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Subject: TWL: Nordhavn around the world/Synthetic oil and by-pass filters
From: PaulKruse (paulkruse@XXX.XXX)
Date: Mon Jan 07 2002 - 16:50:41 EST
Dan makes some good points, but I take issue with a couple of them.
With nearly any major boating decision, you will simply not find a "Right"
solution. Every alternative has its good points and its bad points. Each
individual boat owner needs to figure out which alternative best meets his
own individual objectives. You and I may make entirely different decisions;
and yet neither one of us would be wrong. We have each done our best to
consider all the trade-off's applicable to our own situation, and then made
the decision that is the best balanced choice between them for our own
purposes.
I would never say that bypass oil filters should be installed on every
trawler engine. In many cases, they are not the best balanced choice
against the trade-off's. In others, they make very excellent good sense.
Without re-hashing the massive volume of good information already posted on
the subject, we need to simply consider that standard filtration is actually
pretty good. You really need to have a compelling reason to add
supplemental filtration. One reason often cited for installing bypass
filters is that they make the engine last longer. For most the folks on
this list, who will never wear out an engine with standard filtration, this
simply should not ever enter into the decision analysis to install the
filter or not to install them. In other words, if standard filters will
make your engine last "long enough," then you have no reason to pay good
money to extend the engine life. We have the same consideration in some of
our heavy equipment, in which the engine will outlast our need for the
equipment. In those cases, we don't install the bypass filters.
The second compelling reason for installing the filters is to eliminate
routine oil changes. As Dan points out, however; you should never do that
without routine oil analysis. If you cannot do that on a regular basis,
then you should still be changing your oil regularly. This is why engines
that come from the factory with bypass filters also come with instructions
in the manual to continue changing the oil routinely, though on a less
frequent basis. I manage Cummins and Detroit engines with bypass filters
from the factory. Both those manufactures recommend increasing the oil
change interval from 100 hours to 500 hours on these engines because of the
bypass filter.
Dan is correct that it would be very difficult to find an oil lab while
cruising. If you often cruise your boat out of your home waters, then
perhaps you might consider buying a hand-held oil analyzer. You can buy
them beginning at about 500 dollars and up to about 5000 dollars. Of
course, once you add this cost into your decision analysis, you might end up
not installing the bypass filters; but you should still consider the option
rationally.
Dan is not correct that the bypass filters do not remove the acid. They do
an excellent job of removing the water, and with the water most of the acid.
The small amount of acid products that might remain in the oil are harmless
without the water. Dan is also not entirely correct on the TBN problem. We
have found that the TBN remains at an acceptable level with bypass filters,
though I have talked with others who have found that their TBN numbers will
sometimes approach zero. These same people, however; are reporting engine
lives that exceed 50,000 hours with bypass filters. Apparently, the TBN
level is not so important, if you can keep you oil as clean as a bypass
filter will keep it.
Paul Kruse
paulkruse@XXX.XXX
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-trawler-world-list@XXX.XXX
[mailto:owner-trawler-world-list@XXX.XXX]On Behalf Of Georgs
Kolesnikovs
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 7:46 AM
To: Trawler World List
Subject: TWL: Nordhavn around the world/Synthetic oil and by-pass
filters
[snip]
Go http://www.trawlerworld.com/c_atw_leg_4_12_28.htm for more details, and
don't shoot me! I'm just the messenger.
--Georgs
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