Safety Officer Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 FYI, You should not let your mechanic torpedo your engine's longevity with using wrong oil filters and even some other after market parts. I will agree some after market parts are okay, buttttt you need to know which ones. Your the boss tell him to do it right. This filter's by pass pressure is 12-15 psi verses Rotax 18-22 psi, it has no internal check valve and a different material anti drain back membrane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 But it has a means to safety wire!! Doesn't that count for something?? Yes, I'm being a smart a**. By the way, what is it wired to? The push rod tube? I bet the oil filter wasn't the only thing wrong on this engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug G. Posted September 28, 2012 Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 Looks like it is wired to a hole drilled in one of the fins. I have never had an oil filter come loose on anything. If you crank it the 270° it is not going anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted September 28, 2012 Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 It looks like the safety wire has been cut. I would bet from the mark on the filter it was safetied to the lock pin screw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safety Officer Posted September 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 The safety wire was originally attached to a screw. I had cut it so I could rotate the filter to get the name in the picture. The filter does have tabs for safety wire, but if you put an oil filter on right and use the correct one it won't come off. It it did all our car, planes and heavy machinery would be loosing them all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Hereford Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Safety Officer, Obviously, no one can argue that if a spin-on filter is properly installed, it will not loosen. However, in the case of spin-on oil filter safety wire features, I would offer this opinion: The safety wire is not there to prevent the filter from losing proper torque and loosening, but to prevent an improperly installed filter (not torqued adequately) from coming off completely. It also allows for a visual inspection that nothing has changed with regard to the filter installation. Example: Spin-on filter without safety wire feature is installed by hand, but not torqued. No safety wire is installed (because there is not option for doing so). Aircraft is approved for return to service. During cross-country flight, there is sufficient operation (vibration) to cause the filter to back out, and leave the engine. Oil system pumps all oil out of the engine in approx. two minutes, and results in major damage to the machine, and possible off airport landing. Same situation, but with safety wired filter. Oil fitler loosens, and oil leak results. Volume is insufficient to cause in flight unsafe condition. Pilot lands at destination, and notices oil on the cowl/belly. Further investigation finds loose pressure filter retained by lock wire. Morale of the story: Employ safety features on all critical systems of an aircraft. Doug Hereford PS, I don't like the idea of the worm clamp/safety-wire system on Rotax filters. They were not designed for this alteration, and as was already stated, it is not approved by FD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug G. Posted September 30, 2012 Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 The only thing approved by Rotax is their non-wireable filter so the discussion is somewhat irrelevant. I think rotax has a lot of experience with vibration in a large variety of situations. Is there any evidence of what you are suggesting ever happening other than by gross negligence? Another Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted September 30, 2012 Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 Rotax has millions of hours of experience. The filters don't come off if you use the right one and install it properly. This pretty much bares out with their investigations. You should not be able to unscrew a properly applied Rotax filter by hand. If you can it isn't on correctly. Does that mean it will come off for sure, no, but it stands a better chance of loosening. I always have to use a filter wrench to get properly installed Rotax oil filters off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Hereford Posted September 30, 2012 Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 ddgrant, The example I gave would likely be considered gross negligence. As I said, I don't believe that a properly installed filter will ever come loose (safety wire or not). I have not done any research on the Tempest filter. It may be an inferior product. It does seem to be marketed for the 912 series though. If so, it would be approved for the certificated version of this engine, and therefore need some sort of FAA approval(PMA/TSO)or be part of the Type certificate. If this is the case (as I believe it to be), it does give me some reassurance that it is ok. For the reasons I gave earlier, I like the idea of safety provisions for things that are critical to flight. The FAA does too, as they require safety provisions for these types of things on standard airworthiness aircraft. They know a thing or two about vibration as well. Anyway, I was only trying to give another point of view with regard to safety wire on oil filters. It think it is hard to legitimately argue against it. Also, even if it is not approved by Rotax, ELSA can use the Tempest product if they so choose, so it is relevent to Light Sport, FD, and aviation in general. As for the example of the improperly installed filter that I gave above, I have seen this on three occasions. Thankfully, none were aircraft that I, or my employees had worked on prior. In each case, the safety wire was the difference between an oil leak, and engine oil starvation. I believe that each of these situations was a result of gross negligence by whom ever had installed the filter(s). Doug Hereford P.S. While I have used their parts in the past, I am not a salesman for Tempest, and don't recommend or condemn their products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted September 30, 2012 Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 Hi Doug H., I do know that the FAA says that if an aircraft MFG assigns a part number to a part for a certified engine that part is the only one that cane be used. So if the aircraft Mfg says use a Rotax filter and gave it a part number a Tempest can't be used. The key here is the part number assignment. I just had this part conversation with them a few months back. Technically the same applies for the LSA market too. If the aircraft Mfg assigns a part number than technically that is the only part that is supposed to be used and it is supposed to be purchased from them. The reason the FAA gave was that if an aircraft Mgh assigns a part numbers, they may have done extra testing for their particular application where buying it from another vendor does not guarantee the same testing specs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Hereford Posted September 30, 2012 Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 I agree Roger. Nothing in my previous posts state otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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