Which oil filter filters best?

[Fair enough]

If oil is sampled and tested from a run, then another filter fitted and run again for maybe an hour, then sampled and tested again, wouldn’t this show which oil filter filters best? Assuming even sampling and testing, and using the same oil. Or done many times would even out the errors of sampling and testing.

 

[Rand]

no. There are ways to measure filter efficiency though.. just not the way you proposed.
or watch a video to get some ideas.

 

[Brian123]

If oil is sampled and tested from a run, then another filter fitted and run again for maybe an hour, then sampled and tested again, wouldn’t this show which oil filter filters best? Assuming even sampling and testing, and using the same oil. Or done many times would even out the errors of sampling and testing.

NO

 

[fantastic]

NO

This ^^^

 

[kschachn]

Knowing full well I'm likely on ignore, I'll still ask - how are the filters being tested?

This is classic goodtimes.

 

[Urshurak776]

No

 

[John105]

….

 

[twX]

I'd expect this to work really well. You'd have to get a particle count test done on each sample.

I've compiled most of the particle count used oil analysis from this site, and even though most of them are taken from different engines in different operating conditions, there are some very clear trends of certain filters producing much lower particle counts than others. If you did many tests with the same engine in the same conditions, the results should be pretty clear.

The main confounding factor would be the rate that the engine is introducing new particles into the oi. If you kept the engine operating conditions the same for each test, like at warm idle, this should be very consistent.

You'd have to run the engine long enough with each new filter for the particle count to reach a steady state. For larger particles, this should only take a few dozen passes of the oil through the filter, maybe around 5 minutes of idling. For small particles, it would take longer. 30 minutes at idle should be more than long enough.

To test the consistency of the method, you could use one filter as a control, testing the same filter a few times throughout the test program to make sure the results are consistent.

 

[JavierH19]

The filter that filters is the best filtering filter that filters.

 

[dnewton3]

OP -

1) no garage video series is going to give a reliably accurate answer, especially since you've not done a good job of defining what "best" means
2) the "best" filter is generally the one that has enough of the three criteria to satisfy the expectations of application; those being efficiency, holding capacity, flow rate
3) so the hundreds of other nearly-identical threads didn't cover this ? Or did you just not feel like using the "search" function?

 

[Fair enough]

OP -

1) no garage video series is going to give a reliably accurate answer, especially since you've not done a good job of defining what "best" means
2) the "best" filter is generally the one that has enough of the three criteria to satisfy the expectations of application; those being efficiency, holding capacity, flow rate
3) so the hundreds of other nearly-identical threads didn't cover this ? Or did you just not feel like using the "search" function?

Did I say best filter only, covering all aspects? Which filter filters best was the title. Among many such titles, what about what I said in the body of the op?
How about a person at home determining which filter filters best by their own tools. I asked what about leaving the oil in, changing the filter, then comparing the before and after particle counts. Tell me, what was wrong with that?
The important difference is leaving the same oil in.

 

[Brian123]

Did I say best filter only, covering all aspects? Which filter filters best was the title. Among many such titles, what about what I said in the body of the op?
How about a person at home determining which filter filters best by their own tools. I asked what about leaving the oil in, changing the filter, then comparing the before and after particle counts. Tell me, what was wrong with that?
The important difference is leaving the same oil in.

Fair enough, realize something here, the Air Filter is more important than what is the best Oil Filter.
I would suggest reading all of the Threads in the Air Filter section and the Oil Filter Section.

Let me tell you a story here, and 2 this day it gets me upset 2 a certain extent. I had a riding lawnmower that I used the best Oil Filter, Zee0Six and other members will know which oil filter I am talking about, it was Wire Backed. There was an issue with this engine that I ignored, unfiltered air got into the engine. The engine seized on me, guess the Exhaust Valve got stuck, maybe unfiltered air.

Another story, the Fram Oil Filter, now this was a cartridge type oil filter, I should have saved it, my friend went 20,000 miles on it and it looked fine.

1) Best Air Filter
2) Best Oil
3) Best Oil Filter, it does not Matter

1 and 2 are more important than 3

Members might argue about Number 2, but 4 Number 1, I want the Best!

