Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/949884
30 commercial carrier journal | march 2018 Media keeps engine fluids flowing, cleaner BY JASON CANNON A good oil sampling program can do a lot to extend a truck engine's life. A vital link in that chain of lon- gevity is a device that's about the size of a large Yeti cup and screwed to the engine oil's circulatory system. Oil filters catch contaminants that can damage the engine's internal components. To capture these particulates, filter manufacturers have developed high-performance filtration media to achieve higher levels of cleanliness, said Zafar Hus- sain, Luber-finer's senior product engineer. "Media has changed a great deal through the years, from the original 'sock filters' to cellulose paper-based media, to micro-glass media and now to the fully synthetic polymeric micro-fiber media," said Jonathan Sheumaker, Cummins Filtration's technical adviser for liquid filtration research and technology. "Each of these media technologies has brought a decrease in fuel-economy-robbing restriction and an increase in engine-wear-reducing particle efficiency." Feeling the heat But while most oil filters feature a similar design, fleet equipment operates under anything but universal conditions. Newer engines run at higher temperatures, and some fleets push oil drain intervals beyond standard OEM recommen- dations. Aaron Aylworth, director of Speedco Operations, said he doesn't believe higher engine temperatures are significant enough to affect oil filters. "If anything, the intervals are get- ting longer and not shorter, so there is no reason to believe the temperature has had any negative effect on the filter." For fleets with extended drain intervals, cellulose media and lower-quality seals should be avoided, Sheumaker said. "Fleet owners who encounter harsh conditions, a se- vere-duty cycle in certain applications and increased stress on oil due to strict emissions standards should consider using filters designed for extended life or extended change intervals," Hussain said. "By using oil analysis data, they can intelligently pick a filter from conventional, extended life or extended life with integrated additives." If analysis data show oil degradation or oil additive de- pletion, the fleet should consider using extended-life filters integrated with additives. "ese filters can extend the oil's useful life by continuously replenishing oil additives or reconditioning the oil by linearly adding depleted additives over the life of the filter," Hussain said. "In certain situations, it is useless to use extended-life filters without reconditioning the oil. At the same time, it is useless to use extended-life oil without extended-life filters." Adding up additives A variety of aermarket additives are available, which Aylworth said cause "little or no change to the performance of an oil filter" as long as the additive is fully soluble and compatible with indus- try-standard oil brands. "If an additive is not soluble in the oil, it may stick to the filter media surface," Hussain said. "is causes higher flow restric- tion, which may starve the engine from lubrication and may also reduce the filter's life. ere should be no concerns for fleet owners provided they understand the solubility of the additive and its compatibility with the specific oil brand they are using." Sheumaker said a fleet may need to use a filter with upgraded seals and more robust media to deal with the extended time in hot engine oil if the OE filter is not equipped with those fea- tures and the fleet's drain interval is longer than recommended. "Pick the correct filter for the application, and make sure to include mid-trip services that include filter changes on extended intervals, and you'll be OK," Aylworth said. in focus: OIL FILTERS Oil filters catch contaminants that can damage the engine's internal components. For fleets with extended drain intervals, cellulose media and lower-quality seals should be avoided.