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This question is for Mackie but others are welcomed to reply of course.

What do you think of using compressed air to clean the main air cleaner element by blowing air from inside out? I have a tool sold by Gempler's for doing just this. However, manual says not to use pressurized air to clean paper filter as it could tear the element. My compressor is small and generally <= to 60 psi when blowing out the paper element. Your thoughts appreciated as usual.

Thanks,

-bobby

Most mower makers don't recommend it because of possible filter damage. I think the ones that say you can do it also specify not to use more than like 29 psi air to do it. which is about useless

I don't know of any manufacturer of air filters with paper type elements that recommends cleaning the filters with HP air. The Donaldson two stage air filter on my Hustler has an air flow indicator and when in or close to the red zone, then both filters are to be replaced. The Kawasaki engine manual says to NOT clean the air filter elements by any means to include shaking, replace them when the indicator shows in or close to the red zone with the engine at WOT.
Conversely, the Briggs & Stratton Professional Turf series engine on my Tiger Cub/repower, is recommended to be shaken or gently banged to clean the air filter. I do this regularly to my Tiger Cub and replace the air filter when the interior no longer is bright white. This machine has a collection system which creates lots of dust!!!! I buy air and oil filters by the case from a Briggs distributor as 95% of mowing with my Tiger cub is with the collection system operating.
My Hustler which is rear discharge probably will go for 200-250 hours before an air filter change is needed.
As for two stage air filtering systems that don't have an air flow indicator, I would consult the operators manual.
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::smile::biggrin::biggrin:

Bobby Boyd said:

This question is for Mackie but others are welcomed to reply of course.

What do you think of using compressed air to clean the main air cleaner element by blowing air from inside out? I have a tool sold by Gempler's for doing just this. However, manual says not to use pressurized air to clean paper filter as it could tear the element. My compressor is small and generally <= to 60 psi when blowing out the paper element. Your thoughts appreciated as usual.

Thanks,

-bobby

Click to expand...

I've used my air compressor to clean my air filters for as long as I can remember. I've never had any problems with tearing the things up and I use like 80 to 85 psi.

Ric said:

I've used my air compressor to clean my air filters for as long as I can remember. I've never had any problems with tearing the things up and I use like 80 to 85 psi.

Click to expand...

Same hear. The mechanic in my shop told me to do this years ago. At every service interval and if you can't see light lookin inside it replace it.

Parkmower said:

Same hear. The mechanic in my shop told me to do this years ago. At every service interval and if you can't see light lookin inside it replace it.

Click to expand...

same here i blow all mine out never had a prob yet :thumbsup:

Anyone may clean their air filters in any manner which they desire. As I have previously mentioned, I don't know of any paper filter element manufacturers that recommend using HP air of any pressure to clean air filters.
Most of my mowing is done with a commercial machine with the collection system operating. I wear a dust mask, goggles, a hat and hearing protection and I get very dirty, sometimes to the point where my bride won't let me into the house until I have removed most of my clothing. So far this fall I have collected over 200 bushels of leaves and clippings and most of the trees still have green leaves on them, and by the season end the total will be about 1,500 bushels.
I go by the engine manufacturers recommendations regarding air filters and this is what I tell folks who ask about this.
Two young fellows that run a lawn care business chuckle when we run into each other while mowing customers lawns. These young guys think that they and their machines are immune to any adverse conditions. I told them to visit a friend that has silicosis, a lung disease from unprotected exposure to dust and dirt, he is 66 years old an younger than me. He is in long term medical care and on a breathing machine. He operated a lawn care business for many years with no regard to what dust, dirt, fertilizer, etc can do to himself, his employees or his machines. I serviced his machines in the 70s when I was a power equipment mech working for a local dealer, some of his machines had oil bath washable air filters. I have periodically serviced his machines in recent years and helped him sell off his equipment when he became disabled.
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::biggrin::smile:

Excellent advice Mr Mackie. I'm an old phart as well, and i learned a long time ago to protect myself as much as possible. Breathing dust five days a week for several months a year can do damage to your lungs that the body can never repair. Once the lungs are damaged, you will live (or not) with this for the rest of your life. Also, after the damage is done, that cheap face mask/filter won't help. We protect our engines with good filters....so why not protect your body?

