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Fleetguard bypass filter vs. Amsoil & Oilguard

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My father is interested in a bypass filter and I am the one that gets to determine which one to get. Obviously I have my eye on the Amsoil since I currently run one but I am loking hard at the Fleetguard LF777 spin on bypass filter. Cost for the Fleetguard is $13. 93 for the filter and $31. 11 for the remote mount adapter head. From there I would just need hoses. The question is, is any one using this setup and what do you think. Obviously the price is much cheaper then the Amsoil and the Oilguard. Do they filter as good? I know Fleetguard state 10 Microns at 98% efficiency and Amsoil says down to 1 micron. Appartly both companies test their filter using different methods so you really can't compare the two with the information given(apples to oranges). Does anyone have more detailed information on either filters that would make the comparison more fair. Also does anyone know anything about the Fleetguard LF3000 which is a full flow and bypass in one. Don't know the prices of the filter or the mount. Sorry about the long post. :p ;)
 
Will the LF-777 fit the threads on an Amsoil bypass head?



I sure hope someone knows the answer to your question about the different testing methods. If the size that the LF777 passes is really 10 micron then I'll stay with the Amsoil at 1 micron or less. :confused:
 
Chipstien, what did you eventually end up doing for a bypass oil system?



It looks like if you were to install the Fleetquard bypass head, you can screw on the Amsoil SDF75 in place of the Fleetquard LF777 if you feel more comfortable running the Amsoil filter:

http://www.oil-tech.com/suprduty.htm



Vaughn
 
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Funny you brought this TTT. I ended up going with the Fleetguard but as of right now they are still sitting in the garage waiting to be installed. Sorry. :) I am going to swap my Dual remote bypass for the Fleetguard so I can get my pressures back up. Just need to find the time to do it.
 
I simply don't believe the Amsoil bypass filter is significantly different from the Fleetguard bypass as to micron filter capability, if tested the same way.



The LF3000 is rather large, and would require some type of remote mount, and there would be no baseline on how often to change in our application, and... . so on. Great idea, but too many unanswered questions in our specific application, so I'd stick to one of the other options just to cut down research time.



The oriface on the LF777 head is almost certainly "too big" for our engines, per what I was told by Fleetguard. You risk starving your engine of oil by allowing too much bypass flow if you stick that filter on with no additional thought. However, if you add an additional in-line oriface, sized at about 1 mm or 0. 040", then you will have bypass flow equal to the Racor (Oilguard) filter.
 
I thought about the Oilguard for a long time before buying it. They advertise it will filter out soot. I called them and asked them how can it do that - soot is submicron? They said theirs will filter submicron! Sure as he!!, my soot is staying down to . 01% every sample. I haven't seen anyone else yet with soot levels that low. I paid $6. 50@ for 20 filters but regular price is $13. I think the housing was $65 during their sale. Craig
 
Vaughn,

The SDF 75 is not a By-Pass filter, to my knowledge.



There is no reason whatsoever to buy an Amsoil By-Pass unit, and then put another companies filter on it. (or a regular filter) You are negating the whole idea.



The heart of the system IS the filter!!



Just because something threads on does not mean it is a good thing.

The Amsoil By-Pass filters down to 1/10 of a micron, and absorbs moisture.
 
Sledpuller you read too fast ;) . . .



I was talking about the Fleetquard head not Amsoil, and if you look at the link above it implies that the SDF75 is a replacement for the LF777 which is a bypass filter by design. Anyway I am confident the LF777 is close to any Amsoil bypass for filtering performance, and I can get them locally and not have to pay shipping on Amsoil products.



I am not worried about submicronic filtration and removal of soot, don't have a soot issue as is. C Schomer it's interesting the OilGuard folks said theirs filters out soot when their website says it does not.



HC I figured a smaller orifice would have to be installed to taper down the oil flow to the bypass, thank you for the specs on this since I had no idea what size orifice would be appropriate.



Vaughn
 
Ha! I read that twice and STILL misread it!



Are you sure the Fleetguard LF777 is a combo By-Pass/Full Flow?



The SDF 75 is listed as a Heavy truck filter, not a combination By-Pass/Full Flow. Only the SDF74 is a combination filter, and almost twice the price of the 75.



Now, to clear this up, you said,

"Anyway I am confident the LF777 is close to any Amsoil bypass for filtering performance"



What are you basing that on?
 
I have the pieces sitting in the shop to install the LF777 filter this spring when I finally get around to getting several upgrades done on my truck. I bought the base from a fleet parts dealer in the Baldwin brand.

I figure that if the LF777,and other brand equivalents, is good enough for Caterpillar, Cummins, and Detroit to use on heavy duty engines, then it is good enough for me.

