"Benz" Diesel filters???

[Massimo]

Morning All,

Needed to change my fuel filter so went to AE on friday and bought a new fuel filter. They are now no longer selling the benz ones but have new clear plastic filters (not glass) and the mesh size is 0.01mm. Looks very small to me so i only bought one, but they are rotax agents and say this is the new apporived filter at a nice price of.......R63.00 each! Ouch!!

I did not change mine though, im not convinced. Any suggestions?

[John Young]

... but have new clear plastic filters (not glass) and the mesh size is 0.01mm. Looks very small to me ....

Hi,

Must be a misprint - 0.01mm. This means 100th of a millimetre.

Can you post a pic?

Regards
John ZU-CIB

[Massimo]

Yip sorry must be 0.1mm will post pic tomorrow

[Thatchman]

Not sure if I am missing something here but it seems like a no-brainer.

The BC 68 seems to be the most reliable despite the low cost. They seem to do the job well. If many have experienced problems with glass, why debate why they went wrong ..........just change it even if yours has worked.

My GT450 is on the water. I did not realise that they had glass. Will be changed before first flight. My life is worth more than R15.

[Mogas]

I now regret getting involved in this pointless debate.
It is a no-brainer. Why change what works for your set-up?
Last post on this topic, flame suit getting too hot!
Fly safe!

[DarkHelmet]

Well - I popped into Aviation engines in JHB to get the trusted Benz filter and no go, Benz apparently changed the mesh on theirs and AE stopped buying the remade Benz filter! I was shocked at the price of R60 plus myself!

Fortunately my aerie has just been AP'd, decoked, stripped down, inspected and serviced by Flo Momberg from Centurion Flight Centre and he had fitted the trusty Benz filter - probably one of very few left!

Has anyone else fitted the plastic transparent job supplied by AE yet? Any feedback?

[C205]

Have just fitted the AE filter to the MXII but since I haven't got to fly it yet, can't really comment. :D

[Bacchus]

John Young posted this pic of the BENZ filter. I went straight to ORBIT Motors at century city (cape town) and bought a handful of them. They cost R23-00 each at mercedes. Fitted them, done about 7 hours. No problems. I still want to cut one open to see how the mesh looks like.
I will fly with them now.

[John Young]

John Young posted this pic of the BENZ filter. I went straight to ORBIT Motors at Century City (Cape Town) and bought a handful of them.

Howdy Big Guy,

If you bought the filter shown below, then the mesh will be as per the genuine mesh shown below.

TIP - make sure that the spare filters are either wrapped in cling wrap or placed in sealed plastic bags. Would be rather "dof" to leave them lying in the bottom of a tool box.

Regards
John ZU-CIB

[Bacchus]

Howdee John.
Bought them exactely like that. Same part number and everything. Printed the pic and took it along. Looks precisely the same.
Thanks a lot!

[Cloud Warrior]

John

Just a quick one (or two) queries wrt the glass filters:

a) Do you perhaps know who the manufactuer is of the "good" ones?
b) How does P&M modify them to make them fire resistant?

I have been doing some research again and saw that very nearly every race track in the USA bans glass filters from the track due to the fire risk. This is a safety issue that I have never really given a thought to before.

Your views please?

Thanks

Sebastian

[Duck Rogers]

How does P&M modify them to make them fire resistant?

They don't.
The fire risk comes from the glass breaking in the unfortunate event of a crash......fuel spilling everywhere
The plastic ones don't (or shouldn't) break but that doesn't stop the fuel line from splitting, the fuel pump rupturing, carburettors breaking off etc. etc.......the list goes on....

[Cloud Warrior]

Thanks Duck

P&M markets them as "fire-resistant" - I wondered if they modified the filter somehow. The glass filter is apparently prone to cracking due to excessive vibration and heat (probably not a problem due to air flow around our engines) as well as the risk of fire after a crash.

Does anybody know the make of the "good" ones?

[grostek]

Hi All,

David Daniel has made some very valid points abouy REGULAR maintenance and fuel varnishing.

His filters were checked every 100 hours , but his aircraft probably flew that in 3 weeks.

Maybe if you dont fly very often your filter should be ckecked/changed every 3 months or so.

From reading this thread it seems as if ths VARNISHING may be the main culprit especialy as 2 strokes need oil in the fuel.

Even R63 four times a year is very cheap insurance and peace of mind.

My opinion you get for nothing and is probably worth exactly that.

You are the PIC so you decide.

Just my 0.2 zim cents worth.

Kind regards,

Gunter Rostek.

[Mogas]

Cloud Warrior
The good ones are made by Purolator, origion USofA. These have the locknut on the shaft holding the filter screen in place. The copies are made in Taiwan and have the finer mesh, no locknut, just a threaded shaft with a flange on it holding the screen in place. Too flimsy and prone to stripping the thread on the centre threaded shaft.
I could not find Purolators in SA so use the Taiwan jobs but modified by tapping out the ends, fitting and driilling where req a piece of SS M10 handybar with locknut, replacing that sh#t centre shaft.
Now have a filter the same as Purolator spec BUT with finer mesh. This on a 912, 2 filters in the system. No problems, 130 hours.
Also obiously don't expose to excessive vibration as with any filter.
PM me if you need further info.
Mogas
PS: I know I said I would not post about this again but could not resist defending a good system, especially when I saw Mr Duck re-enter the debate