Diesel Fuel and Oil filter Micron Ratings.

[ISUZUROVER]

Thought some people might be interested in this:

When comparing diesel or oil filters between manufacturers by their micron ratings, you should use care, because the system one manufacturer uses is not the same as another.

Contrary to popular belief, filters do not work like seives (only for huge particles), and for this reason they do not remove all particles of a given size. The micron rating that a manufacturer gives, is therefore the MINIMUM SIZE AT WHICH THE FILTER HAS ACCEPTABLE FILTRATION EFFICIENCY. But what is acceptable filtration efficiency (in the eyes of the manufacturer) could be 100%, 98% or even 50% - in fact 50% is commonly used to make filters sound better. There is an ISO standard for working out the correct rating, but most manufacturers do not use it (I believe Donaldson and Mann Filter do use the standard, but not 100% certain).

To illustrate this - a filtration efficiency curve is attached - this is a typical curve for an extremely efficient diesel fuel filter.

So the bottom line is - a 10 micron filter from one manufacturer and a 5 micron filter from another MAY basically be the same filter. And the example below could be called anything from a 1 micron to a 5 micron filter, depending on the manufacturer.

[Thor]

Any recommendations from this Ben?

[munga]

the morning after a big night out and and some lusty lovin:

Thor: Hey, I didnt get your name last night. I'm Thor!
Ita Buttrose: Your'e thor?! I'm tho thor i can hardly walk!

[ISUZUROVER]

Any recommendations from this Ben?

Ask the manufacturer of the filters you use how they work out their micron ratings - i.e. what removal efficiency does the filter have at the rated micron size.

[Micka]

Any recommendations from this Ben?

Ask the manufacturer of the filters you use how they work out their micron ratings - i.e. what removal efficiency does the filter have at the rated micron size.

Aww c'mon, Ben...

Can't you just do the research for us and then post up one of those brilliantly referenced posts that you do, so that we can all get on with going to the beach, and wheelin our favourite places?

Micka

[ISUZUROVER]

Any recommendations from this Ben?

Ask the manufacturer of the filters you use how they work out their micron ratings - i.e. what removal efficiency does the filter have at the rated micron size.

Aww c'mon, Ben...

Can't you just do the research for us and then post up one of those brilliantly referenced posts that you do, so that we can all get on with going to the beach, and wheelin our favourite places?

Micka

Bugger that - most filter manufacturers don't tell you until you ask - I would have to ring them all... And there are a lot of manufacturers out there.

If you ask them, they should (if the use the ISO test standard) be able to give you Beta ratios.



The beta ratio is basically a way of measuring filter efficiency. If you can find out the minimum size where the Beta ratio is 1000, then the filter will remove 99.9% of all particles that size and greater. MOST MANUFACTURERS QUOTE THE Beta=2 number - which means the filter will only havd 50% efficiency at that size. Some (reputable) manufacturers quote the Beta = 1000 or Beta = 200 values.

As a guide, the smallest tolerance in an injector pump or engine is about 3 microns.

Here is some more info on Beta ratios.
http://www.machinerylubrication.com/art ... ionControl