LESSON LEARNED: Securing your oil filter

Securing your oil filter

Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2020 2:50 pm

by WaiexN143NM

Hi all,
Just a reminder, was reading on the zenith site, one member had a 750 stol with a UL350 engine. uses an automotive type filter. He claims he torqued it down to specs , but it came loose, oil drained, landed on rwy, but engine was shot and needed a rebuild. champion filters for cont/lyc have a tab welded with hole to safety wire. We can easily do this on an automotive filter with a ss band clamp,and safety wire… also good to mark with a paint line when secured in position.

fly safe!!

WaiexN143NM
Michael


Re: Securing your oil filter

Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 8:24 am

by DCASonex

Just a cautionary note to those with Jabiru engines. K&N makes a filter that has a hex spot welded on the end like some “real aircraft engine” filters, has good high flow rating and a thicker case for high pressure. Looks ideal, but beware, I have had two of those crack at the spot welds holding on the hex on the end. one resulted in total oil loss. Found out later that these have been known to have this type of failure in Jabiru engines for a few years before mine failed. Have seen this filter coming from two different countries with very different internal structure but same spot welded hex. Avoid these.

David A.


Re: Securing your oil filter

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 8:26 pm

by sonex1374

David A.'s experience with failed K&N filters has happened to others as well (at least 2-3 others have posted here about that exact failure). By contrast, other oil filters seldom fail unless there has been some damage done to the filter casing, such as a ding or dent in the case when installing.

The take away here is that the filter on a Jabiru engine sees some pretty demanding conditions, and should be treated with caution and respect. Any filter with even slight deformation or damage should not be used. If a securing device is used on the filter you need to be careful using it so as to not inadvertently cause hidden stress or damage to the case.

The following threads from 2011 have some additional information as well:
http://www.sonexbuilders.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3226
http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=263252

Jeff


Re: Securing your oil filter

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2020 6:18 pm

by LarryEWaiex121

Personally, I would be hard pressed to “attach” anything to the filter casing for fear of causing a stress point.
Since I started flying my Waiex in 2011, I’ve only used the NAPA Gold 1394 filter and screw it on by hand about as reasonably tight as I can get it by hand.
I oil the rubber ring and I’ve never had an issue with deformation or leaking of any kind. For this reason, I see zero reason to experiment with anything else.
Crossing over the 800 hour mark now on my airframe and doing well. About 458 hrs on a Jabiru3300 solid and now the remaining hours on a Camit 3300 solid.
The Camit has run exclusively on Aero Shell 100Plus since install. No issues.

Larry
Waiex121YX


Re: Securing your oil filter

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2020 1:37 am

by NWade

LarryEWaiex121 wrote:Personally, I would be hard pressed to “attach” anything to the filter casing for fear of causing a stress point.

There’s a very simple way to achieve this without creating a stress point. All it takes is a large-diameter worm-gear hose clamp.
This is one of those cases where a picture is worth a thousand words

Motorcycle guys do it all the time in addition to airplane folks, and its covered on Page 56 of the AeroVee Turbo Instruction Manual (for those folks building an AeroVee).

Enjoy,

–Noel