Help trying to find a filter (a breather)

[Richard]

Flexwing mower is hydraulic. Has a tank on it. On the tank is a vent. The vent for all practical purposes, "looks like" it's simply an oil filter that's spun onto a union.

Here's picture of the union. Fat end screws into the top of the oil tank and on the small end, goes the "oil filter"
I bought a cheap filter at auto store, way too small. Removed this and took it with me to auto store. I pulled probably 20 filters out of the box and every filter I found was too small. I found one that was realllllllllllllllly close but didn't screw in. Perplexed, I looked a bit closer. It appears the filters have a finer thread pitch than this so that won't work.

I've played phone tag with the manufacturer. I have the owners/service manual for this. When you look at a parts schematic, it simply says "vent". No internal (for them) part number, no nothing, just "vent".

When I get time, I'm going to try to go to a hydraulic shop in hopes they might be able to add some answers.... until then, thought I'd ask here.

Anyone have any idea where/how to find an 'oil filter' that might fit on this? Being that it's a vent, it might not really be designed for oil. Since I don't factually know that, I'm calling it an oil filter.

Let's call the small end, one inch however, I've not measured.

 

[LouNY]

3/4 x 16 is a very common filter thread size, there are a few 1" and 1 1/4". One thing with an oil filter is that many will have a drain back valve which could inhibit venting.

Many hydraulic filters will have 1", 1 1/4" or even 1 1/2" threads and many will not have a check valve built in.

 

[Richard]

Randomly looking at the top one and doing an internet search.... that's essentially what it looks like. For clarity, this isn't so much a hydraulic filter.... it's just a breather. It sits vertical so any oil would have to go UP to get into it and if some did, it would ostensibly, be able to drain right back down into tank (or perhaps get blown out the filter if under enough pressure!)

Do you think a hydraulic shop might have something like this? (I probably won't be able to go by there for a month as my work is taking me 1 1/2 hours the opposite direction)

I'll be getting my calipers out to see what the dimensions are. (probably tomorrow!)

 

[azbinder]

That is NOT a filter. It is called a vent or breather. Looks to be either 1/2" or 3/4"NPT. Might be able to find one at TSC. Take the old one with.

 

[ruffdog]

There are many different ones and the replacements come with the fitting:

hydraulic tank breather filter - Google Search

 

[LouNY]

Correct it is not a "filter" but filters have been used for as a "breather" function for many years on many pieces of equipment.
This is a donaldson "breather"

 

[oldnslo]

I am not sure if A reservoir breather will interchange with a regular oil filter. I think they may have different threads and different style of filter media. Some also have pressure relief built in to keep reservoir slightly pressurized to aide in keeping dirty air out.

Zinga and Hydac are two other companies that reservoir breathers