WIF-Pro’s water in fuel monitors, keeping a watch on your fuel
WIF-Pro is my favorite kind of company to cover, a relatively new startup with a fresh take on an old problem. I first learned about and met WIF-Pro’s founder, Brian Benedict, at IBEX 2023. Brian, a mortgage banker by day and water in fuel alerter by night, founded WIF-Pro because of his own experience with water in his outboard engine’s fuel filters. Many, fuel filtration systems make it difficult or impossible to know when the filter is full of fuel and when it’s full of water. Even filters that employ a clear bowl are generally mounted in a location that makes checking them regularly difficult. So, more often than not, we first become aware of a watery problem when our engines either sputter or die altogether. WIF-Pro looks to change that with proactive monitoring of water in your boat’s fuel system.
First, in case it’s not obvious, WIF is an acronym for water in fuel. Since meeting Brian and his brother Todd I have come to appreciate a few things about them. First, for a couple of mortgage bankers, their engineering discipline is impressive. The thought put into the product shows through loud and clear. Second, although they take monitoring for water in fuel seriously, they don’t take themselves too seriously. As proof, I offer the parent company name, OhNoH2O, and their slogan, “Don’t be a fool, monitor your fuel.”
System options
WIFPro’s launch product provides water in fuel monitoring for the the most common filters used with gasoline outboard engines. This includes filter holders made by Mercury, Yamaha, and Racor. For boats, like mine, that still have the original all metal filters, a Racor filter and clear bowl is needed. The Racor S3213 filter screwed right onto the Yamaha filter holders. WIFPro offers control panel options for one to four engine configurations. A one engine system, with a NMEA 2000 control panel, sells for $700 on their website and each engine adds $300. So, systems range from $700 for a single engine to $1600 for quads.
Although it isn’t on their website yet, WIF-Pro now offers a system compatible with Racor’s 500, 900, and 1,000 series diesel turbine filters. These systems Start at $800 for a single engine and increase by $400 per engine.
The systems consist of a control panel, sensor ring(s), filter parts, drain bottle, and installation supplies and tools. The filter parts include a green float ring, a red indicator ring and a black spacer to hold everything in the proper place. Control box options provide for both flush mount, like I have on Panboat, and surface mount.
WIFPro includes among the most complete set of supplies and tools to complete the installation of their product. Not only do they include all the connectors you might need, but they also include useful tools like the cable puller above and a self centering drill bit and diamond grit jigsaw blade. The spare fuse secured to the power cable with heat shrink ensures you not only have a spare fuse, but can find it if you need it.
True to their style, WIF-Pro has taken a hard look at the task of draining watery fuel. The Racor clear bowls have a drain fitting that allows you to drain accumulated water. However, if you’ve ever used it, you are probably familiar with the mess they typically make. WIF-Pro solves that challenge by providing a drain bottle with a funnel that mates to the drain. The funnel slips over the drain and provides an easy grip to open it and capture watery fuel. WIF-Pro plans to sell the bottles by themselves due to strong demand.
Installation and operation
Panboat is equipped with WIF-Pro’s twin engine system for outboard gasoline powered boats. The system uses Racor filters with clear bowls at the bottom. Typically, these bowls allow the operator to see if water, which is heavier than gasoline, has accumulated in the bowl. WIFPro adds a plastic ring to the bowl. The density of the ring means that it floats in water but sinks in gasoline. As a result, if the bowl is full of gas, the ring sits on the bottom of the bowl — as both rings are doing in the photo above. If however, the bowl fills with water, a denser liquid, the ring will float to the top of the bowl.
When the green ring floats to the top, it reveals an orange ring that is also added to the bowl. The orange ring provides a clear visual indicator of trouble with the fuel. For some, the combination of this simple indicator and a drain bottle may be all that’s needed.
Fortunately, WIF-Pro plans to offer an affordable kit for either Racor or Sierra clear bowl filters. The kits include the orange indicator, float ring, drain bottle, hardware, and aspacer to move the filters out a little to facilitate getting the drain bottle in place. Final pricing hasn’t been announced but it sounds like they will be quite affordable and available at retail.
If the green float visible in the bowls floats up, it will interrupt an infrared light source fired from one side of the sensor ring to the other. In turn, that causes an alarm to sound at the control panel.
The 95 decibel alarm is hard to miss, but it is helpfully backed up by alarms and text raised on connected NMEA 2000 devices. Loud alarms at the helm grab your attention but often with little clarity about the cause of the alarm. The accompanying alert displayed on a chart plotter means the operator quickly knows the source of the alarm. Combined with the drain bottle, the early warning WIF-Pro provides means the operator can drain the filter and hopefully make it back to shore safely.
Sensors like WIF-Pro’s tend to live on our boats for months or years without making a peep. That can leave you wondering if they’re working. WIF-Pro chirps a two beep sequence at startup to indicate everything powered on and tested correctly. Additionally, each sensor performs a self test every five seconds. If a sensor fails, the siren beeps a unique sequence and the WIF-Pro unit communicates the failure via NMEA 2000.
