Truck Island Pumps, Filtered at the Pump?

[GCroyle]

Guys,



Saw an answer to a fueling question on another forum and the poster stated the the fuel at truck islands, big nozzle delivery/saddle tank nozzle setups does not filter at the pump like the automotive island does and you are not getting the same filtered fuel as the auto island.



I fill at a combination gas/convenience/truck island with big nozzle and high flow, nothing to report so far.



What you guys say, are big nozzle truck high flow pumps filtered at the pump?



Gary

 

[HBarlow]

I know they resisted for several years with waivers and somehow getting away with installing older design engines in new tractors but I think the big OTR tractor fleets are slowly transitioning to modern HPCR engines just like our light trucks and diesel cars are. I don't see how big trucks could safely use fuel less clean than our Cummins B motors must have if they are also using a Bosch design HPCR system.

Maybe someone who drives a big truck can comment.

 

[Bob4x4]

I have no idea... ... ... with the stream lined looking pumps today are they hidden inside the cabinet?
Big Nasty must know... ... ...

 

[mwilson]

Guys,



Saw an answer to a fueling question on another forum and the poster stated the the fuel at truck islands, big nozzle delivery/saddle tank nozzle setups does not filter at the pump like the automotive island does and you are not getting the same filtered fuel as the auto island.



I fill at a combination gas/convenience/truck island with big nozzle and high flow, nothing to report so far.



What you guys say, are big nozzle truck high flow pumps filtered at the pump?



Gary

Up here there is a spin on filter between the pump outlet and the hose connection. Dual pumps (each side of the fuel lane) have one on each outlet.



Mike.

 

[GCroyle]

Mike,

Filters visible on the outside, or inside the pump cabinet? I have seen some at mass market gas based fillup with 1 diesel hose for auto with the external filter. Been there when it was painfully slow too.

 

[jgillott]

A friend of my father owns a local oil company. They own at least a half dozen stations including a commercial fueling station. I will be more than happy to ask for sure. But, I am almost positive that they are inline at the top of the fill hose on their pumps.

 

[RustyJC]

HERE is a service station supplier website. One of the products they list is replacement fuel filters for the dispenser pumps - including diesel and biodiesel. Doing some digging, they also have phase separation equipment available.

Rusty

 

[mwilson]

Mike,



Filters visible on the outside, or inside the pump cabinet? I have seen some at mass market gas based fillup with 1 diesel hose for auto with the external filter. Been there when it was painfully slow too.

Visible outside.



Mike.

 

[Jim W]

I know that when I pull my 5er that I always use the truck islands to fill up at and I look for the spin on filter for the diesel fuel. Most of the stations still have them exposed but some of the newer designed stations I guess have them inside the cabinets such as a new Love's in Dwight IL. I am not real concerned on the filtering of the diesel fuel from the pump since I use two fuel filters to filter the fuel. The first is the stock inline 5 micron filter and the second is a 2 micron filter after the 5 micron filter, so this should trap all of the debris that would be harmful to the pump and injectors.
I also carry two spare filters one is a 5 micron and the other is a 2 micron filter and in the last 30K miles I have never needed them due to plugging of the fuel filters.
Jim W.

 

[GCroyle]

Well, I just went to my local fuel stop, got about 25 gallons from a Gilbarco diesel fuel dispenser with satellite pump. This is the one with the overhead coming from the top of the housing hose breakaway connection. I went inside and asked the Mgr if that pump has a filter in it, her answer for this pump was YES, it does have a filter in the cabinet. I didn't detect any confusion or on the fly comments in her answer. Plain and simple, yes.

 

[Bill Stockard]

I've often wondered if the big canister type fuel filters on the pump actually has a filter element in it. The pump was running slow and customers complained so they took the plugged up element out and put the canister back on. It pumps fast again, no complaints!



At the local key lock station where I buy my diesel fuel, both the on-highway and off-highway pumps have big spin-on filters on the pumps. It's obvious they have filters, but what micron rating?



Bill

 

[jgillott]

I've often wondered if the big canister type fuel filters on the pump actually has a filter element in it. The pump was running slow and customers complained so they took the plugged up element out and put the canister back on. It pumps fast again, no complaints!

At the local key lock station where I buy my diesel fuel, both the on-highway and off-highway pumps have big spin-on filters on the pumps. It's obvious they have filters, but what micron rating?

Bill

I had what turned out to be a minor fuel contamination issue a little over a year ago. I posted this picture at the time of what I cut out of my fuel filter.

#ad



The knife in the photo isn't very large, but obviously I got fuel from a pump that either wasn't filtered in the first place or the filter wasn't capable of catching such a large piece. It made me think at the time that if something that large can get through, how many small particles are there that we can't see. I never felt the need prior to that for additional filtration (I had been driving a Dodge Cummins since '92 without issue) but my trucks now have a 2 micron filter inline after the factory one.

 

[BIGNASTY]

All pumps have filters some are inside the pump some are outside the pump some have both. Bill had the key thought the micron ratings are NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO RELY ON. They will filter out GRAVEL at best. The large ones on the outside that have a bolt down end are usually the ones that are called SCUM FILTERS remember another post that talked about GREEN GOB'S OF GROWING CRAP ( No Cerb not the lot lizard types :-laf) it TRIES to separate the Green stuff from the fuel but at a VERY HIGH MICRON RATING.

