FR651V Airfilter Modification #2

RayMcD

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Sep 14, 2021
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Gentlemen, I ditched the wood box for a 12x12x4 electrical box, a screen intake cover, some bracing and paint. Small hole on the back allows for access to the filter clamp. No grass to cut now but it worked well sweeping/mulching the leaves. air box #2.JPG

I find it very interesting the new FT model engines come with an upgraded filter, imagine that. Cheers, Ray
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
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The problem is the connection between the rubber elbow & the rubber filter
The elbow is not stiff enough and needs a more pronounced shoulder.
Then the thumbscrew itself tends to bunch up the rubber rather than compressing a sealing ring.
Having said that very few residential mower filters actually do make a really good seal between the filter & the housing
I do well over 100 filter changes a year and on a lot of them there is a layer of dust inside the carb throat .
The soft sealing lip on most panel type filters goes hard & fails to make a seal in way too short a time .
Comes down to the cost of testing
In most cases it is done in a lab with an engine on a bench in a room where they blow in dust of different particle sizes then pull the filter off & see what has made it through
However in use the mower is bouncing around and that does make a difference
As previously mentioned.
Prior to B & S taking over Victa , all locally assembled push mowers and a lot of the imported ones designed for Australia had snorkels on the carbs
None of them ever needed a filter replaced due to being clogged with dirt , saturated with petrol from a leaking carb, saturated with oil from a blown head gasket .
All of the quality mowers fit engines with snorkels of some type to draw air well above the dust zone
Residentials don't because being 1¢ cheaper than the competition is all important to ignorant customers who are being bamboozed by BS from the sales person.
 

RayMcD

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2021
Threads
43
Messages
254
The problem is the connection between the rubber elbow & the rubber filter
The elbow is not stiff enough and needs a more pronounced shoulder.
Then the thumbscrew itself tends to bunch up the rubber rather than compressing a sealing ring.
Having said that very few residential mower filters actually do make a really good seal between the filter & the housing
I do well over 100 filter changes a year and on a lot of them there is a layer of dust inside the carb throat .
The soft sealing lip on most panel type filters goes hard & fails to make a seal in way too short a time .
Comes down to the cost of testing
In most cases it is done in a lab with an engine on a bench in a room where they blow in dust of different particle sizes then pull the filter off & see what has made it through
However in use the mower is bouncing around and that does make a difference
As previously mentioned.
Prior to B & S taking over Victa , all locally assembled push mowers and a lot of the imported ones designed for Australia had snorkels on the carbs
None of them ever needed a filter replaced due to being clogged with dirt , saturated with petrol from a leaking carb, saturated with oil from a blown head gasket .
All of the quality mowers fit engines with snorkels of some type to draw air well above the dust zone
Residentials don't because being 1¢ cheaper than the competition is all important to ignorant customers who are being bamboozed by BS from the sales person.
I cut my yard in less than an hour, the filter on this Kiawasaki engine would be in worse shape after one cutting than half a season on my old Cub Cadet tractor. No way I was going to watch it destroy my engine in the factory configuration. The rubber elbow you speak of is an absolute joke even new, no ideal what it would look like after a few seasons. Mowers are like cars, way to many models with minor differences, none of which actually make the product better.
 
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