Building a better BHAF...

[Hohn]

I agree. Once I get a contact in the proper "division" I will post his email address and you can mail-bomb him, hehe.

 

[moparguy]

Hohn, you might suggest that they (Donaldson) look at the increased sales of 2790 filters since I first posted about the BHAF in July of 2001. That should give a indication of the potential market for this new filter.



On, and tell em I'd like mine in red. LOL.



Good luck, RJR

 

[Hohn]

Good idea. Does Donaldson make ALL the NAPA 2790s, or are some of them Fleetguard? Could we assume that half are NAPA and half are FG? The NAPAs I have seen are Duralite units, and therefore made by Donaldson.



I bet there have been over a thousand BHAFs installed.

 

[Kernel]

Any ideas about the inlet tube? I noticed there is a "torque tube" for 3rd Gens that could be modified but are they made for 2nd Gens? I have a Baldwin filter product guide that has tons of stuff in it, including elbows of varying angles (90* to crazy stuff like 22*), along with reducing elbows and reducer insert sleeves. Are these anything useful? If so, can dig a little and make some calls on that issue.



Scott

 

[Diesel&Donuts]

Hohn,

Can this filter be used without the "stovepipe"? You know, stand alone, like the BHAF can be used inside a box (heat shield) or with out a box.

Harold

 

[Matt400]

My guess is no.

Looking at the pic of it upside down it appears the filter element is clamped to the pipe assembly that necks down.

If you un-clamp the filter you would have an 11" opening on both sides.

 

[Beast2B]

Custom plumbing using some kind of composite would be cool, but then this is no longer a hardware store bolt-in affair. I wanted us to have something better than a BHAF that was still REASONABLY easy to install. Meaning, you don't need custom parts, just hardware store or home center type stuff.

jlh

I agree easy is best, but how many of us bought the heat shield for the BHAF? ... or the pre-fab fuel pressure test gauge? (I have both of these, I'm sure there are more examples) Someone with a knack for basic fab (not me, unfortunately!) could probably make a bit of dough AND get an adapter named after them!

 

[Hohn]

My guess is no.

Looking at the pic of it upside down it appears the filter element is clamped to the pipe assembly that necks down.

If you un-clamp the filter you would have an 11" opening on both sides.

I should take a pic to clarify the clamped-on part. If you unclamp the end and slide it off, you have just exposed the filter element. It's just a wide ring that protects the element. The element is actually attached to the tapered part, not the wide ring, or cylinder if that helps.



I can unclamp it and slide the end off and the filter hasn't changed at all. The cylinder protects the element from getting crushed on the sides, that's all.



So, if you unclamp it, you do NOT have an 11" opening on both sides. Instead, you have an unprotected element sticking out about 6" with an 11" opening on one side, and a tapered metal section with a 6" outlet on the other.



It's hard to picture, but the element is sealed/glued to the tapered part, not the cylindrical clamped on part.



I'll try to take a pic of it unclamped to better illustrate this.



If you could drill a Scotty-style cowl hole that was 11" in diameter, you'd have a pretty impressive setup



jlh

 

[Matt400]

It's hard to picture, but the element is sealed/glued to the tapered part, not the cylindrical clamped on part.

Oh. . gotcha, interesting they would seal the filter to that big end piece. Probably gonna be spendy not having just an element to change out.

 

[PRout]

FYI - I had access to an AFE PG7, 72-90010 filter only. Its sort of a cone shaped filter just slightly smaller than the BHAF.



It had about the same ID as the stock intake tube, so pulled off the BHAF and used a steel sleeve to hoseclamp the the AFE in place. Have been running it for about a year now, and not seeing any oil on the turbo blades like the K&N did, but I do believe it is flowing better than the BHAF. Turbo seems to spool quicker, and definitely more turbo noise than the BHAF. I like it, and will probably stick with this filter. It filters well with the Proguard 7 material.



Just something else to consider. Its a keeper for me after trying several different options including the expensive setups that were overrated IMO. This is a nice simple setup. My second choice would be the traditional BHAF. You just cant go wrong with their simplicity.

 

[moparguy]

Hohn, anything new?



RJR

 

[ProspectorTim]

PART NUMBER!!!

... every time you let off the fuel pedal you hear this wonderfully mellifluous throaty rumble.

jh

mellifluous

\Mel*lif"lu*ous\, a. [L. mellifluus; mel, mellis,

honey (akin to Gr. ?, Goth. milip) + fluere to flow. See

{Mildew}, {Fluent}, and cf. {Marmalade}. ]

Flowing as with honey; smooth; flowing sweetly or smoothly;

as, a mellifluous voice. -- {Mel*lif"lu*ous*ly}, adv.

I just HAD to know. LOL

 

[Hohn]

I'm going to have to tweak the install some. The PVC elbow helped with the kink, but now the rubber reducer is touching the turbo's compressor housing. Methinks this is bad.



Also, I just had my VP pump replaced under warranty. So I'm kinda shaking things out a little bit.



It's weird how the truck feels a LOT stronger with the new pump. I have no chip at all on there now, but it feels like the EZ is on there!



Just for experimentation with this new filter, I put the wastegate back to stock. So it presently pops at 21 psi.



With only 21 psi of boost, EGTs are under control here at 6100 feet! I'd imagine towing would be a different story, but running empty, I can run WOT until I'm speeding (80mph) before EGT exceeds 1350. This is with ambient temps of 88°F.



I'm presently fueled to about 350hp worth of fuel.



I find this interesting in light of the facts that:

1) This is without the timing advance of the EZ, which lowers EGT.

