DIY Magnetic Oil Filtering

[jb92563]

I'm going to silicone and zip tie the magnets to the mid section of the filter with one magnet per flute, so about 14.
I will see how that works and if not so secure I will make some ABS plastic magnet holders with my 3D printer to help hold them in place.

Since the magnets are well clear of the end, using a filter socket is no problem.

The 14 High temp magnets I chose are 2" x 1/2" x 1/8" so they are low profile and don't interfere with anything. ~$45 shipped.

They are super strong and while unpacking them I got 2 stuck to each other and it takes quite a bit of force to pry them apart. They are packed with 1/8" plastic strips between them to help keep them from sticking to each other.

(Regular Neodyium magnets are much cheaper but permanently loose their magnetism at about 175F, the High temp variety are much more expensive but good to about 320F which hopefully they will not reach being outside in the airflow.)

I'm waiting on my oil and filter element to be delivered any day now so I can commence the oil change and attach the magnets. Perhaps this weekend.

I'll take pictures and document what I find on the oil plug magnet and filter paper as a base line and then we will see at the next oil change how things worked out.


Does anyone know if I can take off the oil filter with the engine full of oil without the whole engines oil draining out?
I'd like to check the filter/magnets before the next oil change if I can do it without loosing too much oil in the process.

[Davev]

Originally Posted by jb92563

Does anyone know if I can take off the oil filter with the engine full of oil without the whole engines oil draining out?

Yes- that is correct.

[steved0x]

You will lose around 1/2 - 3/4 a quart of oil when you drop the filter. I have used that method to lower the oil when I accidentally overfilled it one time.

[jc986]

Originally Posted by jb92563

I'm going to silicone and zip tie the magnets to the mid section of the filter with one magnet per flute, so about 14.
I will see how that works and if not so secure I will make some ABS plastic magnet holders with my 3D printer to help hold them in place.

Since the magnets are well clear of the end, using a filter socket is no problem.

The 14 High temp magnets I chose are 2" x 1/2" x 1/8" so they are low profile and don't interfere with anything. ~$45 shipped.

They are super strong and while unpacking them I got 2 stuck to each other and it takes quite a bit of force to pry them apart. They are packed with 1/8" plastic strips between them to help keep them from sticking to each other.

(Regular Neodyium magnets are much cheaper but permanently loose their magnetism at about 175F, the High temp variety are much more expensive but good to about 320F which hopefully they will not reach being outside in the airflow.)

I'm waiting on my oil and filter element to be delivered any day now so I can commence the oil change and attach the magnets. Perhaps this weekend.

I'll take pictures and document what I find on the oil plug magnet and filter paper as a base line and then we will see at the next oil change how things worked out.


Does anyone know if I can take off the oil filter with the engine full of oil without the whole engines oil draining out?
I'd like to check the filter/magnets before the next oil change if I can do it without loosing too much oil in the process.

You have a 3D printer?? Make me something! hahaha
seriously, I need some parts for my convertible top... actually I'm making it myself, I do molding and casting for fun and am in the process of making a mold of one of the push rod ends because the other side broke, and they're $75 brand new (they don't sell the little plastic end piece separately) and I can't see paying 75 bucks for a piece of plastic the size of my finger.

[jb92563]

Originally Posted by jc986

You have a 3D printer?? Make me something! hahaha
seriously, I need some parts for my convertible top... actually I'm making it myself, I do molding and casting for fun and am in the process of making a mold of one of the push rod ends because the other side broke, and they're $75 brand new (they don't sell the little plastic end piece separately) and I can't see paying 75 bucks for a piece of plastic the size of my finger.

If you make the digital model of the piece you need and send me the .stl format file, I can print it for you in black ABS or natural PLA plastic.
You might want to check here first to see if the model for that piece is already available. http://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:1?q=porsche&sa=

There are a multitude of 3D design softwares out there that are open source.

I have been using "FreeCAD" and Sketchup 8 (Because it has the free STL converter)

Building the model is the most time consuming part.

There are also service companies out there that will make 3D prints of your models in more exotic materials like Stainless Steel, Nylon, Silver, Clay etc.

[jb92563]

Update.

Did my oil change and installed the mag filter. The good news is that the magnetic oil drain plug did not catch anything at all since the last oil change and the filter paper had nothing metallic in it either.

It may be a few oil changes at this rate before I pick up anything...but that's good so...

I decided on 7 magnets instead of 14, one on every other flat because trying to put these on each flat was like herding cats, they are very strong and just kept on sticking to its neighbor. That however cuts the price in half so perhaps a $20 mod now.

I used wire to keep them in place while setting them up


This shows the oil socket, no interference at all.


All the magnets in place


The wire was not secure enough on its own and the zip tie might loosen with the heat so I opted for a stainless steel pipe clamp. The protruding screw doe not interfere with install of the oil filter as there is adequate clearance.


Here it is in place on the engine.

Looks a little oily down below but thats only the results of my oil change as a bit of oil got splashed around when I fumbled the oil filter while removing it. Its normally bone dry.

[Davev]

Did you consider using hi temp epoxy to secure the magnets? Or possibly silicone?