Magna-Guard Oil Filter Magnets. Any Benefit?

[mechtech2]

Auto parts stores have plenty of magnetic drain plugs.

I never heard of a manufacturer put a magnet in an engine. Trans yes, engine no.
Probably because it could come loose, or would need to be cleaned, or didn't help in reality. Maybe too much flow past it would wash it clean.
Properly placed, I believe a magnet could be a beneficial device.
But very little benefit.

 

[slick1]

Did a bit of research on magnets and whether it is desirable to use them to remove metal particles in an engine:

http://xcelplus.com.au/images/SumpPlug.jpg

Can't find any tests proving the claims made by Magna-Guard e.g.

"When a Magna-Guard Oil Filter Magnet is installed into an oil filter, engine wear is reduced by a factor of 8 to 14-times, fuel economy is improved by a minimum of 3.7 to 5%, and toxic tailpipe emissions and discharge are reduced by up to 18%. "

Magna-Guard is designed to be thrown out with the filter:

using an external magnet on your oil filter or a magnetic sump plug probably works just as well?

There is a remote risk that a magnet can get dislodged and damage something in your engine if it's placed inside the oil filter.

However there is a strong argument for using magnets:

Magnetic sump plugs can be used in the engine, gearbox and differential. They remove ALL ferrous particles from circulation.

Normal Oil filters only remove particles >40 microns in size.

The SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers says that:

Filtering down to 30 microns reduces engine wear by 50%

Filtering to 15 microns reduces wear by 70%

Controlling engine contaminants in the range 2-22 microns is necessary for controlling engine wear

Iron (Fe) is typically the largest source of metal in the oil. If you remove iron from circulation you have removed the majority of all metal in the oil.

Magnetic sump plugs can be used to show which oil works best.

Magnetic sump plugs will also show which oil additives (or other changes you make to your engine) work.

Do a visual inspection before and after treatment or weigh the plug before and after an oil change?

The amount of ferrous metal collected on a magnet can be reduced by 50% or more... so it's quite easy to visually spot a major improvement.

Spot test kits will also show up the difference

http://www.fluidrxdiagnostics.com/product-category/spot-test-kits/

Oil analysis is the most objective way to measure oil quality and not too expensive if you want absolute proof:

https://www.techenomics.net/

 

[slick1]

Originally Posted by slick1


Can't find any tests proving the claims made by Magna-Guard e.g.

"When a Magna-Guard Oil Filter Magnet is installed into an oil filter, engine wear is reduced by a factor of 8 to 14-times, fuel economy is improved by a minimum of 3.7 to 5%, and toxic tailpipe emissions and discharge are reduced by up to 18%. "




Emailed MagnaGuard and asked for some proofs:

They referenced some of the same SAE reports quoted above.

However they also included a bit of independent research showing their product did make a difference... although they only provided the summary report not the full report.

One thing to note is that they were already using a high efficiency bypass filter filtering to ~1 micron. That's 40x better than normal.
Despite that they were able to decrease the number of circulating iron particles by 77% by adding a magnet. That sounds like a worthwhile improvement?

Copper decreased 26%
Lead 80%
Silicon 80%
Sodium by 86%

It's not clear if this was all the result of the magnet... as silicon typically comes from dirt being sucked through the air filter.
Sodium is likewise a contaminant... but not sure where it comes from. Salt on the roads?

Copper and lead wear reductions could be because of the reduced amount of abrasive iron in circulation?

BTW: The copper seems to be way outside the normal range for wear. Such a high level suggests a bearing might be on the way out?

It would have been nice to see some repeat oil analysis?
Copper, lead, silicon and sodium levels bounce around a lot... so a couple of repeat tests would show us that the improvement was due to the magnets and not just an anomaly due to the variations in environment and driving?

The test might have been more informative if they weren't using a high efficiency bypass filter?
You would expect an even larger decrease in metal wear with a normal filter?

Attached a couple of their brochures which provide some documentation.

Overall it still seems like it would be worth adding a magnet considering it's minimal cost?

Begs the question... why don't oil filter companies add a magnet to their oil filters if they can make such a big difference?

 

[slick1]

Using a magnetic sump plug reduced the amount of circulating ferrous metal (the magnetic stuff) by ~50%.

The engine was noticeably quieter after the magnetic sump plug was added.

Particles in the oil cause wear in the engine... so any time you remove them it will reduce wear.

Particles in the oil also use up your additive packages (they are adsorbed onto the particles)... reducing the lifespan and effectiveness of the oil.

A magnetic sump plug also serves as a simple way to measure wear in your engine. If there's too much metal on it then you're doing something wrong... or the engine is in the process of destroying itself. If the amount of metal on it decreases then you ought to do more of whatever you just did?

Thus a magnet of any type is one of the simplest and cheapest things you can do to protect your engine.


P.S. Magnaguard have exaggerated how much wear a magnet will prevent e.g. Reducing circulating iron particles by 77% (the engine is still wearing but now we're not seeing the particles) is not the same as a 77% reduction in wear (~5x increase in engine life). Iron particles typically make up ~1/4 (or less) of all particles circulating in the oil (typically ~50% dirt & ~50% metals from your engine). The amount of non-ferrous metals circulating in the oil would be slightly reduced if there are less ferrous particles to cause abrasion.

The 80% reduction in silicon (aka dirt) would be the main reason the wear dropped in the example provided by Magnaguard.

The reduction in silicon is either a new air filter (foam filter can reduce dirt by ~50%), not driving in dusty conditions (country/desert driving is really bad for cars) or a high efficiency oil filter (reduces the dirt in engine oil by ~2/3)?

 

[Silver]

I'd be a bit worried the magnet would somehow disrupt the flow of oil through the filter by the buildup of particles on the side, causing some sort of negative affect. I have no specific logic though for this. Thoughts?