The Stainless steel oil filter debate.
 

Ive been researching stainless steel oil filters and they spark more debate than the dreaded oil threads.

The Scotts model is said to be the best so we will see what they claim.

Passes ASTMF316 Test for 35 Microns

Able to withstand 600 degrees F.

Full Flow bypass with progressive valving. No need to disassemble for cleaning.

Superior Filtration:
This should be the last oil filter you will ever buy!
Made from laser cut, medical grade, 304 stainless steel micronic filter cloth, this filter provides 200% more filter area in many cases.
Most good paper filters will pass particles in the 90 to 95 micron range, and some tested, as much as 300 microns.
Sand is about 125 microns and a white blood cell approximately 25 microns.
Our stainless filter catches items down to 35 microns "absolute", which is about 3 times better than most good paper or brass filters.
The pleat seam is welded, able to withstand up to 600 degrees in our filter, not glued, like paper filters.

Cleanable and reusable:
Simply remove the filter, rinse in clean solvent and replace it, you're done.
The filter can be cleaned with solvent, kerosene, aerosol carburetor cleaner, or any other degreasing agent, even common dish soap.
You can even blow air through the filter from the inside out to remove any small particles or cleaning agent from the screen if you so desire.


Consistent flow under all conditions:
Stainless steel will stand up to the stress of heat, high pressure and physical handling much better than paper or brass.
This filter maintains consistent flow under all conditions including cold start ups and or under extreme heat.
A one inch square of this micron filter material will flow 1.9 gallons of 90 weight oil per minute at only 1 psi pump pressure (70 degrees F).
Our typical filter size is 30 sq. in. which equals the flow of 57 gallons per minute.
Standard paper filters do not flow well when the oil is cold, often causing the bypass valve to open allowing unfiltered oil to enter your engine, uhg!

Unaffected by Water, Heat and Pressure:
This filter is capable of withstanding extremely high pressure and flow rates.
It is also unaffected by Water, Heat and Pressure, unlike standard paper filter material which swells in the presence of water, closing off filter pores and reducing flow.

What is a Micron?
A micron is one thousandth of a millimeter. That's about .00003937 inches.
Fine sand can be as small as 62 microns thick.
Our filter will not allow any particle over 35 microns to pass through this filter, that's some pretty small stuff that's being caught.

So who uses this type of filtration?
This high tech filter technology is widely used in all types of auto racing including NASCAR, Indy type cars, Formula 1 and in the Aerospace industry where filtration is of the utmost importance.

Things to think about:
Next time you are fanning your clutch think about all that tiny debris that is created from the clutch and gears meshing together, spinning around in your motor's vital parts.
If you really care about the life of your motor and consider the cost of loss of time associated with a current day 4-stroke motor, then you need one of these filters.
It's even transferable in some cases to your next bike.
I used the same filter in my last three bikes, and it's still like brand new, there's simply nothing to wear out.

Well the biggest part of the debate is the 35 microns filtering ability. Allot of "experts" have said this is not enough. High quality papaer filters claim 15 to 20 micron filtration.

The biggest advantage to me is the higher flow capability of the stainless. Alowing the oil to flow faster through the engine will decrease wear and keep your engine cooler.

What says the KLX hive mind?

You can wade through the 3 pages of BS (mine included) here

https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...ainless+filter

zomby's link and a search on the Thumper forum of ADV will give you enough info to make your nose bleed. I've read them all. Frankly, like most of the oil threads, I couldn't come to any absolute, concrete, bonafide bottom line on them. I had one in my last KLR650. I'll never have another and here's why. I cannot convince myself on the integrity of cleaning methods for these filters. When I clean my paper filter system by throwing away the filter, I'm confident that my new filter is somewhat clean. I'm somewhat convinced that the good ones will filter oil about as good as a paper element. It's the cleaning and the result that I'm skeptical of.

yeah I did a search and this thread was the only one I saw.

https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...s+Steel+Filter

I was just curious how many of you guys run one on your KLX. Im thinking about picking one of those Scott brand for mine. They seem to have the best reviews of all the ones out there.

TNC as far as cleaning it I understand what ya mean.


BTW Ive got a back injury preventing me from riding right now, so all I can do is take pain pills and search the net to find things to debate about lol.

It says a white blood cell is 25 microns, well....it depends upon which white blood cell they are talking about. The Granulocytes (which includes Neutrophils, Eosinophils and Basophils), range from 9 to 14 microns. The Agranulocytes can be larger, ranging from 9-14 microns for the Lymphocytes, to 20-25 microns for a Monocyte.

Unless you plan on filtering white blood cells with this filter, who cares how big a white blood cell is?

Just saying....:D

But what is an acceptable size of particle that can be allowed through?

Lets say you have a filter that allows 50 microns but flows extremely well and have one that filters 10 microns but restricts the flow of oil significantly more.

Which engine will have a longer run life under dual sport riding conditions?

and yes the percocets are kickin in ;)

Little do you know. Those Twighlight movie vampires have been using the Scott SS filter for personal use for years.:D

I still think the SS filters do every bit as well as paper elements in filtering, but I'm not satisfied with the cleaning methods. How the heck do all those little dirty blood cells get removed from the element? I've read various instructional materials on how to clean them, but after awhile you just know there's a buildup of dirty blood cells...er, I mean dirt and particles.:D

OK TNC fess up Jake or Edward?

I saw where one guy used a sonic jewelry cleaner to clean his. They are around 20 bucks on ebay.

35 microns is a very coarse filter. I own a diesel truck and fuel filtration is a big issue. Diesel fuel from a station is often dirty. Diesel fuel injectors don't like dirt. There is an electric fuel transfer pump between the tank and the injector so to protect the lift pump there is a super coarse 20 micron strainer before the pump and a 2 micron filter after the transfer pump but before the injectors. This on an old tech diesel. Since 2003 with common rail and 30,000 psi fuel rail pressures things have likely gotten even tighter.

I would hope that decent paper would do much better than 20 microns unless there was a hole in it. OEM style filters are cheap, the screen door material scotts is more expensive isn't it?

I think I paid about $60 for the Scott's in my KLR650 a few years ago.

Here's another area in which I may be totally wrong, but I don't change the filter in my KLX every time. When I'm changing my Mobil 1 10-40 every 1500 miles or so, I usually go until the second change to dump the filter. I've read as many pros and cons on this issue to nearly match oil threads, so I don't worry about it too much. I did the same thing on my 4 KLR600/650's over the years...2000 mile oil changes...and one of them went over 50000 miles before needing any engine work...and it was flogged hard during its life.