 

[ZeeOSix]

There's a reason the ISO 4548-12 test was invented 25 years ago, and has been used in the filter industry around the world ever since. The ISO 4548-12 test was invented to get a controlled test method to compare filter efficiency under the same basic test conditions. What's important to understand is how an oil filter's efficiency changes as it loads up, and that aspect plays a primary role in the efficiency of the filter and the resulting cleanness of the oil over the OCI. The longer the oil is ran, the dirtier it will be in an PC, especially if the filter is inefficient to start with, and loses efficiency pretty badly as it loads up. The more the filter is loaded up over a long OCI, there more potential for the filter's efficiency to decrease causing a worse PC than if the OCI was shorter.

Theoretically, if you used a rock catcher on an engine and ran the oil and filter for 5000 miles on a pretty dirty engine and took an oil sample to get a PC, then left the oil in the engine and didn't top it off after installing a high efficiency oil filter, then ran that filter for another 100 miles and took a PC, then I'd think the higher efficiency filter would result in a lower particle count. Of course, the dirtier the engine, the more apt to see the difference between filter efficiency.

 

[GW.]

There's a reason the ISO 4548-12 test was invented 25 years ago, and has been used in the filter industry around the world ever since. The ISO 4548-12 test was invented to get a controlled test method to compare filter efficiency under the same basic test conditions. What's important to understand is how an oil filter's efficiency changes as it loads up, and that aspect plays a primary role in the efficiency of the filter and the resulting cleanness of the oil over the OCI. The longer the oil is ran, the dirtier it will be in an PC, especially if the filter is inefficient to start with, and loses efficiency pretty badly as it loads up. The more the filter is loaded up over a long OCI, there more potential for the filter's efficiency to decrease causing a worse PC than if the OCI was shorter.

Theoretically, if you used a rock catcher on an engine and ran the oil and filter for 5000 miles on a pretty dirty engine and took an oil sample to get a PC, then left the oil in the engine and didn't top it off after installing a high efficiency oil filter, then ran that filter for another 100 miles and took a PC, then I'd think the higher efficiency filter would result in a lower particle count. Of course, the dirtier the engine, the more apt to see the difference between filter efficiency.

This

 

[ZeeOSix]

Let me tell you a story here, and 2 this day it gets me upset 2 a certain extent. I had a riding lawnmower that I used the best Oil Filter, Zee0Six and other members will know which oil filter I am talking about, it was Wire Backed. There was an issue with this engine that I ignored, unfiltered air got into the engine. The engine seized on me, guess the Exhaust Valve got stuck, maybe unfiltered air.

Another story, the Fram Oil Filter, now this was a cartridge type oil filter, I should have saved it, my friend went 20,000 miles on it and it looked fine.

1) Best Air Filter
2) Best Oil
3) Best Oil Filter, it does not Matter

Of course the air filter is the most important filter because lots of dirt in the intake air can cause lots of damage quickly, but my take is that a high efficiency oil filter can still matter especially the longer the OCI. Even though your engine puked because dirty air got past the air filter, the high efficiency oil filter many have resulted in less damage to the bottom end of the engine where filtered oil is used to lubricate parts. Any dirt that gets by the air filter and finds it's way into the oil can only be filtered by the oil filter at that point. So that's why it's still important ... once debris gets in the oil, regardless of how, the filter is the last defense to remove it.

 

[ZeeOSix]

I've compiled most of the particle count used oil analysis from this site, and even though most of them are taken from different engines in different operating conditions, there are some very clear trends of certain filters producing much lower particle counts than others. If you did many tests with the same engine in the same conditions, the results should be pretty clear.

This was UOA particle count data for used oil analysis here I did plotted a long time ago. There were a couple of Mircogreen filters, which have the the high efficiency disk that acted like a mini-bypass filtering system. Even though it was data from different engines, I believe the OCIs were relatively close - ie, none were super long or super short. You can see where the Microgreen filters ended up on the chart, so apparently the design seemed to work to keep the smaller debris count down. It also shows that a higher efficiency filter can keep the oil cleaner. Filters X & Y are un-named low efficiency filters (ie, 50% @ 20u, 99% @ 40u variety).

 

[ZeeOSix]

"Which oil filter filters the best"?

The one that's the highest efficiency, assuming there is no dirty oil leaking past the filtering media. Why wouldn't that simple logic hold true if the operating conditions are the same between any filters being used?

 

[Brian123]

Of course the air filter is the most important filter because lots of dirt in the intake air can cause lots of damage quickly, but my take is that a high efficiency oil filter can still matter especially the longer the OCI. Even though your engine puked because dirty air got past the air filter, the high efficiency oil filter many have resulted in less damage to the bottom end of the engine where filtered oil is used to lubricate parts. Any dirt that gets by the air filter and finds it's way into the oil can only be filtered by the oil filter at that point. So that's why it's still important ... once debris gets in the oil, regardless of how, the filter is the last defense to remove it.

