What Size Particles Cause Wear?

[Jelly]

I found this statement on the Moroso website...let me know what you think.

"Many filter manufacturers stress the importance of filtering some of the smallest particles known to man out of your engine's oil. You've probably seen or heard them talk about "micron ratings" of 10 or less when talking about a filter's efficiency. (One micron is one-millionth of a meter and a "micron rating" of 10 means that the filter will remove particles as small as 10 millionths of a meter.)

Moroso engineers have determined, with the help of research performed by filtration technology experts, that particles smaller than 20 microns in diameter are not large enough to produce engine wear. Furthermore, Moroso engineers have also found that filters with extremely low micron ratings create an excessive pressure drop across the filter. They can be so restrictive that the filter by-pass valve can open. And with the by-pass valve open, NO FILTRATION occurs, and you have no way of knowing!

To maximize filter performance, Moroso Oil Filters have a rating of 27 microns, which produces a maximum initial restriction of only 2.5 psi when tested to SAE j806! The result is less pressure drop, more flow, less oil by-pass and maximum filtration performance that's so important in severe conditions."

[ September 20, 2003, 10:57 PM: Message edited by: Jelly ]

 

[greencrew]

"And with the by-pass valve open, NO FILTRATION occurs, and you have no way of knowing!"

A bit misleading. There is still oil flowing through the filter element and flitration does still occur. The filter element is not keeping up and needs the help of the by-pass. You don't know how much oil is by-passed, it could be half. Is that a problem? At the flow rate of the pump, all the oil flows through the filter twice in how much time???

 

[sub_zero]

I would tend to agree with that statement. Soft bearings are quite resistant to particulate contamination, Camshafts and valvetrain are less so but if sufficiently hard softer materials copper, lead etc. shouldn't be a problem and that is the majority of wear metal. Other types of machines are far less durable ie hydraulic servo units, gas turbines and hydraulic motors. What is really important about a filter is not just the micron rating but the efficiency rating or Beta rating.

Some high quality industrial filter manufacturers quote beta ratings, Pall comes to mind. There stuff is high quality but just way too expensive($$$$) for automotive use. Pall filters are either Beta 100(99%)or Beta 200(99.5%). Most filters that quote just the micron rating are Nominal ratings equivalent to Beta 2 (50%).

So a Nominally rated filter will let pass the particles it's rated for and even bigger ones. A 26 micron filter that is probably nominally rated is not going to remove all the particulate bypass or not!

As an example I use a 7 Micron Beta 100 filter in one application and a 1.5 Micron Nominal filter on another similar application. Beta explained

[ September 20, 2003, 11:43 PM: Message edited by: sub_zero ]

 

[Jelly]

bump

 

[Patman]

I do agree somewhat with Moroso, as with a small block Chevy or similar style engine, you don't need super fine filtration to get long engine life, as the clearances are big enough that a 15 or even 20 micron particle can pass through without damage.

However on a tighter clearance engine it is a different story.

But most of Moroso's customers run old style motors with large clearances, and if you look at the oil filters they sell, they cater to that crowd, not to new style engines.

 

[TooSlick]

Jelly,

Generally the 5-20 um particles are considered the most damaging. Anything smaller than 5 microns will fit through bearing clearances and causes very little wear. The exception is soot, which can cause "erosive" wear if the fluid is flowing at fairly high velocities.

Particles > 20 microns tend to be removed by the oil filter on the first pass.

TS

 

[sub_zero]

How can 5-20 micron particles be considered the most damaging?

I would think a 40 micron particle would be more damaging.

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by sub_zero:
How can 5-20 micron particles be considered the most damaging?

I would think a 40 micron particle would be more damaging.

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But a 40 micron particle would be trapped by even the crappiest of oil filters (unless it's bypass valve is stuck open or the media is ripped)

 

[sub_zero]

quote:

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Originally posted by Patman:

quote:

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Originally posted by sub_zero:
How can 5-20 micron particles be considered the most damaging?

