filter cleaning

[bluerider125]

the other day i used the last scoop full of my mom's oxy-clean in my airfillter water.(can you imagine the look on her face? :eek: ) i thought if it is good on clothes, then it would be great on oil/dirt/grime. the filter was perfectly clean in less than 5 minutes. it normally takes me 15-20 minutes of constant swishing, wringing, and squeezing in the 2-gallon-bucket with warm water and dish soap.(and i wonder why she doesent like me maintaining my dirt bike, it's always "why do you have to wash your airfilter every ride, why not every MONTH or so?) anywhoo, will oxy-clean hurt my filter any? or does anybody even know? :think: it was a half-scoop in about two gallons of water and dish soap.

thanks in advance
-Rob

 

[bclapham]

Rob: (good job for cleaning after every ride) :D

did you like chemistry at school? :think: I think you may make an excellent scientist! :p Many of the most important discoveries :eek: were made by people wondering and then trying a new experiment....in my opinion, you may have come accross something quite cool! Everyone has heard of baking soda (sodium hydrogen carbonate) and bleach (sodium hypochlorate), i think Oxyclean is a form of sodium percarbonate which is a very mild type of bleaching (oxidizing) agent and may also posses some quite strong detergant properties. It may way be this is an excellent means for cleaning filters, however, it is important you check the glue that keeps the parts of the filter together. As long as the oxyclean did not deterioate the glue i think you maybe OK. keep on with your experiments but make sure you keep an eye on the condition of the filter over time.

i seem to spend most of my time recently cleaning filters! i use the maxima spray, which is very sticky and difficult to get off and i may well give your new method a try myself.

BC

 

[DirtRyder02]

just use some gas to clean you air filter!! works great!!

 

[rc331]

just use some gas to clean you air filter!! works great!!

Gasoline is probably the worst thing you can use to clean a filter as it ages the foam and breaks it down. :(

 

[DirtRyder02]

actually is sais to use gas to clean my filter in my owners manual!

 

[rc331]

Really? what year is your RM? I have read many articles on air filters and every one I read said never use gas to clean filters. Here is a link to one article. :confused:

http://www.motocrossactionmag.com/readridingtips.asp?id=84

 

[1999RM125]

im pretty sure it sais gas or diesel or kerosene in my manual, one of the 3

 

[rc331]

Kerosene is a good cleaner.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by 1999RM125
im pretty sure it sais gas or diesel or kerosene in my manual, one of the 3

Suzuki manuals direct the use of "non flammable cleaning solvent". I'm pretty confident that none of the above fit that description.

 

[linusb]

My 91 Husky manual says to use petrol and then oil it with motor oil. I don't do either.

I use mineral spirits to get the oil off and then wash it in a bucket with dish soap. Comes out squeaky clean very fast. The mineral spirits do most of the work.

 

[bluerider125]

thanks for the help, i will keep an eye on it and if it starts to go for the worst, i will defenitely report it.

 

[FDR492]

I'm in the same predicament. I ride a 2000 kx125 and mainly ride in sand pits near my house. Everyone tells me i ought to clean my filter after every ride because the dust is so bad. Today i went to the Kawi shop and bought some Spectro Foam Filter Cleaner but the directions say something about applying another product after i clean it.

What's with this? I really need to clean my filter but i dont want to clean it without following the directions given. Is there any other way i can clean my air filter?

 

[Hondaman_06]

hmm that is very odd i read the article about using gas to clean your air filters and well it seems that would be true about it breaking them down if you didn't put anything back on it. I always clean my air filters with gas they wring them out and immediatly put oil back on it. I always get excellent air filter life and never have dirt or dust in the air tube to the carb. I guess whatever works though and it has always worked for me.

 

[bluerider125]

i just wash it, wring it in a few paper towels, lay it in the sun for a while, (to dry it out) stuff it in a 1-gallon ziplock bag, dump some 10w-40 in and squish it around. then wring excess oil out and set in sun to dry again. when it is dry to the touch i put it on my bike.

i am going to try the mineral spirits thing, but use alcahol instead. we have a can of 'denatured alcahol' on the garage that we never use, but when some spray paint got on the bricks (long story about painting trailer :silly: ) it took it right off. that stuff might work REAL good! dunk in alcahol, dunk in water, splash some oil and i'm ready to go! no more 25-30 min. total cleaning from taking it out to putting it in. most of the time goes into letting it dry out in the sun. do i need to do this? i am just afraid the bike will suck oil and die :eek:

 

[Tennessee Thumper]

Originally posted by FDR492
Today i went to the Kawi shop and bought some Spectro Foam Filter Cleaner but the directions say something about applying another product after i clean it.

Its probably talking about applying the filter oil.

 

[bclapham]

hey blue, i tried pure isopropyl alcohol and it didnt work. i was suprised since most filter oils are supposed to use IPA as a carrier! a couple of suggestions....buy another filter, that way you can have one filter ready to go when you take the other one off ($20 well spent). also buy proper filter oil rather than 10-40, its designed for the job and will work a lot better (application and protection wise....and it wont drop off)

bc

 

[Mac]

Well, I'm surprised that no one mentioned this yet so here it goes.

No-Toil is by far the best filter management system I've ever used.
-Kit includes filter oil, cleaner and rim grease.
-Oil goes on easy and dries very tacky unlike motor oil.
-Filter washing means soaking the filters in the supplied cleaner for 5 minutes or just throw them in the wash machine.
-non toxic and biodegradeable means dumping it down the sink is no problem.
-non flammable means no chance of filter fire.

I'll never use motor oil and gasoline on my filters again.

I have 4 filters that I clean all at once then when I need one I just add the oil and install. When I run out I fill a 5 gallon bucket and soak them for a few minutes and they come out clean as new.

 

[bclapham]

Mac, i am considering going over to no toil. but i have 3 uni filters and i have heard the No Toil deteriorates the glue on unifilters, have you any info on this?

 

[Rockey5000]

The twin air filter maitenence kit works great. Very quick.

 

[dell30rb]

I have been using gas, and then soap and water on my cr filter for about 6 months. Its cheap and it WORKS. My filter has not deteriorated one bit.

 

[IrishEKU]

Whoo Hooo No-Toil!
I freaked my buddy out by washing my filter in the machine and then our riding gear right after. It is the way to go. I don't have to worry about disposing combustables after cleaning and the left over oil from soaking my filter doesnt hurt the ole' blugrass a bit! :) :) :)

 

[Mac]

Originally posted by bclapham
Mac, i am considering going over to no toil. but i have 3 uni filters and i have heard the No Toil deteriorates the glue on unifilters, have you any info on this?

I heard the same thing about UNI filters but I don't use them so I can't comment. I think No-Toil was giving out free twin-air filters with the purchase of their kit but I'm not sure if they are still doing this.

 

[clutchcover]

Thats what I use. Gas then soap and water. Then a good covering of foam filter oil. Then some gas for my hands to break it up. Soap and water alone doesn't seem to work to get that blue crap off my hands.

 

[mkuder]

Gas is definetely a No No, as it dries out the foam and the adhesive used to put it together.

1st kerosene
2nd-4th warm water with dish soap
5th water
6th let dry naturally
7th filter specific oil
8th Zip-Loc bag or install

each of these steps are followed with sqeezing out (not wringing) all excess amounts of liquid before proceeding to the next. I have done this for years with no problems. I use twin air filters and either Bel-Ray or Honda filter oil.