'spin on' filter bowl to the primary fuel filter that had a 'plastic see through' bowl. Totally legal for sailing boats.

Unfortunately this is not allowed on narrowboats and would fail the BSS. If you buy on the internet it may not be acceptable on the canals but ok for coastal/ocean boats - and there is very little difference in the usage of this particular item. Our original bolt on the Cav filter was also plastic. I note the one on our current narrowboat is metal and thus complies with the BSS.

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If it's the genuine Vetus fuel filter on the side of the engine, you'll find the plastic nut is only a cover to help you undo the aluminium drain plug underneath it. Have gone to a few boats that have been failed for this, till I proved it to the inspector with a new one from stock.

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Thanks for the replies. I guess I'm now faced with the task of removing the unsuitable bolt to measure up for a metal one, probably resulting in breaking down when air inevitably gets into the fuel system. Then the same happening again if and when I manage to find something suitable. Does anyone know what I need to look for to save me taking it off? It's the little Vetus 2 pot, M2 04 I think. Or is it worth giving the filter supplier a bit of grief, ask them to send me something suitable FOC?

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3 minutes ago, andyb116 said:

If it's the genuine Vetus fuel filter on the side of the engine, you'll find the plastic nut is only a cover to help you undo the aluminium drain plug underneath it. Have gone to a few boats that have been failed for this, till I proved it to the inspector with a new one from stock.

That's really useful I have had the same issue and not realised the vetus filter had the plastic cover. Even the Vetus supplier did not tell me this when I queried it with them.

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3 minutes ago, cereal tiller said:

Not all Forum Members are as Inscrutable as you,Grasshopper

You bugger, I had to look that word up:mellow:

 

I will try to be more scrutable in the future 

Edited by rusty69
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4 minutes ago, Gareth E said:

Thanks for the replies. I guess I'm now faced with the task of removing the unsuitable bolt to measure up for a metal one, probably resulting in breaking down when air inevitably gets into the fuel system. Then the same happening again if and when I manage to find something suitable. Does anyone know what I need to look for to save me taking it off? It's the little Vetus 2 pot, M2 04 I think. Or is it worth giving the filter supplier a bit of grief, ask them to send me something suitable FOC?

If it's a vetus filter on there according to andyb116 it should be OK - correct me if I am wrong andyb116!  Also the modern Vetus engine is self bleeding so you shouldn't have an issue if you change the filter. Change it then turn the ignition key on for a 20 -30 seconds, turn off then start the engine, should be OK. 

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Your spot on meanderingviking, if it's the genuine vetus filter p/No STM3690 it will pass, the one thing with the vetus 2 pots is that some had mechanical fuel pumps and have to be manually bled after removing the filter.if it's a Baldwin filter, they come with a plastic drain plug.

Edited by andyb116
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28 minutes ago, Gareth E said:

 

Does anyone know if this is true? If so, I bought the filter from a large internet seller a couple of years ago. Why would they sell an item that's obviously for a boat when fitting it will make it fail a test? Should I get on to the supplier and tell them they should stop selling them, and ask them to send me something that will enable my boat to pass the test? Any other thoughts?   

The inland waterways BSS market is a very small minority market when compared to the total boat market.

It is really the buyers responsibility to inform the seller what specification they require - it is not the sellers responsibility to quiz you as to what you want. If you ask for a 'filter for Vetus  Mo2 engine' that is what you will get. If you ask for a 'BSS approved filter for a vetus Mo2 engine' then that is what you will get (probably at a premium price)

 

It sort of shows how irrelevant the BSS is when 100's of thousands of boats are travelling the 'high seas' every day with filters with plastic 'bottoms', but, on the highly dangerous canals of England they must be totally 'metal'.