I would think a 40 micron particle would be more damaging.

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But a 40 micron particle would be trapped by even the crappiest of oil filters (unless it's bypass valve is stuck open or the media is ripped)

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You would tend to think so, but the reality is that even a 15 or 20 Micron Nominally rated filter is passing some particles 40 Microns in size. As stated before a Nominal rating is equivalent to a Beta 2 or 50% paticulate removal per pass at the rated size. A 26 Micron filter is passing alot of 40 Micron particles, it is probably passing very few 100 micron particles.

It is trapping some so eventually they should all be removed, but it will take time. Only filters of a quality not found in automotive applications can offer the 99+% removal rates, a couple hundred bucks a cartridge.

I have bore witness to this situation with my own eyes and am not trying to blow smoke.

I have speculated that this is part of the pressure drop thing seen on some filters and not others. Since filter rating is not well defined a Nominal rating could mean many things to many people.

[ September 21, 2003, 11:23 PM: Message edited by: sub_zero ]

 

[Patman]

At the same time, if you look at some of the highest mileage cars out there, they aren't running bypass filters on them, just regular spin on. Irv Gordon, owner of the 2 million mile Volvo doesn't run bypass filters. The guy who racked up one million miles on his Chevy truck using Pennzoil at his local fast lube place didn't run bypass filters. My next door neighbor who's approaching 400,000km on his 3.1 V6 Sunbird doesn't run bypass filters.

So to me, they aren't an absolute necessity for the average driver if you want long engine life. Just pick a good oil, a good oil filter, run a reasonable OCI, and have good driving habits, and that's all you truly need. IMHO of course.

 

[Bio-T]

quote:

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Originally posted by Patman:

So to me, they aren't an absolute necessity for the average driver if you want long engine life.

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Are you talking about the Q-Eye paint jobs and the $2K stereos? Those are truly not a necessity.

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by 59 Vetteman:

quote:

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Originally posted by Patman:

So to me, they aren't an absolute necessity for the average driver if you want long engine life.

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Are you talking about the Q-Eye paint jobs and the $2K stereos? Those are truly not a necessity.

---

If you want to look cool they are!

My $1000 stereo in my car was definitely a necessity for me, especially on the ride home from work today, which took me 90 minutes thanks to heavy rain! Without a nice stereo to keep me entertained, I would've gone into full on road rage mode!

 

[Jay]

I thought TooSlick's reply was interesting. I wonder if particles in the 5 to 20 micron range cause the most damage because they fit more easily between the moving parts than larger particles.

 

[TC]

For what it's worth, I've pasted the following quotes from the identified websites:

Taurus SHO Website:
"One other thing I learned is the media in a Mobil 1 filter only looks the same as a K&N oil filter media. The Mobil 1 filter has much higher synthetic fiber content designed to filter down to 10 micron while the K&N is designed for "more sporting" applications and filters down to only 20 microns. The Mobil 1 is focused on deep cleaning while the K&N is optimized for higher flow." (NOTE: Moroso, focusing on the performance crowd, might presumably -- and appropriately -- focus on flow versus filtration as well.)

Also from the SHO website:
"Say you have a small block Chevy, all bearing clearances are at least 60 microns, so you would need (3) 20 micron to line up just perfectly to bridge across the lubrication layer and scratch a bearing surface. Unless you use that engine in truck pulls or off road that should never happen. But the bearing clearances in a V6 SHO are all about 40 microns and V8 main bearings are 20 micron, V8 cam bearings are 40 micron. So bypassing 20-micron size particles is a whole lot less attractive with a V8 SHO than either a V6 SHO or small block Chevy. In theory one could run the K&N when they know they will be running higher rpm because the lower pressure drop across the media will in effect delay by-pass opening and improve the quantity of oil. It may work for the V6, but it would be a risk with the V8, so I can no longer recommend the K&N oil filter for year round use with the V8 SHO motor - save it for track use when full flow is critical."

