earthscratcher
Senior Member
who makes the best one Donaldson top spin,cat turbine, centri, turbo l,ll,lll, do they work ok, or money thrown out the window,just looking to install them on my dozers.
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air filter precleaners
- Thread starter earthscratcher
- Start date
Nige
Senior Member
As an answer to your question 'do they work Ok?' - in extremely dry and dusty conditions, yes.
Scrub Puller
Senior Member
Yair . . .
earthscratcher
To back up what Nige said above.
In extreme dry and dusty conditions they make a huge difference and add significant hours to element run times . . . sorry I can't give a definitive answer but I would guess at least 20% for the old style plexiglass Cat/Donaldson swirl units that were emptied every shift.
I am amazed modern machines are sold without them.
Cheers.
earthscratcher
To back up what Nige said above.
In extreme dry and dusty conditions they make a huge difference and add significant hours to element run times . . . sorry I can't give a definitive answer but I would guess at least 20% for the old style plexiglass Cat/Donaldson swirl units that were emptied every shift.
I am amazed modern machines are sold without them.
Cheers.
The turbine precleaners seem to be popular these days because you don't have to service them. Supposedly superior in separating out particles from the air. In the limited feedback I've gotten from people that install them they do extend air filter service intervals moreso than the bowl type. (You should only change air filters when the restriction indicator says so btw)
kshansen
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2012
- Messages
- 11,180
- Location
- Central New York, USA
- Occupation
- Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
That is something that some people will argue with from my experience. I know some of the people at other plants in the company I worked for would change them at every engine oil change! We had a subcontractor who came in while I was on lay-off a couple winters back do the initial engine service on the then new 980K Loader. That guy replaced both the inner and outer air filters! Even with our discount that is about $100.00 in filters that when I looked at the ones removed I though someone had opened a couple new filter boxes then left then on the bench in the shop! I always go by the computer in the dash and that same loader will go over 1,000 hours. Did have to remove and wash the exhaust vacuum powered pre-cleaner a couple times as it does operate in a dry dusty part of the plant near the BC Plant.
They water the haul roads almost too much there and the " plexiglass Cat/Donaldson swirl units" on our haul trucks can go several months before they have over a inch of dust in them!
Scrub Puller
Senior Member
Yair . . .
Gotcha kshansen.
It just goes to show the varying conditions manufacturers have to work to. Way back I put up a long post about working in dusty conditions and mentioned the Farr Pamic elements on the early HD21P's would be pulling red in a day and they weren't cleanable.
Even back then in the late sixties from memory they were eighty dollars direct from the US and the tractors were on forty bucks an hour.
Cheers.
Gotcha kshansen.
It just goes to show the varying conditions manufacturers have to work to. Way back I put up a long post about working in dusty conditions and mentioned the Farr Pamic elements on the early HD21P's would be pulling red in a day and they weren't cleanable.
Even back then in the late sixties from memory they were eighty dollars direct from the US and the tractors were on forty bucks an hour.
Cheers.
According to Donaldson and others the majority of the material that gets into the intake manifold is introduced during filter changes. If you add to that the fact that paper media air filters become more efficient at trapping dirt as they begin to plug up and factor in the cost of filters and labor, you are much better off in many ways to wait until the indicator hits the mark. Change the inner only once a year unless it is damaged or there has been an obvious failure of the primary that has allowed the secondary to accumulate dust.
Let me say that one part again, especially for those that like to bang their filters on something or blow them out... modern filters are so designed that they pass larger particles than desired when new and clean, as dust particles become trapped in the media the pores close up and the filter will trap progressively finer material up to the point where the restriction indicator says it's time to change out the primary. There's a curve to it like anything else, the filter is designed to pass a bit more material when new and a bit less air when it's closer to plugged up, you will get best engine life and lowest maintenance cost by following the manufacturer's recommendations.
Yeah Scrub, the Farr filters were great for foundry use, or such like with heavy concentrations of extremely fine dust, I saw them mostly used on mining machines and lift trucks used in dirty industrial settings. I think for most applications the Donaldson Cyclopac was a better choice, especially with the precleaner. CAT used the ejector setup a lot and it worked well. You would think an oil bath would be best for dust, but according to the manufacturers they were as efficient as a paper filter. Maybe they went away because they were messy to service? LOL
Let me say that one part again, especially for those that like to bang their filters on something or blow them out... modern filters are so designed that they pass larger particles than desired when new and clean, as dust particles become trapped in the media the pores close up and the filter will trap progressively finer material up to the point where the restriction indicator says it's time to change out the primary. There's a curve to it like anything else, the filter is designed to pass a bit more material when new and a bit less air when it's closer to plugged up, you will get best engine life and lowest maintenance cost by following the manufacturer's recommendations.
Yeah Scrub, the Farr filters were great for foundry use, or such like with heavy concentrations of extremely fine dust, I saw them mostly used on mining machines and lift trucks used in dirty industrial settings. I think for most applications the Donaldson Cyclopac was a better choice, especially with the precleaner. CAT used the ejector setup a lot and it worked well. You would think an oil bath would be best for dust, but according to the manufacturers they were as efficient as a paper filter. Maybe they went away because they were messy to service? LOL