Cleaning an air filter

[D7E]

My manual says not to bump them on anything and to blow them out with compressed air. I'm so confused, now what do I do?

This is pretty much what i have ever read or been told farming or working at dealerships .

 

[orezok]

That's why I never go to schools/doctors....they are always telling you that the things that you've been doing all your life are not good for you. Thanx jl

...yeah, and have you ever noticed that there are far more old drunks than there are old doctors! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

 

[Soundguy]

.For those of you that do blow out your filters, the next time you have your filter out take a white towel and wipe the inside of the air intake and see how clean it comes out.
Bill

imho.. you SHOULD be wiping out the dry filter housing ANYWAY....

 

[bigbull338]

im 1 of those that use the compressor to blow out air filters an rads.an have done so for years.its alot cheaper thanging filters every 6 months or so.my tractor will be 2 next month an i have to buy a new air filter for it.

 

[brain55]

Now as an equipment mechanic I will not clean an air filter if I can possibly avoid it. It is not worth the risk to my reputation.

As an example one of my best customers is putting 20 hrs/week on his 5 Kubota R-series wheel loaders, I am changing the oil every five weeks along with air and fuel filters. Every other oil change the inner air filters are ready to be changed. I guess it becomes a trade off on whether to spend the money on air filters or engines. One has 8500 hrs and a couple over 6500. None of these are showing any signs of engine wear yet.

I had the cylinder head off of one of the 6500 hr machines recently for a head gasket issue. There was no ridge on the cylinders at all, and when I took the valve cover off you would have sworn somebody had already taken it off and cleaned it.

So I think I'm going to stick with replacing air filters over cleaning them.

Brian

 

[Soundguy]

that's why I like an oil bath... no decisions like that..

 

[kneedeep]

My Dads old JD 450 Track loader had a dry cannister pre-cleaner that you could see the dirt in it. When it got to a line on the clear housing that read EMPTY WHEN DIRT TOUCHES LINE, we would empty it!!

Life was simple 40 years ago!!:construction:

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

imho.. you SHOULD be wiping out the dry filter housing ANYWAY....

I am not talking about the air filter housing, I am talking about the tube that goes from the air filter housing to the intake.

 

[cqaigy2]

Now as an equipment mechanic I will not clean an air filter if I can possibly avoid it. It is not worth the risk to my reputation.

As an example one of my best customers is putting 20 hrs/week on his 5 Kubota R-series wheel loaders, I am changing the oil every five weeks along with air and fuel filters. Every other oil change the inner air filters are ready to be changed. I guess it becomes a trade off on whether to spend the money on air filters or engines. One has 8500 hrs and a couple over 6500. None of these are showing any signs of engine wear yet.

I had the cylinder head off of one of the 6500 hr machines recently for a head gasket issue. There was no ridge on the cylinders at all, and when I took the valve cover off you would have sworn somebody had already taken it off and cleaned it.

So I think I'm going to stick with replacing air filters over cleaning them.

Brian

That's a good point. I've always blown out airfilters but will admit that it's possible that the filter element make be compromised but not visibly and allow small maybe micron sized or possibly larger size particles thru that would cause noticeable wear on high hour engines.

 

[Soundguy]

I am not talking about the air filter housing, I am talking about the tube that goes from the air filter housing to the intake.

i consider the feed tube onthe 'clean' side of the fitler to be part of the housing.. I try to clean all i can with a moistened rag.. a light oil makes a good dust collector.. helps clean any particles that get dropped in when removing old element.