IBEX 365 News WIF-Pro Products Shield Marine Fuel With Advanced Filtration System

2024 IBEX Innovation Award Interview with Wif-Pro

While water and fuel are two things that definitely do not go well together, here are two things that do: OhNoH2O and WIF-Pro.

OhNoH2O builds the 2023 IBEX Innovation Award-winning WIF-Pro (water-in-fuel) detection system and the 2024 IBEX Award-winning WIF-Shield fire protection bowls. Both products were designed for use with Racor fuel filtration, specifically the Spin-On series for gasoline, outboard applications and the Turbine series for diesel applications.

“Early in the development process, we identified five features of a marine fuel filtration system that are critical to provide maximum engine protection, safety, and convenience,” said Brian Benedict, the president and CEO of WIF-Pro and OhNoH2O.

Effective filtration removes contaminants, including water, from your fuel system.

Clear bowl filters provide valuable insight to the integrity or state of your fuel. This can be critical when troubleshooting any engine performance issues.

Quick drain fuel bowls allow for safe, spill-free removal of filter contaminants— notably water— when needed, as well as the ability to safely remove fuel from the filter for routine maintenance.

Reliable water-in-fuel, (WIF) detection, at the filter where the problem can be resolved or managed before passing downstream to the engine. Water entering your marine engine can have consequences that range from poor performance to complete engine failure.

ABYC H24-Gasoline and H33-Diesel USCG compliance, required to meet the safety standards for both OEM and aftermarket installations and applications.

With Racor providing an excellent solution for the first three features and OhNoH2o providing an excellent solution for features four and five, we feel we have created the most complete, effective marine fuel filtration system available for both gasoline outboard and diesel applications.

What problem was the WIF-Shield designed to solve?

In the diesel world, it was designed to provide fire protection for the Racor Turbine series fuel filters with clear bowls as required by ABYC H-33 and USCG standards, without losing the ability to use water-in-fuel detection sensor options and the clear bowl quick drain. Prior to WIF-Shield, the only available fire protection bowl was not readily compatible with water-in-fuel sensors, or vented quick drains, leaving the user without WIF protection or a clean, safe way to drain the bowl or remove contaminants. Losing these very important features of the fuel filtration system was the primary driver for the development of WIF-Shield in the diesel world.

In the gasoline world, WIF-Shield provides the first ABYC compliant clear bowl, fuel filter system. Why is this significant? Clear bowl fuel filters have long been the preference because they offer two important advantages over standard metal filters. First, they allow for a visual inspection of the state of your fuel. When a captain experiences an engine performance issue, the first, easy check with a clear bowl fuel filter is to see the general state of the fuel. Does it appear clean, and contaminant-free? Is there any water accumulation? The ability to quickly check the state of your fuel is always valuable information. The second feature that clear bowls provide is a vented, quick drain. The quick drains compared to a hex plug style drain found on many filters provide a superior way to drain the filter for routine maintenance or to remove contaminants, like water, that have accumulated in the bowl. The ability to perform a clean, spill-free removal of your fuel filter contents adds convenience and, more importantly, adds safety. The last thing you want in the bilge of your boat is fuel.

Who is the target market for the WIF-Shield?

The majority of the boating market. For diesel, any OEM or aftermarket application using Racor Turbine Series fuel filtration can utilize our WIF-Shield product to increase the features of their fuel filtration system for maximum convenience and safety. For gasoline applications, OEM outboard boatbuilders and outboard engine manufacturers can now offer a superior fuel filtration option with a clear bowl system.

Who is currently using WIF-Shield?

WIF-Shield is just starting in the market and is on a small number of diesel vessels.

What feedback have you received?

We have received very positive feedback from a variety of industry professionals, most notably service technicians and experienced captains who understand the advantages of WIF-Shield in real-world situations.

What kind of boats is WIF-Shield being used on?

Currently, a limited number due to the newness of our product. Now that we have compliance with ABYC Diesel H-33 and Gasoline H-24 standards, the types of vessels that can utilize the product include gasoline outboard boats, sailboats, workboats, yachts and sport fishing vessels.

How has it changed the boatbuilding process?

It’s too new as of yet to have any effect on the boatbuilding market. However, diesel boatbuilders will now have a superior option for fire protecting Racor filters as required by ABYC standards, and gasoline outboard boatbuilders will also be able to offer a superior, preferred, clear bowl fuel filtration system via the Racor spin on series.

Which builders/installers are using the WIF-Shield?

None just yet, but we literally just received word regarding our gasoline compliance and completed all our tooling for manufacturing.

What feedback have you received?

The feedback has been quite strong in the diesel applications market. With our gasoline compliance being so recent, we have yet to make any formal or informal introduction to the gasoline outboard market. So, I guess that makes you our intro gasoline outboard market!

Why do you think no one has designed a successful product like WIF-Shield before?

The market has been dominated by Racor for quite some time now, in both the gasoline and diesel world. I believe Racor has enjoyed a market domination that naturally leads to complacency when it comes to innovation.

What obstacles arose during the R&D process?

Many, as with most new products, but probably the single most challenging feature to develop was the toolless removable bowls. At the end of the day, we have two 316L stainless steel parts that need to install easily, maintain alignment with the filter assembly, mate and un-mate efficiently, snap lock into place securely, and not rattle. Oh, and did I forget to mention? Protect the plastic clear bowl from leakage in a 2 ½ minute, 1200°F fire test!

What plans are in place for the future of WIF-Shield?

We’ll work on distribution and sales next. After 4 years of developing the product line, we are excited to begin establishing relationships with top-tier distributors in the boating industry.

What impact do you see WIF-Shield having on the boating industry?

Simply put, providing the ultimate fuel filtration system for both gasoline outboard and diesel applications.

What plans do you have for the future of this design?

We will never stop considering ways to improve any of our product designs, but we are quite content with WIF-Shields functionality, so, in the short run, it’s building and sales, sales, sales!

Theresa Nicholson is an award-winning journalist who’s covered the marine industry for 25 years. She is the former senior editor of Cruising World, a judge for Newport for New Products, and a judge for the IBEX 2024 Innovation Awards program. She’s covered past IBEX shows for Soundings Trade Only, Practical Sailor, and Cruising World. Nicholson lived aboard her 31-foot ketch for 11 years and sailed from Miami to Malaysia. Her work currently focuses on weather, marine safety, risk analysis, and high latitude sailing.