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2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

It is really the buyers responsibility to inform the seller what specification they require - it is not the sellers responsibility to quiz you as to what you want. If you ask for a 'filter for Vetus  Mo2 engine' that is what you will get. If you ask for a 'BSS approved filter for a vetus Mo2 engine' then that is what you will get (probably at a premium price)

Extremely premium price as I found out! :blink:

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I've found the filter I bought, it's a Baldwin BF1257. The blurb on the product (Inline Filters) mentions: Thread M16x1.5. Is it safe to assume that that refers to the drain plug and if so, could I simply get an M16 bolt, screw it in, and pass? 

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15 minutes ago, andyb116 said:

Your spot on meanderingviking, if it's the genuine vetus filter p/No STM3690 it will pass, the one thing with the vetus 2 pots is that some had mechanical fuel pumps and have to be manually bled after removing the filter.if it's a Baldwin filter, they come with a plastic drain plug.

I use Baldwin filters from Inline Filters, and the Baldwin equivalent of Vetus STM 3690 has a metal drain plug these days. Baldwin 1257, as the OP states.  It could be that the OP has an old filter, or was supplied from old stock. Just order up another Baldwin 1257 and make sure that your supplier is aware that it has to have a metal drain plug.  The only time I've received one with a plastic drain plug is when Inline Filters had run out of the Baldwin filter and sent me another brand.  They immediately replaced it when I pointed out the problem.

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My engine is not Vetus but I use Baldwin filters which are not usually expensive. There may be more than one choice of filter that will fit - some have no drain at all.

Do you have a part number for the Vetus filter in this case?

 

edit ... other posts arrived while I typed  !

Edited by MartynG
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7 minutes ago, Starcoaster said:

My BSS examiner didn't ask to look at the engine!?

Another aspect of the BSS - inconsistent application of the 'rules'.

A liveaboard 'neighbour' of ours was told to disappear for an hour as he was not allowed to do 'residential boats', if they were not onboard then it could not be a liveaboard. (weird logic !!!)

They came back to a 'new BSSC'.

 

I guess with a lot of people they simply want a boat with a piece of paper rather than a 'safe boat' and don't actually care if the surveyor turns up or doesn't as long as they get a 'piece of paper' they are happy.

 

2 years ago our as part of the purchase agreement of our 'new boat' I wanted a new BSSC as the 'old' one only had 12 months to run.

A new BSSC was issued (remember this was June 2015) whilst these extinguishers were mounted all around the boat.

Clearly labelled 'Valid until Jan 2010'

 

Unfortunately, because of a number of such examples on my own boats I have no respect for the BSS system

Extinguisher 1.jpg

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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38 minutes ago, Gareth E said:

I've found the filter I bought, it's a Baldwin BF1257. The blurb on the product (Inline Filters) mentions: Thread M16x1.5. Is it safe to assume that that refers to the drain plug and if so, could I simply get an M16 bolt, screw it in, and pass? 

Nay, the M16 thread would be the thread in the hole where it screws onto the mounting head casting. The plug would be something like M6 or M8.

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Apologies to anyone who might be offended by the language but this BSS requirement is bullshit. I've just spoken to a mechanic friend who's been a car mechanic for 40 years. He assures me that if a car rocked up for an MOT with a plastic drain plug on a fuel filter it wouldn't be an issue. It's not an issue on ocean going vessels. But it's an issue for the BSS board.

Is this a good example of health and safety gone mad, I wonder. Do the board of this authority have to create a large number of items of potential failure, just to justify their existence?

I wonder how many people have died due to fuel filters being made out of plastic. I wonder how many near misses there have been. I suspect the answer to both is nil. 

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I doubt if many folk have died through a plastic plug, but. The idea is that if a fire broke out in the engine space for some reason a plastic plug might melt and spill-pump out fuel  especially if the engine was running, the spilling fuel would feed the fire. A fuel leak like this on a vehicle would most likely just leak away onto the road and away. On a boat it can't do this, it stays on the boat and burns probably until the whole boat is consumed and probably burnt out to a cinder. Its for a similar reason why gas piping on a boat mustn't have soldered joints. Sounds like your mechanic is a bit of a goon.

Edited by bizzard
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