Reuseable Oil Filter

[Triple J]

I wouldn't think that it would be a green way to go if solvent and brake cleaner are required to clean them. Any Autozone or similar will take your old filter and recycle it, which is the greanest way to go. As far as ease of use, my bike(86 radian) REQUIRES that the filter be taken apart and reassembled, which to me is a PITA. I would much rather have the standard screw on filter. As far as cost, it won't pay for it's self for 10-15 oil changes(including solvent and brake cleaner) which equates to 20,000-@40,000 miles. That's alot of work and expense with very little return unless it filtered finer material.  Just MHO.

+1

[He Man]

u can use dish washing fluid to wash it. and if u recycle oil filters, they just tear the cotton filter out and recycle the metal container it is in.

the only thing i cant get over is the $150 price tag... why?

[LowThudd]

u can use dish washing fluid to wash it. and if u recycle oil filters, they just tear the cotton filter out and recycle the metal container it is in.

If your washing it in the sink then you are contaminating the waste water, technically. Not that it  matters. If everyone did it, it would be a problem, but not in the small scale we're talking about. When they recycle the filters the oil is still removed from the cotton and reused for industrial lubrication. The cotton is very small waste even when compared to the water needed to wash the reuseable filters. I wouldn't consider this to be any greener at all, won't help or hurt, in small scale. Large scale useage could get complicated.

[Mr Earl]

K&N filters are rated at 25microns.
The scotts and AP both state that they filter down to 35micron absolute.
Amsoil Eao filters seem to be the oddity, being almost too good.

now what kind of contaminants in our oil are smaller than 35 microns and whats the % by voulme of it in a normal engine?

As far as I'm concerned, there is no "too good" as long as flow rate is adequate.  I work in a laboratory where solids are sized using various techniques.  Trust me, if you were to rub some 35 µm solids between your fingers, you would be reluctant to pass that material through your motor.

No idea on the volume % in a motor, but the larger point is that that number just keeps increasing as the oil circulates because these solids are never captured by the filter.

And let's not skip the important question-do contaminants that small matter to the motor?

320-grit sandpaper has particles with a mean size (diameter) of about 35 µm.  That would seem to matter.

Remember, too, that all particles smaller than 35 µm (or 25 µm or what-have-you) are being passed, that's just the top-size.

[motolocopat]

You can use an environmentally friendly solvent based off of citric juice. I think I have even used water and liquid dishwashing soap. I'd just grab the filter so that my fingers pinched off the holes to prevent contaminants from getting inside and swish the filter around until clean.

I ran the scotts filters on my tour bikes and racked up 25000 miles on the high revving single cylinder thumpers with no problem.
Lot of the reason I ran them though was that I was in a third world country and doing long tours that would require me to import and then carry the new filters with me..... PITA.
I'm sure they paid for theirselves in more than one way.
They probably do not provide quite as much filtering capability though.... what I was doing though was running a regular diesel oil, cheap and no slippery additives that mess with clutches.... so I would change the oil every 1000-1500miles.

It is a nice bit of bling and you DON'T have to let it go with the bike when you sell 

[LowThudd]

You can use an environmentally friendly solvent based off of citric juice. I think I have even used water and liquid dishwashing soap. I'd just grab the filter so that my fingers pinched off the holes to prevent contaminants from getting inside and swish the filter around until clean.

Oil still contaminates the waste water. Again, not  a big deal on a small scale. But still, I don't see anyway for this to be a green alternative. It would only help the enviroment if there was no contamination or wasted water and everyone used them. That is just a sales pitch IMO.

I ran the scotts filters on my tour bikes and racked up 25000 miles on the high revving single cylinder thumpers with no problem.
Lot of the reason I ran them though was that I was in a third world country and doing long tours that would require me to import and then carry the new filters with me..... PITA.

That is a reason that makes perfect sense, and is really the only way to go when no parts are locally available.

[RUFKM]

Condoms & oil filters I prefer a brand new clean one each time.  In a pinch I will wear a pair of socks that haven't been washed.

[motolocopat]

There are the benefits of being able to easily detect anything amiss as you clean the filter.

I believe that the housing contains a good magnet as well that helps in both inspection and trapping larger pieces.

Environmentally I'd have to say that they are hands down more environmentally friendly. You are not disposing of an old filter, you do not have to drive to or have a new filter delivered etc. I use not more solvents cleaning the filter than I would cleaning up the drainpan, my hands etc etc.

Is the filtration as good as a paper filter? No....... but like I have said I PUT OVER 20K miles on 6 high revving dirtbikes frequently ridden through volcanic ash running a simple diesel motor oil and none of the bikes showed any ill effects. I'd think slower revving thumper ridden on the street would easily rack up 40K-50K miles.
Not saying that these reusable filters are better but in my experience they certainly got the job done while operating in a tough environment.

Hate wearing a condom, and I'd wash my dirty socks or buy new in a pinch.

[ducatiz]

Environmental question:

since you have to clean the filter element, how do you do it?  seems you have to use a solvent.  most solvents are 100x worse environmentally than a small amount of oil in a landfill.  plus, you can take old regular filters to a recycler and they crush them together and take the oil out.

[DucHead]

Condoms & oil filters I prefer a brand new clean one each time.  In a pinch I will wear a pair of socks that haven't been washed.

[NAKID]

Environmental question:

since you have to clean the filter element, how do you do it?  seems you have to use a solvent.  most solvents are 100x worse environmentally than a small amount of oil in a landfill.

You can use an environmentally friendly solvent based off of citric juice. I think I have even used water and liquid dishwashing soap. I'd just grab the filter so that my fingers pinched off the holes to prevent contaminants from getting inside and swish the filter around until clean.

[Triple J]

As soon as you use the liquid to clean the filter it is no longer environmentally friendly though, and must be disposed of properly...just like oil. That's the issue.

[NAKID]

He was commenting on the use of solvent...

[LowThudd]

He was commenting on the use of solvent...

Even so, oil goes down the drain=bad. And ALL auto parts chains will recycle your filter AFAIK.

[ducatiz]

He was commenting on the use of solvent...

i was, but the oil contamination was implied..

i was just curious, i just don't care for the reusable filters.  i put an Oberg (the original reusable filter) on my VWs back in the day and had tons of trouble with them.  THey even came with a bypass sensor that told you the filter was bypassing, but still tons of trouble.