Fram's Defense!

[Audioquest]

I approached Fram about the quality of it's filters a few months back and I thought you guys would like to see how they responded!

Here it is:

Thank you for the e-mail regarding the construction of Fram oil
filters. We welcome the opportunity to be of service.

Fram uses a cardboard material in the construction of it's oil filters.
Fram filters meet the requirements of the
original equipment filter designed for a specific engine. Our filter
applications follow the recommendations of the
vehicle manufacturer for form, fit, and function. Fram filters follow
internally targeted design guidelines to meet the
functional requirements of a given filter. Fram filters are tested
against SAE standards to ensure uniform product
quality and performance. Material construction will vary between filter
manufacturers. We will not debate opinions,
statements, or studies made by individuals expressed in articles or on
websites. We believe Fram filters have a proven
record for providing reliability, superior quality, and engine
protection over the service life of the filter. We
welcome the opportunity to enlighten you on the subject of cardboard
used in Fram end disk construction.

A common misunderstanding among our customers concerns the end disks in
the oil filter. These disks hold the glue which
keeps the pleated media formed into a rigid circular tube. The
glue-to-media interface is also one of the sealing
surfaces keeping dirty and filtered oil from mixing. One common myth is
that only metal end disks can adequately seal
and have enough strength in the hot oil environment. For this reason,
Fram filters are criticized for having cardboard
end disks. The issue is, the material doing the sealing is the
adhesive, regardless of the material of the end disk.
What matters is the strength of the adhesive, its proper curing, the
thoroughness with which it can be applied to the
disk, and its adhesion to the disk. By using cardboard end disks, Fram
filter engineers are able to specify adhesives
with excellent strength and sealing properties, and strong adhesion to
the disk (intuitively, it is easy to make a
strong glue bond with cardboard). Moreover, just as paper media itself
is able to withstand the hot oil environment, so
too is the end disk designed of fibers engineered to be strong and
inert in hot oil. The thickness and strength of the
adhesive also stiffens the end disk considerably.

How do Fram engineers test these end disks to know that they hold up on
the job? Not only do they perform hot oil
circulation tests on the filter element, but they also regularly cut
open used filters to examine how well they have
withstood the rigors of actual use on a vehicle. For over 38 years,
Fram end disks have stood up to hot oil and their
adhesives have sealed off the dirty oil.

We believe that FRAM filters are clearly the best filters available.
Fram is committed to standing behind and endorsing
it's products and filter recommendations listed in the current Fram
application catalogs. As part of this commitment, if
you should ever have reason to suspect or question the quality of a
Fram filter, we encourage you to contact the Fram
Product Evaluation Team toll free at 1-877-250-8361 for further
assistance.

With respect to extended service intervals, the Fram Extended Guard oil
filter is the only Fram filter offered that is
designed to meet extended oil filter service intervals established by
the vehicle manufacturers. The Extended Guard oil
filter uses steel end disks.

The Fram Extended Guard filter uses a filter media that includes a
reinforced mesh screen for maximum pleat integrity,
durability, and oil flow. The inclusion of the metal screen increased
the glue tolerances or thickness required for
proper adhesion to the end disk. The original Extended Guard oil filter
prototype development specified the cardboard
end disk technology. However, the increased amount of adhesive required
to join the cardboard end disk to the screened
media resulted in prototypes that did not conform to design standards.
We had no choice but to use a steel end disk with
the X2 filter media to provide uniform Extended Guard oil filter
construction.

The XG7317 is the recommended Fram oil filter for the 2003 Honda Civic
1.7L engine that is designed to meet a 7000+ mile
extended service interval.

Thank you for choosing Fram filters.

Cordially,

Scott Jacobs
Catalog/Technical Service Representative
Catalog/Technical Service Department

 

[T-Keith]

Pretty much copied and pasted from the previous replies they've sent out. Except for the X2 defense. Do we need to get into this again?

-T

 

[edwardh1]

the only answer is third party tests.
the makers all say theirs is the best

even less data on air filters

 

[Brian Barnhart]

Everything they said appears to be true. But the issue of filter element and ADBV positioning still needs to be addressed. Fram cardboard designs use the tips of the cardboard endcap resting against the inner surface of the canister to center the front of the filter element and the ADBV. Tips of thin cardboard are not very strong. If one or more of these tips are bent or damaged, the filter element and ADBV can slip out of position, especially during assembly. The result can be a built in leak from inlet to outlet, and/or an ADBV that doesn’t hold.

Other manufacturers use cardboard endcaps in some of their filters. However, they also use a metal insert to center the front of the filter element and the ADBV around the outlet hole. If cardboard is to be used, this represents an acceptable approach IMO.

 

[T-Keith]

Exactly, this reply could have been from a Lawyer.

Another thing with the ADBV. If you look at a Champion or Purolator, the metal end cap supports the ADBV from the inside. The Fram has nothing for support and uses a thinner material. This makes it easy for the oil to "push in" the ADBV and bypass the filter.

-T

 

[Brian Barnhart]

quote:

---

Another thing with the ADBV. If you look at a Champion or Purolator, the metal end cap supports the ADBV from the inside. The Fram has nothing for support and uses a thinner material. This makes it easy for the oil to "push in" the ADBV and bypass the filter.

---

Very good point. The ADBV is centered inside the center tube as opposed to the baseplate. So if the carboard tips don't center the element, the center tube is not centered, and neither is the ADBV. The end result of all that could be unwanted bypassing of the filter element.

 

[labman]

I still say it is the lack of filter material between whatever end disks.

 

[nthach]

you can still freely move the center tube in a Fram!