Oil Filtration:Chaos and Answers
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:36 pm
Greetings Folks,
I've been reading ,digging,talking,scatching my head,and finding some answers along the way.First of all,Dodge Corp.Dodge factory manuals provide conversion info with respect to their Industrial six cylinder engines.Procedures are given to convert FROM FULL FLOW filtration TO BYPASS filtration.Apparently there was a need (and given method) to convert a newer full flow filter equipped replacement motor into a system that had used the older bypass equipped motor.The newer blocks had the necessary passages cast or drilled in production to accomodate either type system with fairly simple changes.This is helpful in ONE respect:it tends to reinforce my guess that proper flow volume willnot be accomplished by trying to convert a "bypass" block to a full flow system.The "full flow" block,as scaled,has passages that are 2x the diameter of the bypass system lines.By area of a circle,the bypass will flow 1/4 of the amount of the full flow.This would translate into bearing failure rather fast.The solution,theoretically,would be to drill and tap openings at the hose bosses in the block to accomodate 1/4" I.D. lines. It appears that in reality you would run the real risk of weakening the block to the point of fracturing it by doing so.
The oil filter company info was a bit more encouraging.My auto parts store friend is pretty technical minded.He built,and drove,sucessful race cars as a younger fellow.He did some digging and came up with suprising info on filter capture rates.The shorter story: 1) Baldwin brand filters are the best of the few we looked into. 2)The drop-in vs. spin-on filter ratings are about the same.
The longer story:My other consideration was to convert to a spin on filter for the sake of speed and less mess,but only if it could get equal filtration.It can and then some.Baldwin conversion to spin-on filter base is part #OB1305.Wix brand makes an equal component part #24755.The Wix is easier and less expensive for my friend to get.Baldwin provides the better filter however.That is part#B-164.Now the suprising part.The Baldwin drop-in filter has a nominal micron rating of 5 and an absolute micron rating of 25.The spin-on flter has a rating of 15 micron absolute.So what, right,more numbers.I don't like not knowing what I'm reading,particularly if it can cause me trouble.I did some digging (alot of digging) and finally found out what those terms really mean.5 microns nominal sounds the best.It's not.The engineers tell you nominal values are arbitrary and have no real analysis behind them.Basically they're salesmen's jargon to sound good.The best value system is the BETA system but you'll be hard pressed to see that data.It utilizes the most precise eqipment to determine flow rates and particulate/contaminant passing through filtration media as actually measured.The one you will find,and that actually gives some real world info,is the absolute value.It is defined by an industry standard (ISO 4572) and "starts at a seperation degree of 98.7% or higher" This is directly RATABLE to a BETA value of 75 or larger. "Nominal filtration is not defined.Absolute filtration guarantees a defined retention rate."In short,the absolute rating is the size of the largest particle that will pass through the filter.Look at the numbers again.The drop-in (canister) filter has an absolute rating of 25 microns.The spin-on absolute rating is 15 microns.The spin-on captures particles almost twice as small!
Bottom line,I'll let my spin-on filter (that I'm going to convert to) take 10 minutes of run time to clean all my oil down to 15 microns,knowing that even the "dirty oil" is pretty clean as it's been filtered that well.I willnot go for a full flow conversion that will restrict my oil flow to the point of motor destuction,even if that's an outside chance.I don't gamble,I know my luck.
Hope this helps somebody.Chris.
I've been reading ,digging,talking,scatching my head,and finding some answers along the way.First of all,Dodge Corp.Dodge factory manuals provide conversion info with respect to their Industrial six cylinder engines.Procedures are given to convert FROM FULL FLOW filtration TO BYPASS filtration.Apparently there was a need (and given method) to convert a newer full flow filter equipped replacement motor into a system that had used the older bypass equipped motor.The newer blocks had the necessary passages cast or drilled in production to accomodate either type system with fairly simple changes.This is helpful in ONE respect:it tends to reinforce my guess that proper flow volume willnot be accomplished by trying to convert a "bypass" block to a full flow system.The "full flow" block,as scaled,has passages that are 2x the diameter of the bypass system lines.By area of a circle,the bypass will flow 1/4 of the amount of the full flow.This would translate into bearing failure rather fast.The solution,theoretically,would be to drill and tap openings at the hose bosses in the block to accomodate 1/4" I.D. lines. It appears that in reality you would run the real risk of weakening the block to the point of fracturing it by doing so.
The oil filter company info was a bit more encouraging.My auto parts store friend is pretty technical minded.He built,and drove,sucessful race cars as a younger fellow.He did some digging and came up with suprising info on filter capture rates.The shorter story: 1) Baldwin brand filters are the best of the few we looked into. 2)The drop-in vs. spin-on filter ratings are about the same.
The longer story:My other consideration was to convert to a spin on filter for the sake of speed and less mess,but only if it could get equal filtration.It can and then some.Baldwin conversion to spin-on filter base is part #OB1305.Wix brand makes an equal component part #24755.The Wix is easier and less expensive for my friend to get.Baldwin provides the better filter however.That is part#B-164.Now the suprising part.The Baldwin drop-in filter has a nominal micron rating of 5 and an absolute micron rating of 25.The spin-on flter has a rating of 15 micron absolute.So what, right,more numbers.I don't like not knowing what I'm reading,particularly if it can cause me trouble.I did some digging (alot of digging) and finally found out what those terms really mean.5 microns nominal sounds the best.It's not.The engineers tell you nominal values are arbitrary and have no real analysis behind them.Basically they're salesmen's jargon to sound good.The best value system is the BETA system but you'll be hard pressed to see that data.It utilizes the most precise eqipment to determine flow rates and particulate/contaminant passing through filtration media as actually measured.The one you will find,and that actually gives some real world info,is the absolute value.It is defined by an industry standard (ISO 4572) and "starts at a seperation degree of 98.7% or higher" This is directly RATABLE to a BETA value of 75 or larger. "Nominal filtration is not defined.Absolute filtration guarantees a defined retention rate."In short,the absolute rating is the size of the largest particle that will pass through the filter.Look at the numbers again.The drop-in (canister) filter has an absolute rating of 25 microns.The spin-on absolute rating is 15 microns.The spin-on captures particles almost twice as small!
Bottom line,I'll let my spin-on filter (that I'm going to convert to) take 10 minutes of run time to clean all my oil down to 15 microns,knowing that even the "dirty oil" is pretty clean as it's been filtered that well.I willnot go for a full flow conversion that will restrict my oil flow to the point of motor destuction,even if that's an outside chance.I don't gamble,I know my luck.
Hope this helps somebody.Chris.