Under $160 oil centrifuge.....DIY and save......
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Under $160 oil centrifuge.....DIY and save......
First let me say this isnt on my first gen but all the parts needed are relitivly the same and cost may even be a little cheaper on a cummins.
I do alot of highway driving, average of 4k-10k a month, it varies a little. As you all know maintenance is a big part of keeping a truck going, but you dont always have the time to stop everything and service the truck. So extended drain intervals come in handy. I only run Royal Purple and M1 oil filters so full changes get costly. The oil centrifuge pays for itself big time in the first few months, and saves alot of money in the long run.
After searching I only found 2 options. One was a no name brand "universal" kit for $500+, and the other was a PPE kit for $880. Neither of those was in the range I was willing to pay. So after alot of research I found the perfect place to get just the centrifuge to build my own kit.
I got the 55gph centrifuge at PABiodieselSupply for $129 shipped.http://jmazecorponline.com/shop/prod...products_id/83
For those interested they also have another site that explaine how they work and gives tons of usefull info.
http://www.centrifugefordummies.com/
The hookup will be different on a cummins, you will need to run an oil line from the port above the oil filter to supply the centrifuge. All you'll need is 2 3/8 fittings, 2 hose clamps, and a couple feet of 3/8" oil line from a local auto parts. Those fittings and hose shouldn't cost over $20 because a cummins won't need more than a couple feet, where my truck needed 8+ feet.
That part is very simple and anyone can do it. This next part is the hard part. If you call it hard. LOL You need to mount the centrifuge so it can gravity drain back into the oil pan. The bottom of the centrifuge comes with 4 bolt holes and a 1 1/2" drain hole in the center. It also comes with a gasket. You have to make a mount for it. Remember the gravity drain is not under pressure, so you dont need and huge steel plate. Just something stable. After looking under the hood of my 92' there are 2 options that stick out as the easiest mounting locations.
1. I dont have the stock fan, so it would be very easy to make a mount that fits into the oil fill tube and let it drain there.
2. drill a 1" hole in a rocker box, mount the centrifuge near the intake horn, make a 90* that will let it drain into the rocker box.
There are many ways to do it on a first gen because they are so simple, let your imagination guide you.
Here are a couple of pics of how I set mine up.....
I do alot of highway driving, average of 4k-10k a month, it varies a little. As you all know maintenance is a big part of keeping a truck going, but you dont always have the time to stop everything and service the truck. So extended drain intervals come in handy. I only run Royal Purple and M1 oil filters so full changes get costly. The oil centrifuge pays for itself big time in the first few months, and saves alot of money in the long run.
After searching I only found 2 options. One was a no name brand "universal" kit for $500+, and the other was a PPE kit for $880. Neither of those was in the range I was willing to pay. So after alot of research I found the perfect place to get just the centrifuge to build my own kit.
I got the 55gph centrifuge at PABiodieselSupply for $129 shipped.http://jmazecorponline.com/shop/prod...products_id/83
For those interested they also have another site that explaine how they work and gives tons of usefull info.
http://www.centrifugefordummies.com/
The hookup will be different on a cummins, you will need to run an oil line from the port above the oil filter to supply the centrifuge. All you'll need is 2 3/8 fittings, 2 hose clamps, and a couple feet of 3/8" oil line from a local auto parts. Those fittings and hose shouldn't cost over $20 because a cummins won't need more than a couple feet, where my truck needed 8+ feet.
That part is very simple and anyone can do it. This next part is the hard part. If you call it hard. LOL You need to mount the centrifuge so it can gravity drain back into the oil pan. The bottom of the centrifuge comes with 4 bolt holes and a 1 1/2" drain hole in the center. It also comes with a gasket. You have to make a mount for it. Remember the gravity drain is not under pressure, so you dont need and huge steel plate. Just something stable. After looking under the hood of my 92' there are 2 options that stick out as the easiest mounting locations.
1. I dont have the stock fan, so it would be very easy to make a mount that fits into the oil fill tube and let it drain there.
2. drill a 1" hole in a rocker box, mount the centrifuge near the intake horn, make a 90* that will let it drain into the rocker box.
There are many ways to do it on a first gen because they are so simple, let your imagination guide you.
Here are a couple of pics of how I set mine up.....
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I cut my filler tube and welded a piece of 3/16 plate to it. There are 2 bolts that hold the tube stable in place. The centrifuge has been on for about 4 months now and working like a charm!
