Trasko/AKT 1/10 micron woven filter element

[slick1]

Hi,

I've been trying to figure out what happened to AKT the Australian supplier of replacement filters for older cars. They used to operate out of Dandenong and I had one on the valiant for ages.

Now I wanted one for the 4WD and could only find the Trasko... while almost identical is much smaller (less carrying capacity).

Both these filters use what are basically toilet rolls... although Trasko insist they're woven filters.

However the filtration on both of them is excellent (1/10 micron)... just that I would prefer a full sized filter for the cars that can take such a filter.

Anyone else remember AKT in Dandenong?

Perhaps the AKT owners are browsing this forum?

I also have a Franz bypass oil filter... which I've never fitted (sold the valiant before I ended up fitting it)... and also realised that the spin on aftermarket filters were doing as good a job as the bypass was likely to do.

Alternatively if anyone else knows of a company that makes a similar dunny roll filter I'd be interested in knowing about it.

NB. I've used these filters for around 2,000,000kms in lots of cars.

 

[Gary Allan]

What's the size of your rolls in Oz? I find it odd that we made the first modern style of tp (allegedly according to wiki) ..yet others found the dimensional aspects of it unacceptable ..as though the human bottom takes on different properties once you leave North America. Lots of stuff does this.

Ours are typically 114.xmm X 114.xmm (4.5"L x 4.5"D) ..but some have shorter tubes.

 

[slick1]

Sounds just like ours. I'll have to get a ruler out to confirm it though.


BTW. The Queen uses 3 ply... whereas most of us think 2 ply is pretty luxurious... and the penny pinchers go for single ply... tightly rolled and extra thin (more sheets on the roll).

 

[Gary Allan]

Here we have various levels of "comfort". Anywhere from lint leaving stuff that falls apart easily ..to 200grit commercial stuff. The distinctions appear mainly for women. Now to move on to the "Too much information booth" ..my wife (and subsequently, I do too) use these "moist wipes"

This leaves traditional rolls for filtering media

 

[SuperBusa]

Originally Posted By: slick1

However the filtration on both of them is excellent (1/10 micron)... just that I would prefer a full sized filter for the cars that can take such a filter.


1/10 a micron filtration?

Really? ... got a link with specs?

 

[Newtonville]

Frantz sells proper elements for theirs, still exists. Costco toilet paper here is about the only one I have seen that looks like TP of old.
I ran Frantzes with my Dad starting way back about when they came out. They filter to sub micron. They remove water. It was a great system until TP quality went south. As usual people find something wrong with a product and then bend logic to fit their new notions. I see it here on these boards too. They blamed the design rather than the 3/4 size, fluffy, loose, TP roll which of course even a 10 year old could see doesn't work in the unit.

I gave up on them because the drain line is harder to establish on newer cars as well as finding a place to mount the unit. Also like you say the normal full flow filters seem "good enough."

 

[Newtonville]

Originally Posted By: SuperBusa
Originally Posted By: slick1

However the filtration on both of them is excellent (1/10 micron)... just that I would prefer a full sized filter for the cars that can take such a filter.


1/10 a micron filtration?

Really? ... got a link with specs?

I'll chime in with a link from Frantz. Motorguard and Trasko have similar info. I believe. Far superior to any full flow:

http://vs01.tvsecure.com/cgi-bin/vs01037/faq/smartfaq.cgi?answer=1030862571&id=1025650687

 

[Steve S]

Originally Posted By: Newtonville
Frantz sells proper elements for theirs, still exists. Costco toilet paper here is about the only one I have seen that looks like TP of old.
I ran Frantzes with my Dad starting way back about when they came out. They filter to sub micron. They remove water. It was a great system until TP quality went south. As usual people find something wrong with a product and then bend logic to fit their new notions. I see it here on these boards too. They blamed the design rather than the 3/4 size, fluffy, loose, TP roll which of course even a 10 year old could see doesn't work in the unit.

I gave up on them because the drain line is harder to establish on newer cars as well as finding a place to mount the unit. Also like you say the normal full flow filters seem "good enough."
How does the TP remove water when the TP is saturated with oil?

 

[Newtonville]

It has something to do with capillary action and surface tension. Most motor oil we use is insoluble in water so it is in a mixture. The water is more highly absorbed into the tissue fibers than the oil, so the oil flows through, water stays behind. That should help a lot with acid formation too. That isn't much of an explanation, as I have forgotten more than I want to admit. It does do it, and the oil technically is as clean or cleaner than new oil from the bottle, or so they claim. Several cos. make these things and they all claim the same. As I have a new car I am getting interested in bypass filters again through these forums.

 

[slick1]

Thanks... I have a [censored] of a time getting Franz filters... so eventually had to give up. I used to ride across town to pick one up... but then my supplier got divorced or something.

It was simpler to get a filter I could service myself... which is why I now favour Trasko.

I didn't realise they were that efficient though... I'm pleasantly surprised.

 

[slick1]

http://www.trasko-usa.com

You can also look at xcelplus.com.au on the links page... where the advantages of Trasko are summarised.

I have no affiliation with Trasko (just use them)... but the Xcelplus site is mine. I thought they were good enough to link to though.

 

[slick1]

Under questions and answers they simply say under 1 micron.

In the mag they sent me they say 1/100 of a micron... but on the box it says 1/10. They said the 1/100 was a typo. Basically somewhere between 1 and 1/10 of a micron would be more than sufficient to remove the key wear particles (it may depend a bit on which element you use).

http://www.trasko-usa.com/

If you want the mag e-mail me and I'll e-mail you a copy (it was paper but I scanned it).

