Has anyone on the board used the Gulf Coast bypass filters? Any comments appreciated. These are the "Ralph Wood" units that use either paper towell rolls or toilet paper rolls for a cartridge. They do look interesting. Less than .020 micron filtering.

 

To me, that seems a little to small. Might get clogged up REAL quick if you get some crappy fuel.

 

Blue we are talking about oil filters although the small ones can be used for fuel. The one I am considering holds six quarts of makeup oil. The small units hold one quart each and you can double them. If I did not have the fass, I would go for one for the fuel. I want a bypass oil filter large enough to add to the oil volume and do some good filtering. He says that with one of the larger units, you never have to change the oil, just change the filter and add the makeup oil, and it will stay clean, not get black.

 

You might try and see if you can find a listing for Graham Bros Boats, Bayou LaBatrie AL (excuse the spelling) They used those paper towels filters on more than 100 oil field boats in the 80's and 90's. See if you can talk to a port engineers. (GM16-71N engines, two per boat)

They also might not be in business anymore, worth call or a search on the net.

Dave

 

Thanks Dave, Wood's references are great, has miltiary contracts, Coast Guard, looks like a good deal. Lets see, I change the oil, 12 quarts and filter every 7000 miles. With the bypass, you change the paper towel filter every 10,000 and add six quarts, change the full flow at 50,000. Sounds like it would save a bunch of money and would be easy to change on the road.

 

http://www.oilguard.com/side_menu/by...ss_filters.php

 

Looks to me like it took a lot of dirt out of the system. I also looked into the Franz filters which are the same system by a different manufacurer. Interesting, this is what most oil companies use on the field pump motors.

 

I have been thinking about the oilguard unit. The channeling scares me away from the tp units.

 

Oops. My mistake.

 

You missed the web site. Look at Ralph Wood, Gulf Coast filters. The filter is a roll of Bounty paper towells. The smaller ones cost $118 and use a roll of Scott toilet paper for a fraction of a micron filter. If I am going to buy a filter I will go to a Luberfiner filter. The cartridges are easily found at any truck stop or truck parts dealer and are inexpensive. The channeling problem is with what paper you use, ie how tightly it is rolled, loose or dense.

I have spent some time looking into this and I think most people and filter companies poo-poo the rolled paper filter because it is not high tech enough and it would seriously hurt the filter manufacturers. I figured up changing the filter every 10,000 miles and adding the six quarts of oil and that is one heck of a lot cheaper than changing the oil and fleetguard every 7000, and I would like better oil quality in the engine from better filtering. You never loose the additive package because you are adding makeup oil. Real easy to check, put the filter on and when you change it is either taking out dirt or it is not. The one in the picture that I attached earlier looks to me like it did its job. That picture is from a competitors arguement against the filter. Just look at all the garbage it took out of the oil.

I am considering putting on the papertowel filter and in series after it the toilet paper filter. The paper towel filters to about 1 micron the the toilet paper to a small fraction of a micron.

 

The only real problem I have with the paper filter is the filtration capacity. You have to change that TP pretty often to keep oil flowing through it. The flow of the oil is lenghtways through the filter, so the oil gets very clean, but does not get cleaned as often.

Now the Amsoil system, the oil flows from the outside of the filter to the inside. You will have more oil flowing through the filter more often, while it might not be as effecient, it's more than enough to keep the oil clean for very extended drains.

I have several customers with over 100,000 miles without changing the Oil. Full flow filter is changed at 10,000 and By-pass filters are change at 20,000 to 30,000 depending on analysis.

The other problem that I have with the TP filters is that most folks don't seem to use quality fittings and hoses. The Amsoil setup has hydraulic fittings and hydraulic hose.


The Amsoil unit is rated absolute at less than 3 micron, and nominal (50%) fitration at 1 micron, with the capability to filter at 1/10th of a micron.

Just something to think about. If you want a price quote give me a call.

 

Just a thought but if your Cummins ran for half a million miles and you used Stratopores (spelling?) every 7500 miles, as the manual recomends on average, then you will have spent around $500 bucks for the life of the engine. Now deduct the price (and your time) of any aftermarket filter setup, including anything needed for the filter over the years, from the $500 and you have your savings. This figure only applies to all of you that want to drive a truck that has that many miles on it. I'm sure many of us will trade them in or sell them after 5-10 years or a couple of hundred thousand miles so I dont see the selling feature? I could understand if there was a problem with Cummins filters (as say the lift pump set up) but these engines have proven to run for ever on stock filters, and they arent that expensive. Now if these high dollar after market filters added HP then I'd say sure but just for peace of mind? To each is own.

 

My truck has 242,000 on it now. I drove a 238 Detroit for over 1,000,000 miles. Vehicles do not wear out, they just get out of repair. Big Black Dodge has over 400,000 on his. The most worn part on my engine was the rod beaings, so looking for a way to increase the life of them. If it did not cost less with the bypass, it still would be worth it for the cleaner oil.