Forefront industries oil air separator small
- Thread starter Malicious
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Dave-D40
Member
BP90
Member
Ok so how much would yas expect to be a normal amount of oil for one of these catch cans have in it after about 2000-2500kms of mostly highway driving?? For a zd30 d22 that is.
Not much, maybe 30m-50 ml.
I checked the contents of my oil separator this morning - removed the lid, checked inside removed the filter and inspected.
Bear in mind that I installed mine differently to others here - mine is installed as per design intention (inlet on the side, outlet on the top).
There was a light filming of oil on the outside of the filter, primarily adjacent to where the inlet is. Some oil (a few ml's at most) at collected down the bottom of the filter. Not enough to get through the filter, and collect in the reservoir at the bottom yet.
Gotta say - am impressed with the performance of it thus far.
Bear in mind that I installed mine differently to others here - mine is installed as per design intention (inlet on the side, outlet on the top).
There was a light filming of oil on the outside of the filter, primarily adjacent to where the inlet is. Some oil (a few ml's at most) at collected down the bottom of the filter. Not enough to get through the filter, and collect in the reservoir at the bottom yet.
Gotta say - am impressed with the performance of it thus far.
Recieved mine and looked at its design i would have thought the inlet would be at the top. Would think the filter was designed to work with the intake taking air via the inside of the filter then pushed through the filter itsself from the center out the outlet pipe. similar to the air intake filter system of your engine. i will be hooking mine up this way and see how i go, i have a hose plugged from the bottom running from the drain for easy drainage will be interested in seeing what comes out.
Just trying to find a way to attach the 16mm hse to the 19mm hose on the seperator, i have some copper reducers from bunnings that im going to try, they are 20mm into 15mm (fingers crossed) Anyone else have this issue and what have you done to navigate it?? i did go to Enzed but no luck..
Hope that all makes sense.
Just trying to find a way to attach the 16mm hse to the 19mm hose on the seperator, i have some copper reducers from bunnings that im going to try, they are 20mm into 15mm (fingers crossed) Anyone else have this issue and what have you done to navigate it?? i did go to Enzed but no luck..
Hope that all makes sense.
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Inspect the outlet - it has a flow direction indicator on it. There are several reasons the inlet is on the side and the outlet on top;
-oil is heavier than air - it will fall down from the inlet, and not up to the outlet. If hooked up in reverse, oil can enter the top and fall down past the suction of the side opening - this has the very real possibility of reducing the effectiveness of the system.
-the inlet is aligned to provide a degree of cyclonic effect, "flinging" oil out against the walls of the separator (improving the oil separation effect)
-the external face of the filter has a greater surface area than the internal face (if only small difference)
I have done the same as you - attached a plugged hose to the drain. No indication of anything in the hose yet.
There are no "off the shelf" reducers in the correct size readily available. I used 3/4 and 5/8 fittings, with a coupler between them. Overkill, but works. Copper reducers should work perfectly well though.
-oil is heavier than air - it will fall down from the inlet, and not up to the outlet. If hooked up in reverse, oil can enter the top and fall down past the suction of the side opening - this has the very real possibility of reducing the effectiveness of the system.
-the inlet is aligned to provide a degree of cyclonic effect, "flinging" oil out against the walls of the separator (improving the oil separation effect)
-the external face of the filter has a greater surface area than the internal face (if only small difference)
I have done the same as you - attached a plugged hose to the drain. No indication of anything in the hose yet.
There are no "off the shelf" reducers in the correct size readily available. I used 3/4 and 5/8 fittings, with a coupler between them. Overkill, but works. Copper reducers should work perfectly well though.
Malicious
Member
If you use the inlet on the side it will trap the oil between the filter and housing of the filter, no oil will drain until you remove the filter,
As for cyclonic effect um well how much flow and pressure is in the pcv system ? Not enough to create a swirl.
I looked at a more expensive brand of filter and decided the inlet should be at the top and outlet on the side .
Results so far after 3500k is no oil on the outside of the filter nice covering on the inside and about 4 drops from the drain.
Either way stopping the crap getting re ingested by the engine is better than no filter.