2) This is at high altitude on a warm (for WY) day.

3) This is with the intake ducting MUCH less than optimum



Here's another observation: If I give it just enough pedal to hit 20psi and stop (IOW, I keep it out of the wastegate), then EGTs hold at 1000° on the interstate. Again, keep in mind the above circumstances.



It's clear to me that this filter moves a lot more air. How much, I can't say other than the ratings that Donaldson quoted me. Let's just call it "sufficient".



I'm in the situation where I've had to halt testing somewhat, as I don't have a module (thus no boost fooler), and the packaging isn't perfect.



I think I may go ahead and permanently install this PowerCore filter using expanding foam sealant to seal the intake hose into the filter inlet. Then I can post observations without the compromised intake hose setup.



Justin

 

[Kernel]

How has the filtering ability been and how many miles have you put on the filter? Is there any signs of dirt inside the inlet tube or dirty blades noticed?



Scott

 

[Hohn]

OK, it's time for an update.



First, I found a way to adapt the filter to the OEM hose ducting with NO RESTRICTION!! Hehehe-- duct tape. Laugh if you must-- I am! What struck me as funny is that I've used duct tape for everyone EXCEPT a duct! So it never occurred to me to use duct tape!



Anyway, the previous setup was a noticeable restriction. The 90° elbow closed off the effective duct area. To see for yourself, look straight into a glass. Then slowly tilt the glass and notice how the "window" into the glass slowy becomes an elliptical shape. Finally, as the glass is tilted to 90° from where it was before, the effective "window" is closed.



Duct-taping the OEM hose INSIDE the outlet of the POwerCore filter not only got rid of the restrictive extra plumbing (with the adapter, kink and all) BUT it also got rid of any and all fitment issues. It fits PERFECTLY now-- with probably even a little more space than a traditional BHAF.



Putting the OEM hose inside the filter also gives you more effective flow area. This is the LEAST possible restrictive way to use the OEM intake hose. Any other way involves some kind of insert inside the OEM hose, and this reduces the effective flow diameter of the OEM hose by twice the thickness of whatever it is you stick in there. Sch 40 PVC is thick stuff, and if you are using that, it's killing flow. DWV is much thinner, but STILL reduces the flow of the OEM hose.



Think about that aspect of installing a traditional BHAF. With a traditional BHAF, you slide the OEM intake hose OVER the outlet of the BHAF. Now, HOW THICK IS THAT OUTLET? The walls of the BHAF outlet are not thin, and that's why it's rigid enough to just clamp the OEM hose directly over it. So the effective airflow diameter of a BHAF is greatly compromised-- EVEN MORE THAN THE STOCK FILTER HOUSING! Note the thinner walls of the stock filter housing outlet relative to the BHAF, because it's made of a harder plastic instead of rubbery plastic whatever stuff



So, fitment is a solved problem provided that the duct tape holds up. Since I have a good 3 inches or more of airspace between the filter and the closest part of the turbo, the tape won't see much heat. I think that this could actually be long-term viable with duct tape!! Crazy, I know. If the duct tape works, then we are in BUSINESS to get this filter out there on the market. It also would flow a lot better, because necking it down to a 4" outlet would probably reduce flow.



Kernel, you asked about dirt. Well, it's way too early to draw conclusions since I've only put on about 3K miles with this thing on. That said, dirt is ZERO on the intake hose, turbo blades and all that. Zip, nada--it's as clean as I remember the stock setup being. It's probably cleaner in reality, as the stock filter has the leaky clamshell panel design.





One last thing in this update: TURBO WHINE. Before I fixed the ductwork and my crappy installation, turbo whine was pretty reasonable-- about what a regular BHAF would do.



Now, it's like an F-16 is following me at point-blank range! I can almost hear my warning bipper from his missile lock!! :-laf I caught myself "switching to guns" a couple times-- he was close!



Turbo whine is sufficient to be heard over the HVAC when set on Max A/C on the highest fan level. My HVAC on max A/C is loud; the whine is louder.



I have to admit, the crazy whine sounds cool around town, but is VERY annoying on the hwy. I'm not sure if this is because I cut a Scotty-style cowl hole or not. It's probably a big part of it. I'd say that anyone else who wants to run this filter with a cowl hole should consider the silencer ring and/or TAG. Whine is very strong and gets really bad-- or good, depending on whether you like your ears to work later in life.



I'm not sure what additional benefit, if any, my little cowl hole provides, so I may just plug it back up. I may also rig up a dam of some kind like others have done to reduce whine.



Thus far, I am LOVING this filter, and Donaldson is going to have to hunt me down like a rabid animal and pry it from my dead fingers to get it back.



Justin

 

[I SPEED]

I guess I'll be the first to ask... . got any pics of your "custom" duct work?



What did you use to take up the space between the stock intake tube and the filter neck? (you had mentioned expanding foam)





Doug

 

[Hohn]

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[Hohn]

Note how much space there is now, and ducting has NO kinks. The filter inlet is also not up so far to the firewall, so I think it gets air a little easier.



jlh

 

[I SPEED]

I like it... Any word from Donaldson as far as availability? I remember your saying it had to go through the proper channels etc. Just wondering if you had heard any news.

 

[rbattelle]

Ever since I first laid eyes on that Donaldson Powercore ad in Diesel Progress I thought it would be great to have as a BHAF.



I know they make one that's elliptical in shape (as opposed to the round one you've got). Seems to me that might fit better in the engine compartment. What do you think, Hohn?



-Ryan