Will TP Fall Apart in Oil?

[John With Beastly 302]

I work at a transmission shop/Mobil lube express. I was talking to the tranny buider about bypass filters and said that TP will fall apart in oil, is this true or a common misconception.

Thanks John

 

[instigator]

its not even a misconception, its ignorance on his part. it does just the opposite in oil.

 

[RalphPWood]

Initially oil will make TP very strong. Just the opposite of water. Eventually the acid and water that is working on the paper instead of the engine parts will make the paper rotten. The same thing happens with the full flow filter. The trick is to change the filter before it gets rotten like an old book. At work I have a Motor Guard on the lube oil on a 100 HP air compressor that has a high acid content from the refinery in the very expensive synthetic oil. I started by changing the TP every 1000 hrs. AT 1000 hrs the TP was starting to get rotten. I tried the special Motor Guard elements, the same thing happened. At 500 hrs the TP is still strong. I started changing the filter every 500 hrs. I'm not going to try to determine exactly where between 500 and 1000 hrs the paper starts getting rotten. The stock spin on filter is still in good shape at 1000 hrs but it doesn't clean oil.
My large filters that take paper towels I install a hydraulic filter at the outlet. Paper fibers can't get thru a 25 micron sintered bronze filter. If it makes you feel better you can put a secondary fiter on the Motor Guard. They are called nipple filters. These are used to protect air tools. Back years ago there were people cutting the return line and slipping in a inline fuel filter. Some put the TP in socks. If when you change the TP it unrolls and you can tear it at each sheet you are OK.
I have seen the stock full flow filters break down from neglect.

Ralph

 

[msjanket]

I've used Scott TP and it stays together very well, and there has been no concern on my part regarding it falling apart. Low pressure in the oil stream is the likely reason for its coherence.

Mike

 

[RalphPWood]

You can get an idea of how TP holds up in oil by pouring some oil on it and pulling on it. It normally won't tear where the oil is.
There are extreme cases like I saw once where the TP filter or the full flow filter or the oil hadn't been changed for about three years or 60,000 miles. The guy said he had been so busy he hadn't had time. The TP looked like a chunk of carbon shaped like TP but it was still in one piece. Part of the pleated paper in the full flow filter was missing and the oil was too thick to circulate. These guys are out there. You just hope they don't buy one of your filters.
The guys on this forum take care of their equipment. Your transmission builder is probably very good at repair but not too knowledgeable about filtration.

Ralph