Final thoughts
Fortunately, I have not had occasion to test WIF-Pro’s functionality on the water. But, I’m equally pleased to have peace of mind knowing that if I do end up with water-logged fuel, I’ll know about it as soon as possible. As I mentioned, WIF-Pro takes monitoring fuel seriously. They’ve done a nice job looking at all aspects of the problem and designing a simple solution to address the problem without creating new ones.
At $1,000 for a twin engine installation, I have encountered a few different reactions to WIF-Pro’s pricing. Some people have thought the pricing seems very reasonable while others have objected feeling it’s a little high. Further digging into those reactions finds that those who have experienced troubles with water in their fuel tend to find the pricing reasonable. I will admit, I’ve had my fair share of experience with water in fuel and value the insight the systems provides.
What a great idea! I too have had my share of WIF and this looks like a very complete and well thought out solution. Using an infrared sensor means little chance for failure and no way of introducing leaks too. Well done. However for a small boat like mine the N2K version, which I do think is great, is probably overkill but I’ll be on the lookout for the indicator kit
While this appears to be a well designed product, I don’t think it adds much to what is already available in the market at much lower cost. For modern Diesel common rail engines, water in fuel sensing is a matter of life and death because even tiny amounts of water can blow the tips off very expensive injectors. Fuel injected gasoline engines are not quite as vulnerable but also are sensitive to water. Consequently, engine manufacturers require WIF sensors, which are often linked to the engine control systems. My Cummins QSB motors won’t even start if the WIF sensor is triggered. The sensors sold by Racor and others that screw into fittings on the bowl are a fraction of the cost and alarm through the engine instrumentation.
Perhaps there are some old engines out there for which this is a good solution. But for newer engines, I don’t see it as cost effective.
Fred,
Everyone has to make their own evaluation about value and I don’t presume to substitute my analysis for yours. However, I will mention that while WIF alerting is pretty common on diesel engines, I believe it’s much less common on gasoline powered outboards. In fact, the Racor clear bowls for gasoline filters don’t have the casting for the sensor to screw in. I really like the fact that WIFPro monitors without inserting anything into the bowl creating the possibility of leaks. Plus, with an explosive fuel, a lot of potential issues are avoided by not inserting anything into the bowl. Whether that’s worth the price of the units… only the boat owner can decide that for themselves.
-Ben S.
Good points. Probably I sounded too negative to be honest because the product seemed to be an excellent solution to a problem that has been solved many times before. Racor does make replacement plastic bowl kits with water in fuel sensors that can be retrofitted on gasoline powered boats that did not previously have sensors. They are pretty cheap but require some expertise to rig on a boat that does not have an ECM set up to use it and report the warnings through the engine gauges. Also I would note that the traditional sensor probe at the bottom of the bowl in a port would likely be triggered by a smaller amount of water than this design. Personally, I would not want to wait until there was enough water in the bowl to float a probe. Then again I have triple filters on my Diesel engines because the consequences of having any water to get to the injectors in a high pressure common rail engine are so severe. Not really overkill if you run 100 miles offshore to fish and don’t want to paddle home.
Review the requirements for gasoline fuel system components. The plastic bowls are a red flag!
For outboard powered boats, I don’t believe there is any problem with plastic clear bowls. For U.S. flagged boats, ABYC H24 covers gasoline fuel systems. Here’s the text of H24.5.7 that covers fire resistance, the driver behind plastic bowls being problematic. Pay careful attention to exception 6:
24.5.7 All individual components of the fuel system, as installed in a boat, shall be capable of withstanding a 2.5 minuteexposure to free burning fuel (N-Heptane) without leakage as required by Title 33 CFR, Section 183.590, and as required for individual components in H-24 (see APPENDIX 2).
EXCEPTIONS:
1. Portions of fuel distribution systems located outside the engine compartment if a break at any point in this system will result in the discharge of no more than five ounces (147.9 ml) of fuel in 2.5 minutes, including fuel that may drain from the engine (see H- 24.17 for requirements for fuel distribution and return systems).
2. Self-draining fill and vent pipes located in a separate compartment from the engine compartment.
3. Fill and vent external fittings.
4. Clips and straps not essential for antisiphon protection required by this standard.
5. The outboard engine manufacturer-supplied manual primer bulbs and hose or equivalent to the engine, if the boat is not fitted with a gasoline (petrol) inboard engine or generator set.
6. Gasoline (petrol) fuel filters designed and labeled for marine use on outboard powered boats, provided the boat is not fitted with a gasoline (petrol) inboard engine or generator set and the filter is located in a compartment that is open to the atmosphere or void of ignition sources (see ABYC E-11, AC & DC Electrical Systems on Boats). NOTE: SeeH- 24.17.9.1.7 for additional fire testing requirements for remote fuel pump systems.24.5.8 A means to determine fuel level or quantity shall be provided.24.5.9 Fuel systems shall be designed to meet engine vacuum requirements and pressure drop to ensure proper and reliable engine compatibility.24.6FLEXIBLE FUEL HOSE24.6.1Hose shall comply with the requirements of SAE J1527, Marine Fuel Hose.EXCEPTION: Outboard engine manufacturer-supplied hose or equivalent from the outboard engine primer bulbto the outboard engine with a permeation rate of 15 g/m²/24 hr or less, if the boat is not fitted with a gasoline (petrol) inboard engine or generator set.
-Ben S.