From Wix (said to possibly be outdated since they don't mention their new fiberglass blended media):
"Wix media in the automotive full-flow oil filter is able to trap and hold essentially all the contaminant particles larger than 25 microns. Our filters also capture a high percentage of even smaller particles." (NOTE: A current Wix data sheet found in these forums mentions that their new filter media has the "...ability to capture small 10-20 micron size particles due to glass content.")

From a Baldwin Filter technical rep, posted elsewhere in these forums by "Ken2":
"In a full-flow lube system 20-35 microns absolute is efficient filtration." "Absolute" is a single pass glass bead test, meaning that basically all 20-35 micron beads would be trapped.

From Mobil 1's website:
"The Mobil 1 High Efficiency Oil Filter has a single-pass efficiency of 98 percent for 10 to 20 micron contaminants vs. an average of 85 percent for conventional filters."...."Efficiency at the 96-percent level provides outstanding cleanliness and engine wear protection. Levels greater than that provide only nominal additional benefits while significantly increasing the resistance to oil flow."

I've come to the conclusion that, rather than focusing on a name brand or manufacturers' often exxagerated claims, I'll look for the following features in an oil filter:
-Confirmed synthetic or synthetic blended media, rather that 100% paper cellulose.
-Top bypass valve, meaning the valve is near the threaded baseplate, rather than the rounded cap. I think Ford's got it right in their specifying same for their cars.
-Silicone rubber (orange color) anti-drainback valve, rather than lesser nitrile rubber (black).
-No cardboard end caps, old cole slaw, cigar butts, or whatever similar crap manufacturers might try to cram into their orange-painted filters.
-Per this criteria, I'll be switching to Wix in the future, also known as Napa Gold and Carquest Premium. The Mobil 1, at least for my car, has the less-desirable bottom bypass.

Lastly, regarding the Champion/STP/Bosch/Mobil "clicker" bypass valves, everyone seems to focus on the metal end cap as the flexing component which will allow bypass flow. But logic dictates that pressurized oil will force itself into that gap, forcing the cap one direction and the four-legged sheetmetal spring the opposite. Has anyboy rested the sheet metal spring into its seat in the hacksaw-opened filter housing, and then pressed on its center using a socket the same diameter as the circle created by the six bypass holes? If you do this, will it "click?" Folks have been focusing on the media's end cap flexing to allow bypass, but maybe it's primarily the sheet metal spring that flexes open to the point that it audibly clicks...??? Just a thought. Maybe we can just yet determine if this new valve is an angel or a demon!

 

[RalphPWood]

It's the same old story. People that make filters that only remove abrasives larger than 30 microns tell you that abrasives smaller than 30 don't cause engine wear -- it's a crock. Some experts say that most engine wear is caused by abrasives in the 5 to 10 microns range. Some will say 10 to 20 microns. One thing is sure after you listen to all of the hype you need to use some common sense.
I was taught that abrasives smaller than one micron are non abravive in motor oil. That is why I have always used filters that are rated to .01 micron. Most soot is smaller than one micron. Some times if oil has enough soot particles they will agglomerate into larger globs and start causing problems. There is almost nothing in a good engine large enough to be removed by a full flow filter. Full flow filters are pretty much useless except when an engine is breaking in or is about to wear out. An exception would be racing where stress is generating large chunks of wear metals. An oil analysis on a racing engine will scare the heck out of you.
You might find the following quote interesting:

Title: Don't Bypass Bypass Filters

Author: Gelinas, Tom

Journal: Fleet Equipment Vol: 14 Iss: 7 Date: Jul 1988 pp. 39-41

Abstract:
According to some estimates, 60% of the potential causes of engine wear and failure can be eliminated by a well-designed and properly applied filtration system. Cummins Engine Co. recommends that both a bypass filter and a full-flow filter be used. A bypass filter shunts 10% of the total oil pump output through a filter and then back to the sump, bypassing the engine. Because this filter has high-pressure differential and low flow rate, it can filter out fine particles in the 5-micron range. In contrast, a full-flow filter has a low-pressure differential and filters out only large particles in the 40 micron to 60 micron range. However, the full-flow filter is located so that all of the oil must flow through it before reaching the bearings. The combination of these 2 filter types gives double protection against wear. Studies at the Cummins Technical Center indicate that wear can be reduced up to 91% by using a bypass filter in combination with a full-flow filter."

