How do you wash out your WVO Filters - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Austin85 · #1 12-03-2005, 06:43 PM

I have 2 mcmaster carr 4 micron gravity filters and want to know if anyone else here uses these, and what's the best way to wash them for re-using....

junqueyardjim · #2 12-03-2005, 07:15 PM

Austin, I am not familiar with the Mc Master filter, but it probably is made of synthetic fibers, a lot like the material I have in my homemade filter. What I do after clening a bunch of WVO, I put them in about a 6 gallon aluminum pot which also gets duty in the fall and winter as my deep fry turkey roaster. I put my dirty filter material in the pot, fill it with an ample amount of water and give it a real good shot of "Dawn" dishwashing soap. Then on the burner I bring it up to a slow boil, and use a toilet plunger for agitation while the contents do a slow boil, for maybe 10 minutes. Then I fish my clothes out of the pot and put them in a pan of fresh water to rinse them out and cool them off. After that my wife will run them through the washer/dryer and they are set to run again. I ran cleaned up, unheated WVO through the Benz from Memorial day through the end of October with excellent results, running 5 gallons of WVO with 1 quart of RUG for my best running mix. Smooth and lots of power.

pmari · #3 12-03-2005, 08:06 PM

AFAIK, only the mesh bags are reusable and they only go down to 50 mic's. If you're using a nominally rated bag already, I wouldn't rely on it, if you clean it. If you do clean it, why not buy an absolute bag and use it for the final polish. After you pass the oil through you're cleaned (used) bag.

I find striaght simple green to do a good job.

Austin85 · #4 12-03-2005, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmari

AFAIK, only the mesh bags are reusable and they only go down to 50 mic's. If you're using a nominally rated bag already, I wouldn't rely on it, if you clean it. If you do clean it, why not buy an absolute bag and use it for the final polish. After you pass the oil through you're cleaned (used) bag.

I find striaght simple green to do a good job.

I have simple green.. What is an absolute bag? And what is the final polish?

TheDon · #5 12-03-2005, 11:50 PM

to my knowledge an absolute bag will be the 5 micron filtration unlike the others that will be around 5 microns..

and final polish is like after youve gottem the 5 micron particles run it through a 1 micron filter.. i think i know polishing in biodiesel is drying it with bubbles or something that floats your boat

kip Foss · #6 12-04-2005, 05:10 PM

Austin,

Go to a filter supply company (check the yellow pages in your area). Get small (16 inch) or large (32 inch) bag filters depending on what size tank you are filtering into. They come in almost any micron size you want. I use a 25 mic primary and a 5 mic secondary. If your oil has any grease in it will coat the inside of the bag pretty quickly. I made scraper that is curved to about the diameter of the bag. Weld a piece of pipe on to it so that you can slide it down the side of the bag and scrape the grease to the bottom. I use mine to filter about 55 gals. and then wash them.

Wash them in gasoline. Put them in a 5 gal bucket half full of gas and munge them about with a stick. Let them soak over night. Pour out the gas and wash them again. The second time you don't have to use so much gas and don't have to let them sit over night. Do all of the gas washing outside and obviously away from any source of ignition.

All sorts of people will write in and tell you that gas is dangerous and that you can use this or that but in the end gas works best. If you are too dumb to recognize that you don't smoke and wash with gas then, yes, you might want to use something else to clean the filters, but the fact that you are using wvo tells me that you have at least a couple of working brain cells left.

Let the filters dry for a while until the gas is gone. Fill the 5 gal bucket with hot water and any kind of cheap soap you have. Sam's Club, Wal- Mart, all have cheap industrial type clothes washing soap. It is all about the same. Liquid soaps will work also but you will pay extra for the perfume as with name brand clothes soap.

Let the filters soak for a while then adgitate with a stick. Rinse and dry. You can omit the soap wash if you want since after the gas there really isn't much fat left in them.

The filter man I spoke to told me that washing cloth bag filters does not alter their filtering ability.

I had trouble with too much fat in my wvo. I was getting it from the local hamburger stand but not washing since I live where it is warm. Eventually it clogged my IP inlet screen and the fuel tank pick up screen. Big hassle cleaning these. If you are going to wash your wvo I would suggest that you do it before you filter. There is no reason to deal with washing the fat out of the filters if you can clean the wvo before it gets to the filters.

tenknots · #7 12-05-2005, 01:10 PM

The 1 miron bag filters are $2.91 each if you buy 10 at McMaster. Just toss them when they are clogged - that way you'll know that the filters are still accurate.

Old300D · #8 12-05-2005, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tenknots

The 1 miron bag filters are $2.91 each if you buy 10 at McMaster. Just toss them when they are clogged - that way you'll know that the filters are still accurate.

That's what I do. Screen the oil, and line the final filter with a cloth pre-filter (I sew them out of T-shirts). I can get more than 200 gallons through a final filter before having to change it.

andmoon · #9 12-05-2005, 02:13 PM

Don't put them in the washer! The wife not too happy.

I wash my 5 mic. filters in the diswasher and use them as my 1st filter to catch the big stuff....It doesn't go to a 500 mic filter but micron rating becomes unknown after a wash.

pmari · #10 12-05-2005, 04:35 PM

Page 320 from Mcmaster - Carr;

Micron Ratings— Absolute-rated filter bags will retain at least 90% of particles of the specified micron size. All other bags will retain particles, but not to any percent efficiency. Often referred to as nominal rated. To achieve the desired filtration, select a bag with a micron size smaller than the particles you want to filter.
Bags with a glazed finish have minimal fiber migration (contamination from fiber filter media, such as felt). Filter bags are not reusable, unless noted. To order a filter bag for your housing, use the following tables as a guide.

The polish is the final filter, the lowest absolute micron you want the fuel to be filtered to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austin85

What is an absolute bag? And what is the final polish?