Correct Air Filter Use

Hello fellow RC enthusiasts. A Very simple tech tip on air filters .

Off road filters

Normally these are 2 stage ie Inner and outer foam. The reason they have 2 stages is to offer a 2 stage protection to your engine and to allow you to simply remove and replace the outer foam for quick maintenance between heats.

The age old question is " Should we oil both stages ? " . And the answer is YES ! for off road applications you MUST oil both stages. What’s the point of having 2 stages if you only oil the inner one ? what you will find on engines that have only the inner oiled is pre mature wear, piston scoring, dirt or soot build up on internals, poor performance , flame outs, bad or irratic behaviour , poor fuel economy, short plug life … and the list goes on and on, these symptoms will accumulate over time….. “ But it gets dirty “ Um … its supposed to … err it’s a dirt filter .. umm, it filters dirt … you get it ? Stop being a show pony worrying about the dirt on the outside of your filter and clean it . How are you going to tell if its time to change it if you cant visibly see that its dirty ?

the dirt is an indicator that 1 its doing its job, 2 its time to change it to a clean one ..

When you run off road you subject the engine to fine dust , silica , rocks , grass and generally things they don’t need to ingest. The outer foam if oiled correctly , will protect the engine from these lager bits getting through. Also the oil you use is very important. Generally the thick blue gluggy motorbike stuff is going to choke your engine if you use too much. Give both stages a light liberal coating and wring out the excess. We make an oil called 3 in 1 and it’s a good medium for this purpose, or use the red K&N Spray bottle , its awesome too. It traps dust and dirt and still lets the air through without clogging the filter.

And before you tell me .. “ But my friend says you don’t need to oil both stages “ Let me ensure you that your friend is WRONG ! When you take the time to filter gram oil out of a pipe and see what actually gets through a dual oiled filter under a 100 micron digital scope, you will never run a dry outer again !

Fastening

You should fasten the filter to the carb with a good quality cable tie and have it on there TIGHT ! You should be able to pick the car up from the filter. Put a dab of oil inside the neck where it joins onto the carb to make a nice seal. Clean the inner foam filter every hour of use or when it becomes visibly dirty.
Outer foam for competition use should be replaced every 10 mins of run time.
Clean it with a decent degreaser and warm or cold water , wring out and allow to dry before re oiling.

On Road

Its just as important to oil the on road filters but you only have 1 stage and generally less dirt but you still have dust on the track that can get sucked in. make sure you check the filter foam where it attaches to the carb neck. Sometimes they detach.

Boat and plane guys don’t use filters. This is because there is generally less dirt and dust in their environment.

Now regularly clean and maintain your filter. Check for any tears , cracks in the elbow or foam.

Happy Racing MM

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