Originally Posted By: SuperBusa
Originally Posted By: slick1

However the filtration on both of them is excellent (1/10 micron)... just that I would prefer a full sized filter for the cars that can take such a filter.


1/10 a micron filtration?

Really? ... got a link with specs?

 

[slick1]

We finally got around to doing a proper test on the Trasko oil filter. We did both an oil analysis and microscopy.

We found that the Trasko removed 2/3 of the dirt (aka silicon) circulating in our oil i.e. 42 ppm before and 11 ppm after N.B. There was 42 ppm dirt in circulation but only 8 ppm of wear metals... so dirt made up 84% of circulating wear particles. Removing all that circulating dirt made the engine noticeably quieter.

The microscopy was able to confirm that the only particles in circulation after fitting the Trasko were sub micron in size. Prior to fitting the Trasko the particles in circulation were 8 micron in size.

N.B. Metal wear particles were 5 ppm before fitting the Trasko and 8 ppm after. This means the Trasko did not noticeably reduce wear in the engine. Despite the 3 ppm increase in metal wear particles the Trasko did not increase wear in the engine: The 3 ppm increase is well within the normal range of wear variation in the engine.

All the Trasko did was remove particles from circulation. It did not prevent wear or ingestion of the dirt via the air filter: Normally a 50% reduction in dirt going into the engine will result in a doubling in engine lifespan. The only reason the expected wear reduction of metals did not occur is because the engine had been treated with Xcelplus 110,000 km ago. Treatment with Xcelplus resulted in a ~82 % decrease in wear (45 ppm v's 8 ppm). The engine is typically noticeably quieter. You can view the oil analysis here:

http://xcelplus.com.au/docs/yaris.pdf

Normally we would fit a foam air filter (Unifilter) to the engine to control the dirt (usually reduces dirt ingestion by ~50%) but they don't make one for the Yaris. Preventing the ingestion of dirt would be ideal... but preventing it from doing any damage (Xcelplus) and removing it (Trasko) so that it can't do any damage are both acceptable alternatives. Ideally you'd do all of these things... as they're all synergistic and the engine simply runs better. There is a bit more detail on how these things work here:

Links

Provides super slippery lubrication with a single application Less friction means reduced wear, noise, temperature, emissions and fuel consumption. Studies show an 82% decrease in wear (equivalent to a 2.5-5x increase in engine lifespan), fuel efficiency up by as much as 36% and CO2 emissions...

xcelplus.com.au

BTW: Adding a magnetic sump plug to the engine prior to fitting the Trasko removed ~50% of the ferrous metals from circulation (4 pmm v's 2 ppm). This also made the engine noticeably quieter.

In a few of the cars we have treated the engine sometimes becomes so quiet you can not hear it e.g.

http://xcelplus.com.au/docs/testimonials/colt.pdf

P.S. I'd still like to figure out what happened to AKT. They were always my favourite oil filter manufacturer. While many modern cars do not have the room to fit a full sized oil filter... some do have sufficient room. There seems to be no disadvantage to fitting a larger filter if it fits?

 

[slick1]

What's the size of your rolls in Oz? I find it odd that we made the first modern style of tp (allegedly according to wiki) ..yet others found the dimensional aspects of it unacceptable ..as though the human bottom takes on different properties once you leave North America. Lots of stuff does this.

Ours are typically 114.xmm X 114.xmm (4.5"L x 4.5"D) ..but some have shorter tubes.

Just measured the TP (Toilet Paper) roll and it's 10 x 10 cm.
Inside diameter (ID) is 4.2 cm

However, not every toilet roll is the same.
Both ID and OD (Outside Diameter) vary a bit according to the brand.
The other thing that varies a bit is how tightly they are wound.
It's not clear if the height of the TP in Australia varies much.

BTW: Dual ply toilet paper seems to be ideal for these kinds of filters.
AKT said they were using tightly wound Sorbent dual ply.

 

[bullwinkle]

If you have, or can get, Scott 1000 rolls, they were recommended for the Ralph Wood bypass filters. IIRC, a Scott 1000 roll actually came with mine when I bought it.

 

[slick1]

If you have, or can get, Scott 1000 rolls, they were recommended for the Ralph Wood bypass filters. IIRC, a Scott 1000 roll actually came with mine when I bought it.

Scott Toilet Tissue 1000 Sheet

Buy Scott Toilet Tissue 1000 Sheet for your home or office. Free delivery over $55 Australia wide*. Save with our Price Beat Guarantee.

www.officeworks.com.au

We have Scott 1000 TP here.
I've used high capacity TP in the past because it comes more tightly wound than normal TP.
Both Sorbent and TP with a high sheet count (tightly wound) worked well... but AKT advised me to use the dual ply.

It's not possible to get the right size TP to fit in a Trasko filter so I've been changing the TP less often i.e. >80,000 km
The oil is tested each oil change and so far the filter shows no signs of needing to be changed more frequently i.e. Carrying capacity is not yet saturated.

 

[slick1]

Finally found a particle size rating for a TP filter of 0.5 micron.

Microscopy suggests that's probably correct.

That's impressively small.

 

[Plawan]

Just measured the TP (Toilet Paper) roll and it's 10 x 10 cm.
Inside diameter (ID) is 4.2 cm

However, not every toilet roll is the same.
Both ID and OD (Outside Diameter) vary a bit according to the brand.
The other thing that varies a bit is how tightly they are wound.
It's not clear if the height of the TP in Australia varies much.

BTW: Dual ply toilet paper seems to be ideal for these kinds of filters.
AKT said they were using tightly wound Sorbent dual ply.

Wow you sure did take a bit to get back on that lol