Reusable Oil Filters

Toobuilder · #1 01-03-2013, 11:09 AM

After reading several threads on the applicability of the various "automotive" filters to our aircraft, I was drawn to this product in my most recent Summit Racing catalog:

Looks like the same kind of filter media I'm used to working with in turbine engines. Disassembly and cleaning would sure be easier than cutting/unfolding/ inspecting/disposal of the conventional filters. With this thing you just wash it out in some clean solvent and inspect the debris left behind.

Apparently, the product offered by Summit is an "offshore" product, but there is also an American offering: http://www.kandpengineering.com/tech...ghlights.shtml

I like the fact that you can get consistent micron filtering across the media, unlike paper, which is rated as an "average". As it turns out, a paper filter advertised as "10 microns" will let chunks as large as 50 microns pass. With a stainless screen, the aperture size is consistent.

Any thoughts?

rocketbob · #2 01-03-2013, 11:24 AM

I looked at the K&N washable filter and determined it was too easy to get junk in the clean side when cleaning. That and I've got a dozen Napa Gold 1515 filters left to use.

Toobuilder · #3 01-03-2013, 12:32 PM

Contamination while cleaning has not been an issue in my experience.

Heck, this thing is all stainless - just throw it in the dishwasher! (Just make sure "she" is out shopping)

Ironflight · #4 01-03-2013, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toobuilder

(Just make sure "she" is out shopping)

Or the filter is from HER airplane!

Bevan · #5 01-03-2013, 07:26 PM

Does the reuseable filter fit a lycoming?

Bevan
"No one is smarter than all of us"

Toobuilder · #6 01-03-2013, 07:47 PM

It "fits" in the sense that it is offered in the same thread and base size as the often used NAPA and K&N automotive filters.

Jaypratt · #7 01-03-2013, 07:58 PM

I have reusable filters on my Super Cub 'Shooter' and the 'Borrowed Horse'

Stanless steel filters, seems to work fine. Both have been on my engines since new, or SMOH on Shooter. 11 oil changes on Borrowed Horse. 16 on Shooter

SHIPCHIEF · #8 01-03-2013, 07:59 PM

It's just a strainer, albeit better than the stock Lycoming one.
A treated cellulose media (paper) filter does a better job. Although a paper filter 'may' have voids several times larger than the micron rating, the 'in depth' nature of a paper filter means it will still trap smaller particles in line with it's rating. Besides, the whole sump full of oil goes thru the filter several times per minute. It gets filtered very well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_filter
And that thing weighs more than a disposable spin on filter.
I look at those big screen units as useful in racing, and that's where you found it, in a racing supply house. Our engines have a different task, reliable continuous power. Champion & Tempest have been working on it for some time, and top quality automotive filters are similarly tasked.

Toobuilder · #9 01-03-2013, 11:13 PM

Paper or stainless, they are both "just strainers". The stainless version is available in 10 microns - same as the stated rating of the paper. So at worst, the stainless version is at least as good as any disposable filter. At best, it will not allow anything larger than that to pass, and it is reusable, over and over. Yes, probably heavier.

skylor · #10 01-03-2013, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toobuilder

Paper or stainless, they are both "just strainers". The stainless version is available in 10 microns - same as the stated rating of the paper. So at worst, the stainless version is at least as good as any disposable filter. At best, it will not allow anything larger than that to pass, and it is reusable, over and over. Yes, probably heavier.

The problem with stainless filters is that they can be rated in nominal as well as absolute micron ratings. The racing filter that you show is very likely a 10 micron nominal, not absolute, which means that it too may pass particles larger than 10 microns. Furthermore, stainless screen elements can "open up" larger pore sizes with age and cleaning cycles. In the aerospace industry, stainless filters are "bubble tested" when they are cleaned to verify that they continue to meet the required absolute filtration requirement when it's critical for the system in which it's used.

Skylor