New B&S E series motor goes back to foam filter

[Quest]

**Horror**

While stopping by @ big box improvement store yesterday (looking for a metal shed), I came across the latest B&S E series engine on new mower release: OHV setup (with a valve cover just like Hondas or Chondas); some kind of sealed (?) gas filler cap to prevent atmospheric venting, etc. what struck me as horribly backwards is that they went back to oiled foam filter, which, much to my surprise, seems a bit backward thinking.

I know some of you folks maybe indifferent RE: oiled foam filter vs paper element filter but ever since I ventured into the using of pleated paper filter in my B&S 675 from oiled foam, I vowed not to go back to foam anymore (they don't filter all that well, afterall).

Rant...rant...

Q.

 

[AandPDan]

Personally, I'd rather have the oiled foam filter for an OPE. I think they work better than a paper filter and are reusable.

Not that I would K&N makes them for auto's. Fairly similar.

 

[Corvette Owner]

Dry paper is the best at filtering. Only exception is for extremely dirty environments, like dirt bike in desert.

Other filters don't improve performance (horsepower) on cars.

 

[Quest]

(oiled foam filter) certainly not gonna improve performance (horseypower) on OPEs and that's for sure.

If you want more hp on OPE, get a bigger engine (displacement).

Q.

 

[JTK]

Although a tad more simple, the old pusla-jet carb'd flat-heads had oiled foam oil filters for decades. Still do I believe. The dirtier they are, the better they filter! LOL!!

I bet these new Briggs 550e OHV series will be phasing out the cheapest line of Briggs flat-heads (due to emissions compliance) within the next few years. Thus the foam air filter = cheapest series of Briggs.

Joel

 

[Quest]

Originally Posted By: JTK
I bet these new Briggs 550e OHV series will be phasing out the cheapest line of Briggs flat-heads (due to emissions compliance) within the next few years. Joel



Yeah, these E-series or higher, with OHV configuration, supposedly to phase out their mainstream flathead design so as to meet the elevated emissions requirements (Europe, NA,etc.) but then I looked at their emissions sticker on the side of the engine block (when compared side-by-side with a 675 series flathead with sidedraft carb and paper filter, etc. they seem to read the same ( pollution rating stands @ 2.5 of out the scale of 8(or was it 10? can't remember --in the office working).

I guess I'm looking fwd to a bit more elaborate emissions improvements on their highly touted E-series engine (claimed to be cleaner running than their ole flatheads, but I guess unless they introduce CAT in their tiny exhaust as a form of muffler, etc. otherwise: it's not gonna be at all an "obvious" improvement, afterall.

My 2c/

Q.

 

[JTK]

I'm not sure what "phase 3" is, but they're made in the US! Found this here: link

All 550e and 550ex Series engines also meet U.S. EPA Phase 3 emissions standards.

The arrival of the E-Series™ engine, designed at Briggs & Stratton's Milwaukeeheadquarters using U.S. and global components, represents a major milestone for company. In July 2010, Briggs & Stratton announced an investment of more than $35 millionto renovate its Murray, Kentuckyfacility over three years, including installation of upgraded tooling, new machinery, and workforce training. The Murrayfacility, opened in 1985, is now manufacturing the new 550e and 550ex Series™ engines.

The E-Series™, which went into production in November 2011, joins a full line of engines manufactured by Briggs & Stratton in its U.S. facilities in Alabama, Georgia, Kentuckyand Missouri. In 2011, Briggs & Stratton's U.S. engine plants produced more than 9 million engines and employed over 3,000 people.

Joel

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: AandPDan
Personally, I'd rather have the oiled foam filter for an OPE. I think they work better than a paper filter and are reusable.

Not that I would K&N makes them for auto's. Fairly similar.

Agreed, Has anyone ever seen dirt on the back side of a foam filter???

Get it wet or soaked with oil, you're replacing the paper filter... With foam it's no problem, wash it out and it's ready to go again...

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: AandPDan
Personally, I'd rather have the oiled foam filter for an OPE. I think they work better than a paper filter and are reusable.

Not that I would K&N makes them for auto's. Fairly similar.

Agreed, Has anyone ever seen dirt on the back side of a foam filter???

Get it wet or soaked with oil, you're replacing the paper filter... With foam it's no problem, wash it out and it's ready to go again...



A couple of days ago, I had to buy a foam air filter and a spark plug for my cheapie B&S-powered push mower special that was purchased at WalMart 3-4 years ago. It's hard for me to imagine paying $15 dollars for a new foam air filter and a Chinese-made B&S-branded spark plug when the whole mower was $109 brand new. They have to make a profit on their loss-leader somehow.

