here's a type of oil filter I've heard of but never seen (I still don't understand why an engine powered centrifuge hasn't been invented, like a small DeLaval lube oil purifier)
Centrifugal oil filtering was common until the fifties, at least in small (motorcycle) engines. Engines used a "slinger ring" attached to the crankshaft that would capture dirt or debris and had to be disassembled and cleaned during engine overhaul. Useful enough for slow, loosely built engines their mediocre results were surpassed by medium filtering to clean the oil before it got to the crankshaft and allowed tighter, faster, longer lasting engines. A faster centrifugal system to spin the oil at higher speeds would likely clean the oil well but would suck up a fair amount of power and add quite a bit of heat to the oil.
I'll be... I've never learned or known much about motorcycles, and that's news to me! And with the right gearing to set the correct speed, a centrifugal system would logically be optimized, and a oil cooler / radiator, would be a good idea for most engines I think, after all, it's stuck in a engine block, and that's pretty damn hot. Maybe the oil doesn't get a cooler, by design, and is meant to operate int he 150-200 degree range, but I've seen a lot of race cars with oil coolers for the power steering, the rear diff, and the engine oil... plus cooling fins on the trans pan
Many of the older Honda motorcycles had chain driven centrifugal filters running at a bit above crank speed.. I remember cleaning out the one on my 1962 Honda 305.. I cleaned it about every third oil change and it seemed to do a good job.
Centrifugal oil filtering was common until the fifties, at least in small (motorcycle) engines. Engines used a "slinger ring" attached to the crankshaft that would capture dirt or debris and had to be disassembled and cleaned during engine overhaul. Useful enough for slow, loosely built engines their mediocre results were surpassed by medium filtering to clean the oil before it got to the crankshaft and allowed tighter, faster, longer lasting engines. A faster centrifugal system to spin the oil at higher speeds would likely clean the oil well but would suck up a fair amount of power and add quite a bit of heat to the oil.
ReplyDeleteI'll be... I've never learned or known much about motorcycles, and that's news to me! And with the right gearing to set the correct speed, a centrifugal system would logically be optimized, and a oil cooler / radiator, would be a good idea for most engines I think, after all, it's stuck in a engine block, and that's pretty damn hot. Maybe the oil doesn't get a cooler, by design, and is meant to operate int he 150-200 degree range, but I've seen a lot of race cars with oil coolers for the power steering, the rear diff, and the engine oil... plus cooling fins on the trans pan
DeleteMany of the older Honda motorcycles had chain driven centrifugal filters running at a bit above crank speed.. I remember cleaning out the one on my 1962 Honda 305.. I cleaned it about every third oil change and it seemed to do a good job.
ReplyDelete