Oil Filters

Oil filters are one of the most common maintenance items that are forgotten. It is more logical that you should change it as frequently as every three oil changes as long as you understand the necessity behind the item. Most of the filters require some form of pressure or gravity in order to exhaust the particulates from the rest of the oil. The method depends on the model of the engine and the location of the changing device. A few forms will be reviewed here. It should be known that most oil systems incorporate a parallel filtration system that only filters a marginal amount of the total oil in use at any given time. However, because of the mechanics of the system, all of the oil is filtered after several circulations through the filter.

The most common oil filters are mechanical, cartridge and spin on, magnetic, sedimentation, and centrifugal. The mechanical filter uses foam, such as cotton wastes, or filter paper in order to trap the particulates on the surface of the filter. In the middle of the 20th century, the spin off or cartridge all-in-one assembly and filter was invented. These were popular because it simplified the oil changing procedure to spinning the item in question off the bottom of the engine at letting it drain. Magnetic filters use magnetism to attract particulates onto a plate that must be periodically cleaned. The sedimentation system relies primarily on gravity to cause the particulates to sink to the bottom of a pool of oil. Finally, the centrifugal system uses jet nozzles to pump oil into the center of a tubular filter. The nozzles are angled so that the filter spins forcing the oil out and permits it to slide down the side of the container until it is recirculated with the rest of the oil.