I have used a . 060" restriction on bypass filters in the past, but I think that I am going down to about . 040"-. 045" on this one. I had a Vincent motorcycle years ago and they used Amal carburetor jets to meter oil flow to the top end. I like this idea and the fact that you can change sizes so easily to suit different engines and oil system variables sounds good. Holley carburetor jets are available from . 040" up and are available everywhere at low cost.
 
Hey Vaughn, it looks like you decided on the Fleetguard. Have you figured out where your going to mount that bad boy. Won't fit in the engine compartment. I'll let you do the R&D on the install and then have you help me install mine the same way. :p ;)
 
Yeah right Chipstein, I was just going to PM you about where to install it!



Sledpuller we're really on the same page aren't we? :D LOL

My train of thought is to run a remote filter as a bypass, and still run the stock filter as-is for the full-flow filter. But after looking at the LF777 further it almost looks like a combo full/bypass filter. Guess I better do some more checking.



And as far as filtering performance, I was sure I saw it stated that the LF777 filtered to 1 micron, but I'd be danged if I could find the source again :rolleyes:



Vaughn
 
The LF777 is a bypass filter only. The LF3000 is a full flow/bypass unit. It is listed right on their website. If you look in a LF777 you can see it is different than a full flow. :)
 
Ok found a few things on the Fleetguard website that might be of interest. First is this... . Q: Why doesn't Fleetguard publish micron ratings for all its filters?

A: Generally this is not necessary. Fleetguard filters are designed to meet or exceed OEM specifications.

Here is another... .

Q: What is the difference between Absolute and Nominal micron rating?

A: Micron rating is the size of particles which are filtered out by filters at a certain efficiency. When this efficiency is at least 98. 6%, we speak about absolute micron rating/filtration. Nominal micron rating is just a commercial trick for all efficiencies lower than 98. 6%, meaning that for the same micron rating (for ex. 10 µ) in the case of nominal rating, not all particles will be captured in the filter as in the case of absolute micron rating.



Q: What's the difference between full-flow and by-pass lube filters?

A: A full flow oil filter is mounted in full-flow, meaning all oil entering the engine is filtered. In full-flow filters, Fleetguard uses cellulose media (40 ? absolute) or upgrade media, such as glass fiber and StrataPore? (25 ? absolute). A by-pass filter is mounted in the by-pass, so approximately 10% of the lube oil flow is passing through this filter. Fleetguard offers "real depth filtration" by means of its stacked disc media. As mean wear particles in engines are in the range of 5 to 30 ?, these particles cannot all be filtered out by the full-flow filter, as these filters would be too restrictive. Therefore, the use of a by-pass filter, such as Fleetguard's LF777, will keep your oil cleaner and result in less wear on moving parts of engines.



Now if you look at the top of this page you will see under ESXtreme there is a link for a informational video. In this video Fleetguard states numerous times that that their stacked discs filters out soot and sludge. Well if soot is sub-micron then it would seem to me that the Fleetguard bypass filters must filter down to sub-micron.



In my first post I said that Fleetguard says that they filter 10 microns at 98% efficiency . This tells me that 98 out of 100 particles 10 microns and bigger are being filtered out. So common sense says that the filter is filtering smaller particle but not at as high of efficiency. Amsoil on the other hand says they filter down to 1 micron. What they could be saying is 1 out of every 100 particles that are 1 micron will be filtered. Notice I say could, I am not trying to say that Amsoil is out to screw us... . I have their setup on my truck. However with the information we are given I have to say that I like the fact that I know that 98% of particles that are 10 microns are filtered out rather than my only known from Amsoil is that at least 1% of particles that are 1 micron are filtered.



If you look at the second question about Absolute and Nominal micron ratings. This was what I was referring to when I said that The two companies must use a different method for rating their product.



Now all is not lost. Maybe one of the Amsoil dealers could scrounge up some efficiency ratings and force me to eat some crow. :p No prob. :) Now the heck with transmission and oil wars, lets step into the 21 century and start a bypass filter war. :eek:
 
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I believe the BE-90 Amsoil By-Pass functions at 97. 6% efficiency in removing particles as small as 3 microns, but I could be wrong.



60% of engine wear is a result from particles in the 5 to 20 micron range.
 
The old Oilguard ads claimed to filter out soot. That's what really got me interested - knowing the size of soot particles. I haven't seen their new ads. I just use my soot level as an indication that it really does filter soot and proof that it filters submicron - not that soot was a particular problem. It can be a problem tho with ext. service. I bought 20 elements before I found out they are good for around 25k miles or so. At the time, I searched the www to find a price on the Amsoil bypass filters and saw they were about $25 but wasn't sure if I was looking at the right thing. Is that really the price? Maybe not. At least at the time and with their 1/2 price sale, it looked like Oilguard was the most bang for the buck! And based on the Amsoil filter price (if $25 is correct) even made Oilguard list price a bargain. Craig
 
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