I'm new to this forum, but your advice seems to be highly regarded here. Please continue to share what your friend has/is going through.

Anyway,....nice forum. I'm a new owner of a Tiger Cat, 52" with the FX691 eng. it replaced a Kubota BX2200 which was also a nice mower....just hard to work on.

Have a great day everyone.

K

Yep, when you're young you will never die, etc. But Mackie is right. Woodworkers , for instance, have a lot of good respiratory safeguards, and if you are breathing dirt and dust some of it will damage. (take a look at Grizzly stuff). I wear a chemical cartridge mask when gas welding because I am very close to the work. And if you arc weld with coated rod please do not breathe those fumes. I would even wear a mask near a suction exhaust station. Next , sand blast...I do use big box sand , but only in very short sessions, outside (2-3 min). Read the warnings on the bag. The thing is you may feel you throw it off 'cause you feel fine, but I believe it's like the boxer and NFL guys who have delayed injuries. As for eardrums...hearing loss occurs slowly.

Always only tapped paper filters on open side down and use the "see daylight" test. Air blast can anchor (drive) particles, although it seems to clear them. My beef with the Intek and the Troybilt roto I have is the poor mating of the filter provided by the plastic filter housing. In both cases they rely on a hook at one end and screws at the other. I coat the rubber rims of the air cleaner with white grease so I can "read" contact surfaces. Very poor designs.

On my Scag with the collection system I added 2 Briggs and Stratton green colored air cleaner "pre cleaner" to the outside of the air box. I notice like Mad Mackie the air filter gets super dirty with a lot of raw dirt just resting on the inside of the air cleaners. By adding this pre cleaner to the outside of the air box, it has greatly cut back the raw dirt that gets inside. I use a nylon tie strap to secure the pre cleaner to the outside of the filter body.This seems to work well, and the engine doesn't know it's there.

I also added a flap that rides between the mower engine and the collection bags. This dirt flap help keep me cleaner and of course helps the machine stay cleaner too. It attaches to the collection system at the base of the collection system lid and drops down an inch or so to the ground. It's as wide as the collection system so the dirt flap won't catch anything so I won't bend the thing or break it. This should be standard equipment on these machines IMHO.

As far as blowing out the filters with air, I do this all the time too. I think the warnings are by the paper filter manufactures as they want to sell filters. I just use common sense and if the filters are dirty, replace them. If they can be cleaned up some to buy me another year, I take that option.

Before I replace that filter, I always take a damp paper towel and wipe out the air filter body to make sure there is no dirt in the filter before I replace the filter / filters.

What engine does your Tiger Cat have on it?
Just got back from a 2,400 mile week railfanning in OH and PA, still recovering, lower back is hurting from too many different beds!!

Picture when it was new. I add the green precleaners to the outsides of the air filter housings which it does a good job of repelling the dirt. In a month or so I will get the collection system back on the machine and I can snap a picture of the dirt flap and air cleaner homemade modifcations.

We have blown canister air filters out on our farm equipment every morning during routine servicing before going into the fields for years. The filters are just larger versions of the Donaldson filter. Tractors, Pickers, and combines suck in an enormous amount of dirt in one day. We changed the filters out monthly, but they would be blown from the inside out many times before being replaced. Also blow across the outside of the filter never directly into it from the outside. Put several thousand hours on those Diesel engines without any issues. I blow the filter out on my mower as well. Not suggesting I will get 8 to 9 thousand hours out of the engine, but I am hoping to get at least 1 thousand from it.

I rinse my Tecumseh small engine filters from the inside out every once in awhile.

I let them dry completely before using them again.

Never had a problem.