Lawn Mower Air Filter Question

[asker123]

Kawasaki FR 730V on Cub Cadet Z Force SX54 Zero Turn mower
Currently sitting at 132 hours accumulated in 4 mowing seasons. I am averaging ~33 hours per year.
I mow 4 acres country style grass in rural manitoba not the city kind turf and some patch is really wild so once a while i go in there with top mower deck height ( 5 inches) and it generates lots of debris and dust.
Two questions

1) I have this kind of filter

https://www.cubcadet.ca/en/all-part...avIWVAvwiyUQUfIdBtEvv4L1PgPrmFv9_KrhzOeVb9Bw5

It has a wired mash kind of thing on the outside. I know that cleaning is not advised using compressed air but I have a little 5 amp "truepower" handheld electric blower

https://www.amazon.ca/King-Canada-8...0310286964-B01BMMYWJE-&hvexpln=0&gad_source=1


so yesterday I just opened the top plastic cover and I blew some air on it on setting#1 from 1 feet distance. Does that considered compromising the filter in any way? There was not much crazy debris and the outer wire mash was looking clean but when I blew air on it it did generate and blew away some dust from the filter.
If blowing air on this kind of filter a complete No Go, I am willing to replace the filer. What do you think?

2) I had bought some replacement Air filters and the new kind comes with a foam outer cover on top of that wires mash kind of filter. Since the factory one came without foam cover, will the engine not be tuned for a filter without foam for proper air fuel ratio ? So if I put new one that has foam on it, will it reduce the air flow and make the engine run Rich?

 

[nwjones18]

I've always blown out my lawn mower filters with compressed air with no issues... foam pre filter won't hurt anything either and will keep the paper element cleaner.

 

[Kira]

Classic BITOG overthinking.
You didn't damage the filter with that gentle breeze.
The foam "pre-filter" on the newer filters presents no air flow problems and reduces the plain dirt which reaches the element.

Personal Anecdote (another BITOG must):
When I got our lawn tractor with the same filter, it was so caked I washed it in soap and water. Air dry, of course.
I hastily ordered a replacement.

 

[Gyro Gearloose]

I never blow out paper filters but do use the shop vac to vacuum from the outside and remove anything that gentle air flow can dislodge.

I have had replacement filters with and without the foam. The engines didn't seem to know the difference but the foam does catch the grass and gross dirt which makes the paper last much longer.

 

[Rand]

I use shop vac and use compressed air but at low psi and dont get too close.
you can literally blow a hole in them with compressed air if doing it wrong.

Foam pre-filter is very low restriction some you have to oil with motor oil then squeeze it out.
no noticeable difference in how it runs.

 

[jeepman3071]

I always oil the foam pre-filters, I use a sticky oil that is for Honda dirt bike filters. It helps with those Kawasaki filters because most of the dirt is caught in the foam pre-filter which you can wash out. The filter design is terrible on a lot of those engines (FR and FS series). I have an FS481V on my Exmark, and during leaf mulching season it gets plugged fairly quickly. I want to upgrade to the FX Donaldson style filter which is a much better design but haven't had time to do it yet.

 

[UNC031]

My mower has the same filter. Blow the air from the inside out. I do this on mine and it works great. Also, if you don't have one, get the foam prefilter that goes over the top of the paper one. Your friendly JD dealer has them if you can't find it elsewhere. Keeps alot of debris out of the paper filter.

 

[E150GT]

I don't have a V twin engine but here's something I noticed recently regarding a couple of Honda mowers and air filters.
HRC216 bought used last year. At idle without blades engaged it has a light popping almost like a light sounding misfire. Random. I went crazy looking for a cause never finding anything other than I noticed it doesn't do it when the air filter is off. This engine has a fairly stout air filter with foam prefilter.
Honda HRX217 bought new. Purrs like a kitten at idle which I tried to replicate with the HRC. I read somewhere you can put the air filter with foam prefilter from the GSV engines on the GCV engines if you use the GSV air filter cover. Bought the new OEM parts to upgrade my air filtration. Fire it up and low and behold now the hrx pops just like the hrc. It has to be a slight restriction at idle even though you would think a piece of foam wouldn't make a difference.
Blades turning and mowing they both run without skipping a beat so it didn't seem to matter.

 

[nbpt100]

I don't have a V twin engine but here's something I noticed recently regarding a couple of Honda mowers and air filters.
HRC216 bought used last year. At idle without blades engaged it has a light popping almost like a light sounding misfire. Random. I went crazy looking for a cause never finding anything other than I noticed it doesn't do it when the air filter is off. This engine has a fairly stout air filter with foam prefilter.
Honda HRX217 bought new. Purrs like a kitten at idle which I tried to replicate with the HRC. I read somewhere you can put the air filter with foam prefilter from the GSV engines on the GCV engines if you use the GSV air filter cover. Bought the new OEM parts to upgrade my air filtration. Fire it up and low and behold now the hrx pops just like the hrc. It has to be a slight restriction at idle even though you would think a piece of foam wouldn't make a difference.
Blades turning and mowing they both run without skipping a beat so it didn't seem to matter.

Not air filter related, but I have noticed walk behind mowers in general with blade clutched tend to idle a bit ruff with the blade off. It really is not a problem. Since the blade is engaged 99% of the time. I attribute it to less stored energy with the blade off as the blade is part of the fly wheel system.

I second every thing folks have said above. Use common sense when cleaning a paper air filter with vacuum or compressed air. The prefilters unquestionably help a lot to extend the life of the paper filter. If you do oil it, do not use too much as it may get on the paper and damage it. For that reason alone I do not oil them. Do as you wish.