Lets take a look at this logically (im not trying to be a smart a ) If you are Haabeeba at the camel fuel stop and you are changing filters ALL THE TIME your not making as much money. So to get the crud out of your tanks and away from you fuel stop WITHOUT PAYING a tremendous amount of money to have the HAZMAT WASTE hauled off to an EPA sight that deals with such thing transported by some company charging way to much COSTING HAABEEBA even MORE MONEY. You can put some crappy filters on (they are required to filter but how good?) and PASS THE CRAP ON TO THE UNSUSPECTING MOTORIST.

BIG

 

[BIGNASTY]

Well, I just went to my local fuel stop, got about 25 gallons from a Gilbarco diesel fuel dispenser with satellite pump. This is the one with the overhead coming from the top of the housing hose breakaway connection. I went inside and asked the Mgr if that pump has a filter in it, her answer for this pump was YES, it does have a filter in the cabinet. I didn't detect any confusion or on the fly comments in her answer. Plain and simple, yes.

I always got a kick out of going to Gas Stations in So Ca most of the attendants that are there in the wee hours of the AM cant speak English well if at all. They see a Chevron truck pull up with a guy that KIND OF LOOKS THE PART and think ALL IS WELL IN GAS LAND TODAY!! I went into the store gave a wink and a wave of the hand and went in the back room to get the Veeder Root and went back out to the truck and did some figuring and away it went into the ground at 350 gal a min. 30 min after I pulled in I was pulling out with a fresh cup of coffee and the satisfaction that the IGNORANT PERSON behind the counter had ABSOULTLY NO IDEA OF WHAT HAD JUST TAKEN PLACE. When the fuel quit sloshing around in the tank in 5 min it felt the pressure difference and sent a tank reading to the central dispatch ANOTHER BUNCH OF IGNORANT people that cant find their butt with both hands. And they would think ANOTHER GREAT JOB DONE BY BIG!!!

 

[GCroyle]

BIG,



Maybe time to check out the Mgr at my local fil em up joint, cute and GRITS to boot. Language wasn't an issue.



Back to the OP's question and using BIG's tanker jockey time answer"



All pumps have filters, some inside, some outside. Paraphrased.



Another urban legend myth headed for the porcelain receptacle. The only issue is the condition/quality of the fuel after its passed thru the "filter".

 

[rbattelle]

I've often wondered if the big canister type fuel filters on the pump actually has a filter element in it. The pump was running slow and customers complained so they took the plugged up element out and put the canister back on. It pumps fast again, no complaints!

I agree with Bill here. I don't trust fuel stations, not even a little bit. The people working at them seem completely unable to understand even the differences between fuel types, let alone the maintenance procedures and history for their equipment.

But I'd say if you have any chance at all of a good filter being installed on a pump, the highest probability is the truck pumps at major truck stops. At least there they have the motivation that if truckers find bad fuel word is going to get out quick.

The other 99. 9% of the public doesn't understand what's flowing into their own car. How many times have you heard people claim that their engine runs much better and gets 60 mpg when they use 93 octane fuel? It's that funny quirk (I suffer from it too) where people assume "it costs more, so it must be better!"

Whenever someone says, "I always use 89 or 93 octane fuel. " I say, "Really? Why? What's your compression ratio?" 95% of the time I get a blank stare, and the other 5% of the time people can't understand how compression ratio has anything to do with octane rating of their gas.

Considering that level of knowledge, why would any station owner bother using quality filters on the pumps and changing them regularly?

-Ryan

 

[HBarlow]

I agree with all of that, Ryan. I think the risk of getting bad fuel is much greater at a neighborhood convenience store where a clueless minimum wage clerk is on duty and volume of diesel sold is small.

 

[mwilson]

Up here there is a spin on filter between the pump outlet and the hose connection. Dual pumps (each side of the fuel lane) have one on each outlet.



Mike.

Went to town yesterday afternoon to run my errands, dug the '97 out for a little exercise and to top off the tank.



Double checked the Diesel pumps, as I said there are filters on the big nozzle pumps.



But on the little girlie nozzle pump that I use for the trucks and Gizmo there was no external filter.



Am hoping that it is inside of the cabinet, I will ask the next Gaftek (local fuel pump maintainers) guy that comes in.



Mike.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Gary



You got me to thinking (a bad thing) about the quality of filtration at stations, made a few phone calls and the company that I worked for has no concern about what takes place at a gas station unless it was company owned (getting very rare) I use to fill my truck at the yard they would just take it out of my paycheck if they remembered most times not!!! so I relied on their filters and was told that they are 3 micron or BELOW!!! It was put into our trucks clean but who knows what happened after the fuel drop at the station. I can say Chevron always had the best filtered fuel/oil products of any of the majors. Im not saying that because I worked for them but every year when the new car tests were going on in MI they would send 4 truck loads of fuel from Chevron in CALIFORNIA to MI to run the mileage tests on seems like they got better results with CA gas GO FIGURE!!!



I took a look on the web and found the average micron rating on filters were in the 10 to 30 I CAN ALMOST GAURANTEE that Fajar puts on the 30 or higher filters



http://catalog.petrostuff.com/viewi...s-adaptors/service-station-filters?&pagenum=1

 

[Bob4x4]

I agree with all of that, Ryan. I think the risk of getting bad fuel is much greater at a neighborhood convenience store where a clueless minimum wage clerk is on duty and volume of diesel sold is small.

My neighborhood convenience store with pumps always has a line and is 99% of the time the best hit on gasbuddy. They pump a ton of fuel daily.