 

[lars11]

the good thing with the foam filter is the reusability which really cuts costs. I suppose you don't have to replace it until it starts turning to dust. The paper cartridge on the other hand is priced like auto filters so you will quite soon have spent as much on filters as on the (small) mower as Kruse points out.
I prefer foam

 

[Quest]

Originally Posted By: lars11
the good thing with the foam filter is the reusability which really cuts costs. I suppose you don't have to replace it until it starts turning to dust. The paper cartridge on the other hand is priced like auto filters so you will quite soon have spent as much on filters as on the (small) mower as Kruse points out.
I prefer foam


Reusability, well yeah.
keep costs down, hmm...doubt it. Cut cost from B&S standpoint is a definite yes.

I've seen far too many abused/neglected pulsa-jet based B&S (that typical foam filter) where it was so plugged that users simply use the engine until it smoked and died, and then dispose them and buy a new one and start all over again.

*reason? Too lazy/involving to was a dirty foam filter and re-oil it*

In that case: a paper element filter makes better sense that they just unscrew the air filter compartment flap, pull off the old/dirty one, put in a new one, screw the flap back on, and voila!

Also: I see less abrasive wear on the top end of the cylinder bore on regularly serviced paper filter element type B&S, not so with foam (I do have 2 more foam-pulsaject B&S at my parent's garage currently, each at least 15+ yrs old)

Besides: Honda OPE has been using paper element air filter for quite some time now.

Still calling B&S cheep in this case (for their release of E-series engine).

Q.

 

[AandPDan]

Originally Posted By: Quest


I've seen far too many abused/neglected pulsa-jet based B&S (that typical foam filter) where it was so plugged that users simply use the engine until it smoked and died, and then dispose them and buy a new one and start all over again.

*reason? Too lazy/involving to was a dirty foam filter and re-oil it*

In that case: a paper element filter makes better sense that they just unscrew the air filter compartment flap, pull off the old/dirty one, put in a new one, screw the flap back on, and voila!

Besides: Honda OPE has been using paper element air filter for quite some time now.


Q.


You're not saying it exactly in your post but I will. Most people, maybe not BITOG members, don't perform ANY maintenance on their OPE. None! Not oil changes, not any air cleaner service. They run it until it dies. I'd be surprised if many check the oil before they fire it up.

I don't give a d*mn what Honda uses by the way. It doesn't mean it's better. I still have some OPE with an oil bath air cleaner, it works.

Today's society is "throw away." Nobody fixes (or services) anything.

 

[Quest]

Reason why I used Honda OPE as an example simply because aside from Chonda, here in NA the biggest seller of OPE engines outside of domestic (B&S, Tecumseh, etc.) would be Honda/Chonda varieties. Not even Mitsu, not Subaru Robin or small diesel Yanmar engines, etc.

I know what you mean by "disposible". Those BITOGers here on small engines are obsessive BITOGers to the point where they would debate on whether to use SAE30, 10W30, full-syn, 1/2 syn,HDEO, etc. These are the folks (myself included) who are obsessed about maintenance and getting the most life out of their engines, period.

*hexk! we'll be beaching about orange can of death on OPE engine sections also...* (bwwaahhaa..haa...haaa..)

Foam air filter or not: my point is: B&S cheepen on their components for the sake of cutting cost, period. Whether the owner is willing to maintain/service their engines, that's another topic for discussions.

Life is a beach sometimes, so are the ignorant types (the ones that choose to remain ignorant shall be).

Q.

 

[01rangerxl]

According to Briggs, BOTH foam and paper elements will be available for this engine. At least it says that in their Summer 2011 copy of the "At Your Service" flyer from Briggs.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: AandPDan

You're not saying it exactly in your post but I will. Most people, maybe not BITOG members, don't perform ANY maintenance on their OPE. None! Not oil changes, not any air cleaner service. They run it until it dies. I'd be surprised if many check the oil before they fire it up.


That's true, not uncommon for paper element to be so plugged they won't run... A few years back my sister brought me her B&S mower for that exact reason... She ran it another three years or so and bought a new one... I gave her [censored] cause I was using a worn out thirty year old Snapper at the time... It's foam air filter element was probably as old as the mower, at least hadn't been repl in the 15 years I ran it...

 

[clarklawnscape]

when it comes to briggs & stratton (except the vanguard series) and kohler as well...........cheap is the name of the game! with that said, i prefer a paper element with a oiled foam prefilter. the oil on the foam catches alot of impurities. you guys have gotta realize that OPE operates in much dirtier conditions than autos driven daily on the street