Disappointing find on a Champ XL filter

[64bawagon]

For a few years now I have been buying and using Champ XL filters on both my 2023 Equinox 1.5T 10064XL and my gas Silverado HD 6.6 10063XL.
Yesterday I changed the oil in the car and found an issue with the filter that came off of it. The glue between the media and the metal end caps is very sloppy and in some areas of the metal caps it appears that the excess may have come off while in service. Fortunately I took a sample of the oil and had already mailed it to Bl;ackstone by the time I cut the filter open. I checked the other 2 filters I had on the shelf and one had the same date code as the one I had just taken off so I cut it open and it looked exactly the same. Fortunately the one I just put on the car had a date code from a year before so I left it on.
I realize this has happened with other brands but it does not instill confidence going forward. The ones with the same date code are used or cut up so hopefully its not an issue going forward. I have always cut filters and this is precisely the reason why. I attached some pics for reference.

 

[Blagoje]

I gave away all of my champ XL filters 2 years ago to someone who didn't care. The product went from being very good to very suspect very quickly and I just lost confidence in them.

 

[Glenda W.]

First Brands failure. Poor QC for several years now. Leaf spring also appears to be poorly stamped from what I can see.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Yesterday I changed the oil in the car and found an issue with the filter that came off of it. The glue between the media and the metal end caps is very sloppy and in some areas of the metal caps it appears that the excess may have come off while in service.

Can that excess glue be chipped off with a finger nail?

 

[ZeeOSix]

First Brands failure. Poor QC for several years now.

Yep ... date code on this one is over 2-1/2 years ago.

 

[64bawagon]

Can that excess glue be chipped off with a finger nail?

yes, some of it appears to have already come off which is my concern.
So far my contact with their customer service has been less than stellar and I can tell verbally and in written conversations that English is not a first language.

 

[TC]

That excess glue looks hokey but is usually just a cosmetic issue. Fortunately it came off on the outside of the filter.

Is there any chance that strip of epoxy detached when you were cutting open the filter, and not while it was in service? I noticed the ends of the chipped section are a much lighter color and not stained from oil? And also slight damage to the media at that spot. Was that portion of the filter near the cutting blade?

 

[JTK]

That's a shame. I've been running Champ XL PH2876XL's on my Nissans and they look excellent when I cut them open.

 

[64bawagon]

That's a shame. I've been running Champ XL PH2876XL's on my Nissans and they look excellent when I cut them open.

I have been running them and the regular Champs for a few years now and so far they have all looked good.

 

[64bawagon]

That excess glue looks hokey but is usually just a cosmetic issue. Fortunately it came off on the outside of the filter.

Is there any chance that strip of epoxy detached when you were cutting open the filter, and not while it was in service? I noticed the ends of the chipped section are a much lighter color and not stained from oil? And also slight damage to the media at that spot. Was that portion of the filter near the cutting blade?

The can crushed when I pulled the filter off. Anythings possible since the can was damaged. I just found it unsettling when I opened it, I never expected that poor quality based on the other ones I have opened. Its probably not a big deal but I figured if I was going to over react that this was the place.

 

[Glenda W.]

For years I too believed sloppy glue was just cosmetic. But we have now seen loose glue go through the bypass, in the engine, and out of the oil pan drain. This concerns me especially with vvt screens and passages.

 

[fantastic]

Agree with your post. Fram never responded to my email regarding consistent failure. Vote with your wallet.

 

[ZeeOSix]

That excess glue looks hokey but is usually just a cosmetic issue. Fortunately it came off on the outside of the filter.

It could still go through the bypass valve. The Motorcraft filters with the weak black potting material all over the end caps that sheds off in use have been reported by the users that the black material was found in the oil pan when the oil was changed, which means it got by the filter.

 

[64bawagon]

Champion referred me to the retailer (Rockauto) and RA states that I must send the filters back to them at my expense (likely more than I paid for 2 filters) even though they will only provide a direct replacement which by their own admission they dont carry any longer.
Kinda the way I figured it would play out but I had to at least make an effort.
Life is a series of re-evaluating relationships with businesses.

 

[TC]

Glenda and Zee: I too had thought of an adhesive chip migrating into the bypass valve, but had hoped that was a rare enough event as to be a fluke. But you're suggesting otherwise, not necessarily rare, so that's a bummer. I'm surprised that manufacturers don't use a sealant that remains ever so slightly "gummy" and never becomes truly brittle, and therefore is unlikely to chip off. But there could be chemistry that precludes that, such as "Only dries-hard epoxy sufficiently resists petrochemicals" or whatever reason.

I suspect the chip in question here was actually detached upon disassembly of the filter, based on the unstained chip ends, as if those ends had not been exposed to dirty oil. But yes, there's a lot of excess goop all over that filter, which could potentially result in an in-service freefloating chip in any of a thousand similar Champ filters on the road. Therefore Borat mankini quality control.

All this makes me even more appreciative of cartridge (insert) filters, since nothing is hidden inside a can, and everything can be inspected by a consumer to their heart's content. It's no wonder that cartridge filters are so much "cleaner" in their assembly appearance -- they pretty much have to be since sloppiness can't be hidden.

One last thought, from the photos (nice pics, 64bawagon): "Made in USA." Here's evidence that something made in Hometown, USA isn't necessarily of great quality, and a filter made in India, Korea or Vietnam isn't necessarily of lesser quality. I've worked in two aerospace plants including a Donaldson pleated aero filter plant, and the way corporate, industry and ISO quality standards work, a filter made in a global Fortune 1000 plant will largely be the same quality whether assembled in Vietnam or Virginia. They go there for the low-cost environment, and not to build a lesser product that may soil their name.

 

[TC]

Something that just occurred to me, the filter cartridge above has relatively deep end caps, maybe at least a quarter inch deep? Therefore the caps can hold a lot of epoxy, so when the media is inserted and epoxy is squeezed out, it can squeeze out A LOT and creates those horizontal icicles, kinda like the edge of a ski chalet roofline/eave in winter. When filled full with epoxy (which perhaps is OVERfilling), the deep end caps just gush out goo like we see above. So perhaps this is a manufacturing defect -- cap overfilling.

On the other hand, some/many cartridge (insert) end caps are much shallower and don't hold much epoxy, so their goo squeezin' is much smaller in quantity. And therefore they're uniformly clean with no epoxy chips to detach. The BMW/Rover insert cartridges I use are invariably pristine, with typically shallow plastic end caps and no icicles, regardless of brand. The assemblies which are hidden inside cans are invariably messier than modern cartridge inserts.

Therefore, to exaggerate a bit...

Deep end caps = Potential for detached epoxy chips into bypass valves

 

[64bawagon]

I have cut a number of Champ filters regular and XL, new and used and never seen anything like this. These 2 were bought in Oct 2023 after being made in February 23. It appears that I had only 2 of this date code and that the others I have or had were not plagued with the same problem.
The worst part is that I had to eat 2 filters, the good part is the other 6 I have on hand 10064XL and 10063XL have different date codes.