Branson air cleaner

[ericm979]

You guys who have been operating equipment forever may know all this but it might help someone.

I've been wondering why my air filter's often dirty when I check it. I found that the "vacuator" rubber nipple thingie is torn. Vacuator is Donaldson's trade name for it. My Kubota had something similar. Donaldson's a large air cleaner and filter manufacturer. The air cleaner on my 3725 uses a filter that's used by a bunch of construction and farm equipment. The air going into the filter swirls in a vortex and the dirt's supposed to end up in the vacuator. Intake pulses make it open and close and evacuate the dirt. But if it's torn it doesn't work right.

I found the Donaldson catalog and figured out which air cleaner it is so I could get the vacuator part number.

Donaldson has a video on youtube that explains maintenance of these type of filters. Everything I though I knew was wrong. They want you to leave it in there and not blow it off (with low pressure air) or knock the dirt off, and replace it not when it looks dirty but when it's reducing flow. These kind of filters actually filter better when they're dirty. Many air cleaners have a filter flow indicator that tells you when the filter's clogged. My Branson didn't but the air cleaner has a fitting for it. I ordered one. The Donaldson catalog shows that their indicator's for 25in hg so that's what I'll replace the filter at.

 

[LouNY]

On my 8050 it has an inner and an outer filter, I still gently blow out the outer as it catches a lot of dust and debris, I'll replace the inner when it gets restrictive. The Donaldson site has lots of nice information.

 

[ericm979]

Mine has the inner and outer filter too, but it's probably a smaller air cleaner unit than your 8050's.

 

[Texasmark]

I was under the hood of my 6530 recently and noticed the flow indicator was showing red. I removed both air filters and blew them out with the outer one being very restricted. I attempted to reset the indicator but was unable to do so. I replaced it and buttoned up the canister figuring I'd just buy a new one. Upon starting the engine the sensor reset itself back into the black......neat!

I have always blown out my air filters and only when I can't see the sun through the folds do I replace them, regardless of type of installation. I have 2 thoughts on the caution not to blow out: Sell more filters and/or do not recommend it as you may be careless and damage/punch a hole in the media while blowing out.

Agree on the more clogged the better filtration, but since you are restricting the air required for combustion, there comes a point where it's time to clean it out/replace as necessary.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I suppose if I was in the business of selling filters, I would recommend that you don't clean, just replace.
When I was operating our farm tractors in dusty conditions, filters clog daily (red on the indicator) with dust and just tapping them on the tractor tire (per OEM recommendation) to remove the dust works well, no need for compressed air on the daily cleanup. About once a week we would blow them out with compressed air. Filters lasted usually for life of the tractor.
If I had to replace my LS filter every time it got a little dirty, it would be a major cost. IIRC, when I bought the tractor, I got spare filters for everything and the air filter was over $50.

Edit: New 5 pack filter (air inner and outer, oil, fuel, hydraulic) replacement using OEM parts is $300.