Baldwin B31 defect?

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Well then.

I just purchased a couple of Balwdin B31 oil filters. Upon looking at them I noticed that the inner metal sleeve/tube does not actually make contact with the base of the filter (where the threads and ADBV are located). Instead, there is a gap of about 1/8 of an inch and you can see the filter element in this gap. I noticed this in both filters and in this regard they are identical. Otherwise, construction looks quite good.

I sent an e-mail to Baldwin but as of this writing no response has been received.

Has anyone using the B31 noticed this? What are the collective thoughts on this? Designed that way, production run flaw, worrying for nothing?

Thanx

Bob W.
 
I have a new B43S Baldwin oil filter, and looking at it with a flashlight, the inner sleeve goes all the way to the ADBV, and connects to a black seal there.
 
quote:

Originally posted by TheFuror:

quote:

Originally posted by Richin Chicago:
I have some B31s I bought last winter that are identical. It must be the design.

Thanx for the heads up.

BTW, did you use them and how did they work for you?

Bob W.


I have used a couple of them and have had no problems. I decided to use them after the oil filter study.
 
Bob,
I bought a dozen B113s last year and all of them are as you described. Looks like that's just the way Baldwin designs and builds them.

I've used four of them on my old Nissan Sentra since last December.So far so good.
smile.gif
 
quote:

Originally posted by Yuk:
Bob,
I bought a dozen B113s last year and all of them are as you described. Looks like that's just the way Baldwin designs and builds them.

I've used four of them on my old Nissan Sentra since last December.So far so good.
smile.gif


Baldwin responded to my inquiry and stated, in essence, that although the center tube should not be cut as short as it was, it will not cause a problem as the pleat pack is bonded to both metal end caps and the center tube is bonded at the opposite end to the end cap. Hence, they state no problem with the pleat pack collapsing.

Given that others have experienced the same construction in the B31's they purchased, I suspect there is no real world problem with these filters. They otherwise look solid and have an excellent reputation.

Thanx to all for the replies.

Bob W.
 
SO:: we pay a premium price for a Wix and find out their QC is louzy. Why don't they replace the "poor" stock with good stock. "No problem" sounds like an attempt to side step a QC issue to keep the bottom line good without reguard to the customer. ed
 
quote:

Originally posted by Eddie:
SO:: we pay a premium price for a Wix and find out their QC is louzy. Why don't they replace the "poor" stock with good stock. "No problem" sounds like an attempt to side step a QC issue to keep the bottom line good without reguard to the customer. ed

This was my first reaction, as well.

So, if Bob (the BITOG Bob), or anybody else for that matter who knows filters, wants to send me an address to mail one of these so they can physically inspect it, I will gladly donate the filter and pay for the shipping to them. I will send it out this weekend, if they like.

However, I will say that at least for now, other people who have purchased this filter have noticed the same thing, which leads me to wonder if the e-mail response fellow is simply shooting from the hip, as it were. In other words, I am not so sure that, in the absence of other evidence/testing, this is not designed in.

I suppose if other folks who bought a B31 noticed the inner sleeve being constructed differently I might have a different opinion.

These days, I like to have all the facts, or as many of them as possible, befor pulling out the six-guns and blasting away.....

Just my 2 ppm....

Bob W.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Eddie:
SO:: we pay a premium price for a Wix and find out their QC is louzy. Why don't they replace the "poor" stock with good stock. "No problem" sounds like an attempt to side step a QC issue to keep the bottom line good without reguard to the customer. ed

Well, I must eat a little crow here.

Balwdin wrote me back and confirmed that the center tube in these filters was too short. Also, they advised that the issue has since been corrected.

Soooo, I must also now conclude that this was a QC problem and not a design issue.

pat.gif


Bob W.
 
quote:

Originally posted by TheFuror:

quote:

Originally posted by Eddie:
SO:: we pay a premium price for a Wix and find out their QC is louzy. Why don't they replace the "poor" stock with good stock. "No problem" sounds like an attempt to side step a QC issue to keep the bottom line good without reguard to the customer. ed

Well, I must eat a little crow here.

Balwdin wrote me back and confirmed that the center tube in these filters was too short. Also, they advised that the issue has since been corrected.

Soooo, I must also now conclude that this was a QC problem and not a design issue.

pat.gif


Bob W.


Any suggestions on what to do with the filters with short tubes? Does it cause a performance problem?
 
quote:

Originally posted by Eddie:
SO:: we pay a premium price for a Wix and find out their QC is louzy. Why don't they replace the "poor" stock with good stock. "No problem" sounds like an attempt to side step a QC issue to keep the bottom line good without reguard to the customer. ed

How did Wix get into this thread? I thought Baldwin had the problem with short center tubes.
confused.gif
 
quote:

Originally posted by Richin Chicago:

quote:

Originally posted by TheFuror:

quote:

Originally posted by Eddie:
SO:: we pay a premium price for a Wix and find out their QC is louzy. Why don't they replace the "poor" stock with good stock. "No problem" sounds like an attempt to side step a QC issue to keep the bottom line good without reguard to the customer. ed

Well, I must eat a little crow here.

Balwdin wrote me back and confirmed that the center tube in these filters was too short. Also, they advised that the issue has since been corrected.

Soooo, I must also now conclude that this was a QC problem and not a design issue.

pat.gif


Bob W.


Any suggestions on what to do with the filters with short tubes? Does it cause a performance problem?


The response I received from Baldwin is that the filters with this issue will not fail or cause a problem.

Personally, and probably because I only bought two of them, I do not intend to use the filters with this short tube.

However, I am still inclined to use the Balwdin brand, although I will likely look inside each one for awhile....

cheers.gif


Bob W.
 
quote:

Originally posted by vettenuts:
I looked in mine and am not sure what you are referring to. Did you take a photo?

No, I didn't, although I still have them.

The issue I noticed was this: if you look inside the filter you can actually see about 1/8 inch of the filter pleats because the inside tube is shorter than the pleats. In my case, this was seen at the base of the filter.

Long story short: Baldwin advises that this will not cause any problems and apparently some small gap is okay and was designed in to ensure the pleat pack bonds with the metal end caps.

Since I, as the customer, had a concern that this gap was outside of specs (likely, given the fact that another person at Baldwin said problem has been corrected), Baldwin is going to replace those filters of mine.

So, since any potential issue was acknowledged and rectified in fine fashion, I have no problem using Baldwin parts, including the oil filters.

R/X: good company, good customer relations, good products.

cheers.gif


Bob W.
 
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