Small Engine air filter.

[FFeng7]

What do you guys think about cleaning your lawn mower air filter? Is it ok to blow out the paper filter every year. The filter seems to build up a lot of dust and dry grass. Is it better to hit it with some low pressure air or replace it when it gets clogged. I think the owners manual recommends not using compressed air. What do you guys do?

 

[2James1]

I think it would be better to replace yearly or every 2 years.

 

[FFeng7]

Just to add to my post. I was researching filters online for my mower and K&N makes a stock replacement for the engine. Which by the way is a 6.5 horsepower briggs quantum. I just thought it was interesting.

 

[01rangerxl]

Most common air filters for push mowers are less than $10. Ideally they should just be replaced.

If the dirt is very dry and loose, you can tap it out and reuse. That won't damage the filter, but it will still be a little restricted. I have used compressed air to blow a filter out from the back before, but you don't want to perforate the media at all. Compressed air can be pretty strong and might cause a slight tear in the media that you don't see right away.

 

[Donald]

I think filter(s), spark plug and oil are reasonable items to replace every year. The air coming in will be (could be) dusty for mowers, weed whackers, and blowers. Much less so for chain saws (big chunks, not dust), pressure washers, roto tillers, snow blowers, and generators.

Don't forget to completely remove the air filter to look for mouse nests and blow off the cooling fins for grass, saw dust, nests,

I am a fan of installing an inline gas filter if the OPE does not already have one.

 

[Eddie]

My 12.5 HP B&S has a paper air cleaner with an oiled foam prefilter. I remove the foam and clean & reoil that and blow out the paper. The mower is 10 years old and I finally bought a new air filter through ebay for ~$12 including a new foam prefilter and free shipping. Lowes wanted ~ $19 for same. If you have a prefilter then I see no reason to buy a new filter except every 6 years or so.

 

[greenaccord02]

For those that are just a block of foam: My dad taught me to rinse it out with some gas (preferably the old stuff from last year) to remove the dust and grease buildup, then rinse with running water and let it dry completely before applying about a tablespoon worth of oil and working it into the sponge evenly. You can get 5 or 8 years out of one of the sponges that way before they start to degrade. I mean, it may not be worth doing in some people's opinion, but it does work quite well.

For paper filters, I find you can beat 'em out against the driveway and even wash them with the water hose a time or two, but after about three years, it's time to get a replacement. You can get maybe another year or maybe two of service from them if you use the foam pre-filter and clean it regularly.

These things don't have EFI or whatever, so if your filter is overly restrictive, you're going to be running rich - and therefore wasting gas.

 

[Hootbro]

On the small engines I have with a foam pre-filter, I occasionally blow out the air filter with compressed air.