RustedHeroes
Well-Known Member
Thanks Guys, filters are on order 
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Air Filter Cleaning
- Thread starter RustedHeroes
- Start date
andymfell
Member
irrespective of which engine you are running or what fuel, the stoichiometric ratio states for every unit of fuel into the engine there be around 15 units of air that have to be filtered
LT-x7
Senior Member
As usual I'll be the odd man out....... I clean out outer filters and replace inner filters.
Its common practice here for fire dozers to blow out the filters and radiators with a leaf blower or compressor after every shift. Running in dusty top soil with no water 95% of the time I can't imagine how many extra filters a guy would need carry to run a dozer on a fire for a month.
Its common practice here for fire dozers to blow out the filters and radiators with a leaf blower or compressor after every shift. Running in dusty top soil with no water 95% of the time I can't imagine how many extra filters a guy would need carry to run a dozer on a fire for a month.
kshansen
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Well as they say there are exceptions to any "rule". If you are careful about the cleaning and keep a close eye on the inner filters to spot any problems of dust getting past the outer filter that's a good first step. I would also suggest having the equipment on an oil sample system just to double check the cleaning you are doing.
DMiller
Senior Member
Can remember when Mt. St. Helens went off, quite a few wrapped air filters with heavy cotton cloth to gain some service time.
stars&bars44
Well-Known Member
The older metal cage ones I've seen guys bend them beating them out on tracks to get dirt out. My grandpa would blow them out a few times a year with a blow gun. I try to replace but just the other day on a new CTL I took my little dewalt battery powered blower and blew it out. Worked great and it's rubber tipped so it won't bend anything. Great for blowing out cabs and whatnot.
John C.
Senior Member
Just after the blow, the ash and dust turned to grease when the rain got into it. Talked to a few guys that had several filters and took some home every night and washed them out with a garden hose.
If I'm paying for the filters we are going to blow them out at least a couple of times. If someone else is paying for it I'm going to give them the choice. I seem to remember most medium sized machine air filters now run more than $75.00 a piece for a manufacturer that I would trust not to come apart on the first use. In a dusty environment I'm going to make an effort to stretch out that cost.
If I'm paying for the filters we are going to blow them out at least a couple of times. If someone else is paying for it I'm going to give them the choice. I seem to remember most medium sized machine air filters now run more than $75.00 a piece for a manufacturer that I would trust not to come apart on the first use. In a dusty environment I'm going to make an effort to stretch out that cost.
I usually tap out limestone dust and not blow the filter . I figure the air does more harm and if I tap out 90% of the dust it will be grand . Grass pollen and dust needs the air . 80 quid a year is fine but a week is alot . Some machines have very good exhaust extractors and some machines have fk all pre cleaning .
RustedHeroes
Well-Known Member
Could also factor in the original quality of the filter... If you're putting in let's say a factory cat filter you could probably get away with cleaning it a few times before the element/paper starts to let go. On the other hand a bottom of the barrel filter may not take to cleaning very well...
RustedHeroes
Well-Known Member
To put things in perspective does anyone have any horror stories of catastrophic filter failure and what happens to the engine? I've been fortunate to have never dusted an engine in my time and have no experience as to what exactly happens to the engine and components.
Quite a few comments on engine damage, however not much on specifics.
I'm all ears
Quite a few comments on engine damage, however not much on specifics.
I'm all ears
CM1995
Administrator
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Same here Dpete. When it's dusty we'll blow out the outer but never the inner. If the inner shows 25% or more dirty coverage both filters are changed.
We date and place hours on machine when changed on every filter, inner and outer. Haven't had a problem blowing the outers out several times but we run Cat filters, they stand up.
Here's a pretty extreme example of dust damage. The coating on the piston skirt is almost completely worn away. The cylinder bores were worn over 3mm oversize turning the oil into an iron sludge which took out the crank bearings. I wish I'd have taken more photos but at the time it was just another job.
RangerJake72
Member
like LT-x7, SOP for us is to blow the outer filters out after working a fire, rx burn or any machine work, changed out at operators discretion, and definitely changed during PM services
DMiller
Senior Member
As I noted earlier, we had an engine, an existing well worn engine on a dyno at HP that it could still maintain, took a conventional kitchen style tablespoon to a pile of shop floor sweepings and sprinkled into the turbo intake, lost 20% generated HP INSTANTLY and would not recover, blowby went ballistic, engine went into failure almost within a few tens of seconds. It does not take a lot or a long time of ingestion to put $20k+ in a pile.
RustedHeroes
Well-Known Member
Thanks for posting the pictures, I now have a new respect for air filters!
RustedHeroes
Well-Known Member
Sorry Dmiller, I somehow missed this post, thanks for re-posting
Birken Vogt
Charter Member
The air filter is unlike the other filters. The other filters are filtering a relatively clean substance and just keeping them clean, and if they miss any chances are they will catch it on the next pass around without much/any damage. While the air filter has to suck in massive amounts of filth and somehow deliver a perfectly clean product instantly to the engine, it is a wonder that they can work at all.
xr4ticlone
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I used this when I was still farming to blow out filters. It drops pressure for each of the four ports enough not to accidentally breach the filter.
I tried selling them to customers, but the responses I got from them on maintenance was...frankly sickening in most cases. Got one guy that went and bought one direct from the web site (Gee thanks! Even told me) for the same money. The one I used to use on the farm I loaned to another customer...which reminds me I gotta get money for that thing.
Well worth the money IMHO. Even my tight ass brother and father who hate anything that costs money or is something new liked it enough to buy their own. : ) (Not from me of course....)