There is a pressure valve internaly in it so you have to have more than 25psi going to it before it lets the oil by and starts spinning. That way at idle with low oil psi its not taking any away, because there isnt enough pressure to spin it anyway.
I also installed a shut off valve on the supply line just in case something were to ever happen I can shut it off. Or if for some dumb reason I want to clean it out while running I can. LOL
Dont be too hard on me for having a Dmax, its a dark secret.........haha
There is a pressure valve internaly in it so you have to have more than 25psi going to it before it lets the oil by and starts spinning. That way at idle with low oil psi its not taking any away, because there isnt enough pressure to spin it anyway.
I also installed a shut off valve on the supply line just in case something were to ever happen I can shut it off. Or if for some dumb reason I want to clean it out while running I can. LOL
Dont be too hard on me for having a Dmax, its a dark secret.........haha
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Thanks. Not to down the amsoil or FS2500 kits, but this is definatly better and cheaper. You just have to have some mechanical skills which most of the people on here do.
The kits listed above filter down to 2 microns and you have to buy pricey replacement filters.
The oil centrifuge filters down to 1/10th of a micron, takes about 2 minutes to clean out about every 7-10k miles, and there is no replacement filters to buy. Its a one time investment and its efficiency cant be beat.
The kits listed above filter down to 2 microns and you have to buy pricey replacement filters.
The oil centrifuge filters down to 1/10th of a micron, takes about 2 minutes to clean out about every 7-10k miles, and there is no replacement filters to buy. Its a one time investment and its efficiency cant be beat.
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I believe your normal filter is full flow. This is a bypass system.
As for adding oil, the drain on my 600GPM unit I have is on the peripheral of the base. Just dump oil in next to the rotating bowl after you take the hood assembly off.
As for adding oil, the drain on my 600GPM unit I have is on the peripheral of the base. Just dump oil in next to the rotating bowl after you take the hood assembly off.
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Yes the old filter is left in place. This is just a bypass filter. It takes a small portion of the unfiltered pressurized oil, strips the contaminants out, and drain right back to the oil pan. The stock filter still does the filtering for the motor. This just helps by keeping the oil in the pan as clean as possible so the stock filter really doesnt have much to filter out anymore.
To add oil I just unscrew the top of the centrifuge, lift the centrifuge off the shaft, and pour. Its like having a built in 4" funnel. Before I had to use a funnel anytime I added oil, this actualy makes it easier and less messy. BTW, taking the cover off and lifting the centrifuge off the shaft takes about 10 seconds. Super easy.
To add oil I just unscrew the top of the centrifuge, lift the centrifuge off the shaft, and pour. Its like having a built in 4" funnel. Before I had to use a funnel anytime I added oil, this actualy makes it easier and less messy. BTW, taking the cover off and lifting the centrifuge off the shaft takes about 10 seconds. Super easy.
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Here is the shut off valve I added, just in case.
Plus an idea of how simple adding oil is. Notice the nice big built in funnel. LOL
Plus an idea of how simple adding oil is. Notice the nice big built in funnel. LOL
#12
Yes the old filter is left in place. This is just a bypass filter. It takes a small portion of the unfiltered pressurized oil, strips the contaminants out, and drain right back to the oil pan. The stock filter still does the filtering for the motor. This just helps by keeping the oil in the pan as clean as possible so the stock filter really doesnt have much to filter out anymore.
To add oil I just unscrew the top of the centrifuge, lift the centrifuge off the shaft, and pour. Its like having a built in 4" funnel. Before I had to use a funnel anytime I added oil, this actualy makes it easier and less messy. BTW, taking the cover off and lifting the centrifuge off the shaft takes about 10 seconds. Super easy.
To add oil I just unscrew the top of the centrifuge, lift the centrifuge off the shaft, and pour. Its like having a built in 4" funnel. Before I had to use a funnel anytime I added oil, this actualy makes it easier and less messy. BTW, taking the cover off and lifting the centrifuge off the shaft takes about 10 seconds. Super easy.
If you want a real cheep bypass filter; go to a truck junk yard and get an old Luberfiner bypass filter tank. They are about 30" long and 10" around. I think they took a 750 filter but it has been a while. The filters were under 10 bucks which was impressive because they were almost as big as a truck air filter. The bypass filter would hold about 3 gal of oil so that extra reserve oil extended the change interval as well. This is not a centrifuge but it does filter to the 1 micron level.
