Impressions of the FilterMag RA-365 for 06' CTD

[Glock Guru]

Well, After taking a look at the FilterMag website (www.filtermag.com) last week and taking a look at the pics they had on there site I ordered one. I ordered the RA-365 (The Red Magnet). The web site said the "RA" was there most powerful magnet they sell. The RA-365 fits the CTD oil filter to a tee. It is made for a oil filter 3. 5-3. 8 inches in dia. The magnet is a little pricey at $69. 95, but that is still cheep insurance. BTW for the record, I use the Donaldson Endurance oil filter, Oil Guard By-Pass Filter, w/ Amsoil oil. My reason for ordering the magnet was simple enought. Magnets attract metal, metal that I would rather not have swimming around in my engine. Team the Filtermag up with a bypass filter and you have just about the best combo you can get for good engine health.



Ordered the filter on the website and received it in just a few days. The website is easy to use and provides shipping info automatically via email. My first impression of the filter magnet is it is very well made and straight forward to use. A word of caution, THAT MAGNET IS VERY POWERFUL. If you put your finger between the magnet and filter putting it on you my loose that finger. SNAP!!!, ... . The magnet is on. Good luck pulling it off. The best way to remove it is to slide the magnet down the filter.



Thats about it for now. I will be pulling the magnet off after 2000 miles to see the results. I guess if I did not have the bypass filter on the truck the results would be better that they are going to be. I'll get back with some pics of the filter cut open after the 2k is up.



Anyway, so far so good, updates to come soon.



-Troy

 

[ctd8999]

GG, Why not just take the magnetic strip out of an old refrigerator door seal and wrap it around the filter and cut 2 or 3 strips to stick on the bottom. Been doing it for years. Just my . 02. Thanks Steve B.

 

[steved]

GG, Why not just take the magnetic strip out of an old refrigerator door seal and wrap it around the filter and cut 2 or 3 strips to stick on the bottom. Been doing it for years. Just my . 02. Thanks Steve B.

If you saw how strong these are you would understand they will attract a touch more dirt than a fridge door seal magnet...



I'm running a filtermag on my Subaru, but I an running some permanent magnet motor magnets on my CTD... I have them on both filters and the fuel filter...



steved

 

[Glock Guru]

Steved said it best. The power of the two magnets are not even close. I tried the harware store magnet trick before, its not even even close.



-Troy

 

[rbattelle]

$70 for a magnet!!



I'd just pick up a neodymium magnet from McMaster. 5862K32 has 28 lb of pull (3/4" disk) for $23. 20. That's an incredibly strong magnet, and probably WAY overkill.



Ryan

 

[steved]

$70 for a magnet!!



I'd just pick up a neodymium magnet from McMaster. 5862K32 has 28 lb of pull (3/4" disk) for $23. 20. That's an incredibly strong magnet, and probably WAY overkill.



Ryan

If you can find some magnet from a permanent magnet motor, they are strong and have a concave side that fits perfectly on the side of a filter...



I got my FilterMag used off ebay...



steved

 

[drury]

The Filtermags are advertised as up to 500kg (1,100 pounds) pull force. See the caption under the picture on this page: http://www.filtermag.com/tech.php?PHPSESSID=3f0a56ca1e26ef4beabd3757dc7e328d



It's in a completely different league than the others. I just ordered two.

 

[rbattelle]

The Filtermags are advertised as up to 500kg (1,100 pounds) pull force. See the caption under the picture on this page: http://www.filtermag.com/tech.php?PHPSESSID=3f0a56ca1e26ef4beabd3757dc7e328d

With all due respect, I don't believe the Filtermag is putting this much force on the oil filter. If it were, you'd never be able to remove it from the filter.



I happen to have a (roughly) 1100 lb steel and iron hulk in my garage right now, and without a rolling chassis under it, it's quite literally impossible to slide across any surface by hand.



Not to mention 1100 lb would likely crush the oil filter. Please, don't misunderstand me, drury, I'm not calling you a liar. I'm just disputing Filtermag's 1100 lb claim.



Ryan

 

[steved]

With all due respect, I don't believe the Filtermag is putting this much force on the oil filter. If it were, you'd never be able to remove it from the filter.



I happen to have a (roughly) 1100 lb steel and iron hulk in my garage right now, and without a rolling chassis under it, it's quite literally impossible to slide across any surface by hand.



Not to mention 1100 lb would likely crush the oil filter. Please, don't misunderstand me, drury, I'm not calling you a liar. I'm just disputing Filtermag's 1100 lb claim.



