Re: Tempest oil filter
I agree with that 100%. Aircraft engines may potentially be subjected to more movement & vibration than an auto engine, but when was the last time you could remove a properly installed oil filter from a car or an airplane without a wrench?Originally Posted by Av8r3400
A story -
Back in the 90's I designed & built an engine mounted spin-on filter adapter for my Lycoming to replace its filter screen housing, that oriented the filter vertically for clearance and clean filter changes. At that time there was nothing available like it on the market. Started out using Porsche filters because they were cheaper & had greater filter surface area than the Champion aircraft filters at the time. Plus, they had a built-in bypass check valve, which those early aircraft filters did not - it had to be built into the filter adapter. They were designed for very similar flow rates to what the Lycoming requires - many auto filters were not. In choosing a filter, I built a pressure test rig from an old grease gun & tested many brands of oil filters to destruction. Quality of construction, shell wall thickness, filter surface area, etc. varied widely. I clamp the filter to the housing structure with a hose clamp, but it was designed that way to make other people who saw it feel good. I now use K&N filters, and due to that previous experience I developed a real prejudice towards certain brands, and a respect for oil filter design. I would not deviate from Rotax's recommendations carelessly.
Like others have said or implied, I think of oil filters & oil as relatively inexpensive "parts" compared to the precious engine, and I want the best. Rotax genuine filters may indeed be the best, or maybe not. Their previous design was obviously not "the best". I'd like to learn as much as I can about the Tempest filters, but I'll happily use Rotax for now.
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