Thank You 4 your Analysis, what you said makes Sense!

 

[dnewton3]

Did I say best filter only, covering all aspects? Which filter filters best was the title. Among many such titles, what about what I said in the body of the op?
How about a person at home determining which filter filters best by their own tools. I asked what about leaving the oil in, changing the filter, then comparing the before and after particle counts. Tell me, what was wrong with that?
The important difference is leaving the same oil in.

Again, you're not doing a good job of defining what "best" means in your quest. It probably makes sense to you, but it doesn't if you understand all the criteria which a filter can be judged by ...

Does "best" mean which filter can hold the most particulate load before going into bypass? (capacity)
Or perhaps which has the highest efficiency at the start of use? (single pass rating)
Versus which has the highest continual use efficiency? (multi-pass rating)

You made the classic mistake of using a word to describe itself ... "Which oil filter filters best?" That's akin to saying "which color colors best?" or "which smell smells the best?" ...

For a person at home trying to discern which filter is most efficient, Zee said it best ... compare data related to the ISO testing standard for efficiency. Then, if you want a filter that can attain that rating you deem acceptable for longer OCIs, then you can look at the mileage rating as a form of "capacity" inference. For example, two filters could both be rated at 99% at 20um, but one is rated for 10k miles and the other rated for 20k miles. If your planned OCI is 5k miles, then either would well cover the task, so the "best" would then come down to price because capacity and efficiency are not a concern. But if your planned OCI was 15k miles, then the obvious choice would be the one with higher capacity.

Further, if you think a person at home has the ability to run some home-brew tests and make an accurate determination about efficiency versus well-funded OE labs that do testing to ISO standards with certified equipment ... well, you're barking up the wrong tree.

TBH, your thread title reads as if you want to know what brand of oil filter might be "best", but then the context of your post might infer you're wanting to know about a testing protocol/process. So, really, it's not clear at all what you're after. The problem with your question is that it's poorly worded and not well defined. I'm not trying to pick on you; I apologize if this comes off harsh. But you need to learn the proper terminology so you can ask specific questions regarding your inquiry.

 

[Fair enough]

Again, you're not doing a good job of defining what "best" means in your quest. It probably makes sense to you, but it doesn't if you understand all the criteria which a filter can be judged by ...

Does "best" mean which filter can hold the most particulate load before going into bypass? (capacity)
Or perhaps which has the highest efficiency at the start of use? (single pass rating)
Versus which has the highest continual use efficiency? (multi-pass rating)

You made the classic mistake of using a word to describe itself ... "Which oil filter filters best?" That's akin to saying "which color colors best?" or "which smell smells the best?" ...

For a person at home trying to discern which filter is most efficient, Zee said it best ... compare data related to the ISO testing standard for efficiency. Then, if you want a filter that can attain that rating you deem acceptable for longer OCIs, then you can look at the mileage rating as a form of "capacity" inference. For example, two filters could both be rated at 99% at 20um, but one is rated for 10k miles and the other rated for 20k miles. If your planned OCI is 5k miles, then either would well cover the task, so the "best" would then come down to price because capacity and efficiency are not a concern. But if your planned OCI was 15k miles, then the obvious choice would be the one with higher capacity.

Further, if you think a person at home has the ability to run some home-brew tests and make an accurate determination about efficiency versus well-funded OE labs that do testing to ISO standards with certified equipment ... well, you're barking up the wrong tree.

TBH, your thread title reads as if you want to know what brand of oil filter might be "best", but then the context of your post might infer you're wanting to know about a testing protocol/process. So, really, it's not clear at all what you're after. The problem with your question is that it's poorly worded and not well defined. I'm not trying to pick on you; I apologize if this comes off harsh. But you need to learn the proper terminology so you can ask specific questions regarding your inquiry.

Filters as used, as a verb, means stopping particulate, an action. An oil filter is a noun which describes the whole object. There is no problem with anything I wrote. Which oil filter(noun) filters(verb) best is perfectly ok.
Then comes the proposal, in the subject body. If an oil filter is used to filter oil that another oil filter has filtered a long time, and particles go down, the new filter may be better. More tests needed to verify. If no change seen, run filter longer. If the particles go up the first filter may be better. More tests needed to verify.