Ralph

 

[msparks]

It just makes sense to me to have the best filtration, by removing as much contaminants as possible the oil doesn't have to work as hard. Therefore cleaner oil will then be able to do it's primary job more effeciently. This is to lubricate. It would seem to me that the more particles floating around in the oil, the slower it will travel, the more heat it will hold and the more wear you will get.

Think about a river that is full of debris like after a storm, all of the mud, sand rocks trees(larger than 5 microns) cause wear to the sides of the river therefore adding even more debris to the river.

If you check out my thread on the particle count you will see this directly correlates to the life of the oil.

http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000751

 

[RalphPWood]

A 2,000,000 Volvo? If you spend enough money on oil changes you can go a long way without bypass filters . It would take me 166 years and 667 oil drains to go 2,000,000 mi. The money you waste over the years is considerable.
A guy here in town put a little over 500,000 on his Toyota Corolla in 15 years. We just traded off a Peterbilt truck with a Cummins engine with over 2,000,000 miles. It took 13 years. Two drivers helped.
No one has ever made a small filter that can clean oil fast enough to be a full flow filter sacrificing clean to get fast is not an option for me. I think nothing of sacrificing fast to get clean. I don't know where some of you guys get your information. Ten microns is deep cleaning? The film of oil beteen some parts in a good engine can be one micron. The reason the small abrasives that can't be removed by the full flow filter cause the most wear is there or are a lot more of them and they can get into smaller clearances instead of getting wiped off by the rings, etc.

Ralph

 

[Rolly]

From what I understand, particles from 7 to 40 microns product 92% of engine where, actually these contaminants are destructive since they go by the millionts, these tiny particles are the once that can penetrate inside small clearances such as piston rings, and are stuck in the oil film. A by-pass is connected in parallel with a full flow since it cannot replace the function of the full flow otherwise it will create a drop in pressure, usually oil will, the flow is very much less compared to a full flow and at a high pressure.

 

[userfriendly]

Ralphwood;
I understand your comments and where you are comming from.
I have no doubt that if automobiles were equipped with two filters, one full-flow and one by-pass as you mentioned, the engines would vertualy last forever and the drain intervals extended to what? Six times the norm?
Now auto manufactures do not want that, nor do the oil companies, and oil filter manufactures.
Its amusing the lengths some people will go to avoid re-building their engines after 10 or 15 years of faithful service.
The industrial applications you refer to are different.
A locomotive will run 24/7 for 10 years.
Your 2 million mile trucks took 2 professional drivers a quarter of their careers to accomplish.
Engines in ships run for years and are re-built one cylinder at a time, sometimes on the fly.
I have a 77 Chev pick-up that still has its original engine.
Even if this engine could run for another 25 years, the truck is not worth more than $300.00 and I'm keeping the tires.

[ September 24, 2003, 05:21 AM: Message edited by: userfriendly ]

 

[jason07-1zzfe]

TC, but that is not how the clearances work in operation, they are actually smaller. The crank is not centered in the bearings. Check out Molakules summary of the SAE Bearing Film Thickness test in the 'question of the day' section. They actually measured the film thickness in operation!

And back to the topic, it seems like most are forgeting about the d&d additives in the oil that will keep small particulate in a micel until drained or filtered. Unless you are doing insanely long drains that will overload the d&d I wouldn't worry about it.