Stalling 80BB = Racor Questions!!!! ?????

[Adria Haynes]

Gang,

I pulled the Racor last night after the following events. I again
removed the "in" line to it and opened up the valve at the bottom. I
put the rubber tip air chuck into the "IN" side and gave it a quick
shot of air and the air only seemed to want to come back at me. I
then removed the "OUT" line and secondary filter and stuck a can under
the secondary fuel filter adapter. I blew into the out line and heard
it push the fuel through the line and into the can. I then also
pushed air into the "OUT" side of the Racor and it LAUNCHED fuel out
the drain valve until it was empty. After the fuel ran out, sludge
started to drain.

Having the air do "something" when pushed through the "out" side but
not the "in" side told me something was screwy.

So I tore it all apart and found the inside of the Racor to be pretty
full of black sludge. The rubber washer underneath that ball on that
screw on part seemed pretty weak. After giving everything a big
cleaning and partial reassembly - I shot air back into the "IN" side
and could only feel flow through some of the air veins at the bottom
of that plastic piece. Unscrewing it showed that the ball had
partially collapsed the rubber washer down into the inside - closing
off the other half. I set it up again - blew air in again - and got
NOTHING the second time. Unscrewing it showed that the ball had
seated the washer evenly, but actually gotten pushed down so far into
the washer that the ID of the washer got kind of stuck around the
ball.

Also, it looks like something in the bowl had caused it to become
hot. One of the wire leads that plugs through the side of the Racor
has distorted the plastic so bad that it couldn't be removed from the
side wall and the wire that belonged to it just kind of pulled out
with very little effort. Upon dissassembly, there is also that
plastic "bowl" shaped device that looks to create a swirl in the
flow. It also is severly distorted from what looks to be too much
heat. Call me crazy, but I would prefer my fuel not to get so hot
that it melts plastic inside of it and around it.

This leads me to a few questions:

Can I just get the specific Racor parts that I need or do I have to
buy a whole new unit?

Is it important that these heating elements and 5 wire setup be
plugged back in or can I live without them?

What all do they do that is so critical and why is there FIVE wires?

Would that weakened washer alone cause the fuel to stop flowing or did
it just appear weak because I subjected it to a much higher pressure
with air than it would ever see from fuel?

Hopefully, this will get me enough info in retun to continue my being
overwhelmed.

Thanks again in advance gang,

John in Flint