Well just for fun went and washed the filter with prepsol holy crap some stuff came out , outside of filter was clean , very happy with the results
As for cyclonic effect um well how much flow and pressure is in the pcv system ? Not enough to create a swirl.
I looked at a more expensive brand of filter and decided the inlet should be at the top and outlet on the side .
Results so far after 3500k is no oil on the outside of the filter nice covering on the inside and about 4 drops from the drain.
Either way stopping the crap getting re ingested by the engine is better than no filter.
Well just for fun went and washed the filter with prepsol holy crap some stuff came out , outside of filter was clean , very happy with the results
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I went down to a local house specialist and choose the closest size to fit the catch can and then used quality hose clamps around the smaller fittings and clamped it down until it was snug, figuring there wasn't enough pressure to cause any issues. The hose is oil resistant stuff and was happily reduced down with the clamps....
As for the drain I found a bolt that was slightly bigger then the bottom cut it to size with a grinder and while it was hot I threaded the bolt into the plastic slowly and made a great seal... Hopefully it works
Thats what i was thinking of doing with my drain plug.
Malicious
Member
My drain plug is just a rubber chair tip from bunnings pack of 4 for $2 , haven't lost one yet , they just push on .
Yep, some oil WILL collect between the filter and the housing. And it is well away from the outlet.
Install it how you want mate, none of my business. I'm of the opinion the designers know more about their product than I do, so will use it as they designed it to be used. Whatever you do is up to you.
Edit: I don't mean my reply to come across as harsh or narky mate, what I'm trying to say is that I'm not trying to tell you what to do, or how to suck eggs.
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BP90
Member
Ok well I did an oil change last weekend after getting back from holidays as it was due to be done. There was about 120-130ml in the catch can.. which im guessing is due to there being more then 6.7litres of oil drained out of the sump (approx 7L) which the last oil change was part of a logbook service and carried out by a mechanic. No oil got through the filter was totally dry on the filter side (setup with "inlet" going to filter).
So ive made sure there is only 6.7litres in it now and going to keep an eye on the catch can every couple of weeks. Would the excess oil in the engine cause an excess in the catch can?
Bart
Over filling it would cause more to end up in the catch can. Cars with high kms would get more to, once the rings start wearing.
BP90
Member
Ah ok cheers rum pig. Its got 136000km on the clock. But yea going to keep an eye on it now. Might even try find some clear tube for the drain with a tap on the end so to make it easier to drain and so I dont have to pull it apart to keep an eye on how much oil is in there.
Bart
FYI my reply from Forefront. Should put the arguement to rest.
Hi steve
I have been asked this a lot lately
I personally think it can be done both ways.....no matter what happens it has to go through 20 layers of stainless tightly weaved mesh so no matter what that will catch the oil then drip to the bottom of the can
Both ways have positive points to them..
bottom inlet – as you say ...it means oily air enters the pipe has to go through mesh ( which means oil gets stuck) then would have to go UP to get out of the can IF it made it through the mesh
it would gather in the mesh and seep to the bottom of the mesh and then eventually find its way to the drain ( same principal as provent 200)
top inlet – means the oil enters on the drain side of the filter....so some may argue that the filter would drain more easily since the oil is entering on the same side it has to get out of
both have positives but the unit was labelled as the arrow suggest on it having the INLET at the bottom
Hi steve
I have been asked this a lot lately
I personally think it can be done both ways.....no matter what happens it has to go through 20 layers of stainless tightly weaved mesh so no matter what that will catch the oil then drip to the bottom of the can
Both ways have positive points to them..
bottom inlet – as you say ...it means oily air enters the pipe has to go through mesh ( which means oil gets stuck) then would have to go UP to get out of the can IF it made it through the mesh
it would gather in the mesh and seep to the bottom of the mesh and then eventually find its way to the drain ( same principal as provent 200)
top inlet – means the oil enters on the drain side of the filter....so some may argue that the filter would drain more easily since the oil is entering on the same side it has to get out of
both have positives but the unit was labelled as the arrow suggest on it having the INLET at the bottom
Malicious
Member
Just a quick update 6000k with this installed and it's worth the coin, outside of filter clean inside oily 