Ryan

The might be putting that much force out... but if you notice, they don't give any size... 1,100 pounds per square mile is a whole lot different than 1,100 pounds per square inch...



It is all about advertising...



steved

 

[drury]

No offense taken. I understand the skepticism. I'll have a couple in my hands to try out for myself before too long. Still, Neodymium magnets have incredible strength for their size, and this one is way bigger than any I've ever seen before. I think it's going to be an order of magnitude stronger than the 3/4" disk magnet you are talking about. If you look at the surface area of the magnet in the picture, it has to be.

 

[drury]

I don't think that much force would crush the filter. If you think about how the force is applied, it's just sucking the metal up to the magnet, which isn't the same thing as putting an 1100 pound weight on the filter. The magnets seem to be in a semi-flexible frame so they can conform to the shape of the filter without exerting any distorting force on it.



I imagine the 1100 pound claim refers to their biggest magnet, which is the RA450. I can't find the web link now, but I thought I remember reading somewhere else on their site that the magnet could lift a 600lb refrigerator. That was probably in one of the magazine articles, so who knows how accurate it was and which specific model of magnet it was referring to...



Anyway, I love my truck and hate the thought of all those nasty little metal particles running around in the engine. After buying the FS-2500, $65 (ebay price) for a mega magnet seems like cheap insurance. So what if it's overkill? Isn't that what diesel performance is all about anyway? I mean who really needs 500-800 HP in their daily driver? :-laf

 

[jmorse]

Well, After taking a look at the FilterMag website (www.filtermag.com) last week and taking a look at the pics they had on there site I ordered one. I ordered the RA-365 (The Red Magnet). The web site said the "RA" was there most powerful magnet they sell. The RA-365 fits the CTD oil filter to a tee. It is made for a oil filter 3. 5-3. 8 inches in dia. The magnet is a little pricey at $69. 95, but that is still cheep insurance. BTW for the record, I use the Donaldson Endurance oil filter, Oil Guard By-Pass Filter, w/ Amsoil oil. My reason for ordering the magnet was simple enought. Magnets attract metal, metal that I would rather not have swimming around in my engine. Team the Filtermag up with a bypass filter and you have just about the best combo you can get for good engine health.



Ordered the filter on the website and received it in just a few days. The website is easy to use and provides shipping info automatically via email. My first impression of the filter magnet is it is very well made and straight forward to use. A word of caution, THAT MAGNET IS VERY POWERFUL. If you put your finger between the magnet and filter putting it on you my loose that finger. SNAP!!!, ... . The magnet is on. Good luck pulling it off. The best way to remove it is to slide the magnet down the filter.



Thats about it for now. I will be pulling the magnet off after 2000 miles to see the results. I guess if I did not have the bypass filter on the truck the results would be better that they are going to be. I'll get back with some pics of the filter cut open after the 2k is up.



Anyway, so far so good, updates to come soon.



-Troy

I have been running filtermag on both my '99 & '05 since early summer. When you cut open the filters, you will see a fine grey film on the can (heaven fobid you find any large particles). I read a 9 part filter study in one of my trade magazines and they think the next step in filtration will be magnetic filters. I think they said Cat is already using some. Anyway the photos sold me on the idea. This article also explained why a standard magnet would not work with the velocity the oil passes through the filter.

 

[steved]

This article also explained why a standard magnet would not work with the velocity the oil passes through the filter.

You need to qualify "standard magnet"...



My rare earth motor magnets are stronger than the filtermag I have... by a lot...



steved

 

[Glock Guru]

That brings up a good point. What is a "rare earth" magnet, why is it rare and not common? Is there a common earth magnet? :-laf

 

[steved]

That brings up a good point. What is a "rare earth" magnet, why is it rare and not common? Is there a common earth magnet? :-laf

Rare earth is an old term... the magnets are quite common... you can buy them off ebay all day long.



steved

 

[DWeiler]

I have had one on my filter(s) for 4 years now,everytime i do an oil change and cut open the filter i can see the grey paste-like film that the filter missed stuck to the side. I even had the "superplug" on the bottom of the pan,it seemed to always be clean when removed,don't know if it was doing anything. And YES---beware when you put the "FILTERMAG"back on the new filter,they "bite" fingers hard ---enought to draw blood :{ and i cannot pull mine directly off the old filter,i have to slide it too and wear work gloves just incase when installing again. :-laf :-laf :-laf --DW