The word "bypass" is used because the oil bypasses the engine components gets filtered and is dumped back to the sump.
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This statement is not quite right. All the oil that goes through the oil pump gets filtered in the stock filter. The bypass filter gets its oil after it goes through the stock filter. The purpose of the bypass filter is not to extend the life of the main filter. It is to get the smaller contaminants that the main filter does not stop. Usually you change oil often to get rid of these contaminants. However the bypass filter is designed to get them and extend your oil change interval. I have not looked at the specs of the cummins filter but lets assume it is a 10 micron filter as many are. The bypass filter is designed to get stuff that is one micron or less. In other words the carbon and ash deposits that get by the rings.
If you want a real cheep bypass filter; go to a truck junk yard and get an old Luberfiner bypass filter tank. They are about 30" long and 10" around. I think they took a 750 filter but it has been a while. The filters were under 10 bucks which was impressive because they were almost as big as a truck air filter. The bypass filter would hold about 3 gal of oil so that extra reserve oil extended the change interval as well. This is not a centrifuge but it does filter to the 1 micron level.
The word "bypass" is used because the oil bypasses the engine components gets filtered and is dumped back to the sump.
If you want a real cheep bypass filter; go to a truck junk yard and get an old Luberfiner bypass filter tank. They are about 30" long and 10" around. I think they took a 750 filter but it has been a while. The filters were under 10 bucks which was impressive because they were almost as big as a truck air filter. The bypass filter would hold about 3 gal of oil so that extra reserve oil extended the change interval as well. This is not a centrifuge but it does filter to the 1 micron level.
The word "bypass" is used because the oil bypasses the engine components gets filtered and is dumped back to the sump.
Oil filters are rated at 20 microns for the SAE tests I believe. Thats where the "98% effiency" and such come from. The filters capture 98% of the particles larger than 20 microns in multi pass tests. Particles smaller than 20 microns, say 15 microns, they only capture about 50% of those particles. At 10 microns the particles for the most part travel right thru the filter and throughout your engine.
#14
You would have had to drill and thread a fitting on the filter housing because an engine designer would never provide an access plug to the unfiltered side of the filter in order to insure that the average shade tree would not connect anything to the unfiltered side. I bet if you removed the filter housing you would see this. However this is all moot because again the deposits that the spinner filter gets would go through the main filter anyway. Also the spinner filter does not have much room for trash as it would reduce efficiency as it builds up. It also hard to clean and thats why most truck makers opt for a throw away spinner filter.
Again the point of a bypass filter is NOT to make the main filter last longer! The reason you use a bypass filter is to "finish" the oil. In other words clean it to a finer level so that these small deposits don't continue to circulate through your bearings. Thus reducing the need for frequent oil changes. It makes your oil last longer. It has nothing to do with the main filter service.
Now one might say well why don't they use a finer main filter? The answer is;the finer you filter the more you restrict the oil flow and the larger the filter you would need to compensate for that restriction at that flow rate. Thats why the bypass method is used. It filters a small amount of oil to the micron level in order to extend oil life.
There is one drawback to adding a bypass filter to an engine that was not designed for one. It takes some oil away from lubing the engine. Most engine designers install a higher output pump when the specs call for a bypass filter. Now that does not mean adding a bypass filter is going to create a problem but when you add twin turbos or anything else along with it as well as high mileage engines, you may or may not run into a problem. Just something to think about.
Again the point of a bypass filter is NOT to make the main filter last longer! The reason you use a bypass filter is to "finish" the oil. In other words clean it to a finer level so that these small deposits don't continue to circulate through your bearings. Thus reducing the need for frequent oil changes. It makes your oil last longer. It has nothing to do with the main filter service.
Now one might say well why don't they use a finer main filter? The answer is;the finer you filter the more you restrict the oil flow and the larger the filter you would need to compensate for that restriction at that flow rate. Thats why the bypass method is used. It filters a small amount of oil to the micron level in order to extend oil life.
There is one drawback to adding a bypass filter to an engine that was not designed for one. It takes some oil away from lubing the engine. Most engine designers install a higher output pump when the specs call for a bypass filter. Now that does not mean adding a bypass filter is going to create a problem but when you add twin turbos or anything else along with it as well as high mileage engines, you may or may not run into a problem. Just something to think about.