In a world where most guys are now using centrifuging, I figured I'd post my setup here, as a less expensive alternative. Many people have used this setup in the past, and though I would still rule a centrifuge setup better for overall oil quality, this system works great as it is.
I constructed it myself. I have ~$100 into the whole setup. I've had a lot of help from friends here. The HWH was a freebie, but I added a new Stainless Steel heating element from Lowes for about $20. The only other thing I purchased was the 1" clear water pump from Northern Tool, which ran about $50 or so. The only other things I paid for were the lumber. The SS tubing and the Swagelock fittings came from a buddy. Same guy also designed and built the filter housing for me as well. I owe him lots of beers. Anyways, here's the setup. It uses a 200 micron pre filter barrel filter, and a 5 micron to 1 micron, trade 4 size bag filter in the housing. Enjoy...
Here's some specific shots of the filter housing... it is ALL stainless. It's 6" OD, top and bottom sections are round stock machined to fit. Notice the lid has a machined "lip" at the bottom, to lock the metal ring of the bag filter in place. The last housing actually blew a couple filters down in, this one will NOT. Swagelock fittings on bottom and top for IN/OUT feeds, locating pin in lid so it physically can not be put on wrong, cage built inside to support bag filter made from SS weld rod. (I've had this pump blow holes in these filters more than once). Also got the fancy SS "hook" to pull the bag filters out of the housing without getting my hands all greasy! Nice little addition there... Housing weighs in at 38lbs empty.
Oil gets dumped into the white 55 gal plastic drum through a 200 micron barrel strainer (basically to keep large chunks from hitting my pump). It sits there until I'm ready to filter (it actually settles a little in there, notice the line is about 5" up from the bottom to avoid sucking junk). When I'm ready, I turn pump on and pump the oil into the HWH. I turn the HWH on (it's only got one heater element on the bottom, so it's 120V) and let it warm up for a few hours. Once warm, I simply unplug the HWH and let it sit for 24-48 hours. After that I drain off the bottom gallon or so from the HWH as the junk and water has settled down there. After that, I turn the HWH on again for a little bit (maybe 30 min) to thin the oil out a little, then turn the pump on, and switch some valves around and cycle the oil through that filter housing and back into the HWH. I just let it run by itself for a few hours, so the oil makes quite a few passes through the filter. It's filtered down to 1 micron absolute (uses a 2 stage trade 4 bag filter, 5 micron, then 1 micron) and the multiple passes will polish the oil. Then I can drain it off the bottom of the filter housing with the pump running, so I can fill a cubie up with clean oil, then go dump into the truck.
Any questions just ask! I'm filtering down to 1 micron right now with this... I'll keep you updated and let you know how long the filters on the vegistroke last. I would like to update to a CF setup, but for now this works and it was minimal investment on my part.
I constructed it myself. I have ~$100 into the whole setup. I've had a lot of help from friends here. The HWH was a freebie, but I added a new Stainless Steel heating element from Lowes for about $20. The only other thing I purchased was the 1" clear water pump from Northern Tool, which ran about $50 or so. The only other things I paid for were the lumber. The SS tubing and the Swagelock fittings came from a buddy. Same guy also designed and built the filter housing for me as well. I owe him lots of beers. Anyways, here's the setup. It uses a 200 micron pre filter barrel filter, and a 5 micron to 1 micron, trade 4 size bag filter in the housing. Enjoy...
Here's some specific shots of the filter housing... it is ALL stainless. It's 6" OD, top and bottom sections are round stock machined to fit. Notice the lid has a machined "lip" at the bottom, to lock the metal ring of the bag filter in place. The last housing actually blew a couple filters down in, this one will NOT. Swagelock fittings on bottom and top for IN/OUT feeds, locating pin in lid so it physically can not be put on wrong, cage built inside to support bag filter made from SS weld rod. (I've had this pump blow holes in these filters more than once). Also got the fancy SS "hook" to pull the bag filters out of the housing without getting my hands all greasy! Nice little addition there... Housing weighs in at 38lbs empty.
Oil gets dumped into the white 55 gal plastic drum through a 200 micron barrel strainer (basically to keep large chunks from hitting my pump). It sits there until I'm ready to filter (it actually settles a little in there, notice the line is about 5" up from the bottom to avoid sucking junk). When I'm ready, I turn pump on and pump the oil into the HWH. I turn the HWH on (it's only got one heater element on the bottom, so it's 120V) and let it warm up for a few hours. Once warm, I simply unplug the HWH and let it sit for 24-48 hours. After that I drain off the bottom gallon or so from the HWH as the junk and water has settled down there. After that, I turn the HWH on again for a little bit (maybe 30 min) to thin the oil out a little, then turn the pump on, and switch some valves around and cycle the oil through that filter housing and back into the HWH. I just let it run by itself for a few hours, so the oil makes quite a few passes through the filter. It's filtered down to 1 micron absolute (uses a 2 stage trade 4 bag filter, 5 micron, then 1 micron) and the multiple passes will polish the oil. Then I can drain it off the bottom of the filter housing with the pump running, so I can fill a cubie up with clean oil, then go dump into the truck.
Any questions just ask! I'm filtering down to 1 micron right now with this... I'll keep you updated and let you know how long the filters on the vegistroke last. I would like to update to a CF setup, but for now this works and it was minimal investment on my part.
