pantyhose coolant filter--give me details

read a bit about the pantyhose trick for filtering coolant in crusty motors, but nobody seems to go into much detail. who has done this? does it work well? the pantyhose stand up to high coolant temps (summer in socal)? where exactly/how/how much do you use, etcetera? maybe we can roll this over into a simple tech thread, doesn't seem like it has been done yet...

thanks boys (and girls)

 

Haven't tried this but you would need something to permit flow even after they start to crud up. Usually this is done with a tapered or conical filter, with the point facing towards the flow.

I have used Tenba filters as coolant filters in Jags. Bought them online from Oz. They are available in different sizes and are spliced into your upper hose(s).

 

I'm wearin pantyhose right now.

 

I've melted a few pairs off the ladies in my time, but then,---I'm awesome!
I know nothing of the filter trick though, sorry.

 

....and I'll bet they're not doing so well keeping the crud out of your coolant, are they?

 

Broadway Joe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf3oOQq9KFU

 

As soon as I saw the title, I knew where this going to go. Thank you for not disappointing me.

 

I believe you only use em when you're fillin up the radiator with old used coolant. Leaving one in the system is a recipe for problems. My take anyways...

 

I'm with theHIGHLANDER - I believe the nylon would fall apart at high temps and high flow and then you'd have serious trouble.
Besides, everyone knows that you use pantyhose for AIR filters, not coolant filters!

 

Use mesh window screen


Radiator/coolant trap links

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9255485@N04/sets/72157602336127680/

http://www.jag-lovers.org/xj-s/book/CoolantFilters.html

 

What tech. When you drain your coolant dump it through a pair of panty hose. Then when you put it back together you pour the filtered/strained coolent back in.

Why make a big deal out of everything. Most of us don't feel the need to explain everything in 3 part harmony when it was something we had to figure out on our own.

 

Model A guys use it, and I use it also. It's captured fist fulls of crap and the nylon does not melt.

I've got it on the upper neck. Buy the ones that are shin high, like socks. I actually poke the foot in the upper radiator hole, about 4 inches into the radiator opening, and then stretch the hole out over the neck. Then put the upper radiator hose on over that. You can trim off any hose that is sticking out so that no one knows. You also need to hose clamp the neck pretty tight 'cause the water can weep up through the stocking material.

Again. I've changed it about 5 times in a year, first few times times pulling out a glob of rust and muck about the size of a golf ball. And this engine was rebuilt. (banger motor) so it's like sand casting crap still in there, and also rust.

Oh, and it's hotter in Texas than it is in SoCal. Never melts.

 

yeah, keep that knowledge locked up tight, wouldn't want to help the younger generation any. f.y.i. i was talking about the feasibility of keeping one in the hose while the engine ran, not while draining coolant.

thanks everybody.

 

I like the screen idea but only for a while after cleaning out the water passages on a running motor before installation. The last flatty I put in a car was great running and near freshly rebuilt. You wouldn't believe how much rusty crap I dug out of that thing. Even after scraping and blowing it out I know there was more crud in there waiting to flow into the new radiator. Wish I'd done this when first getting it running and will definitely do it next time. But I wouldn't leave it in after the initial start-ups.

 

Who remembers the Perry Cooling System Filters?
It's a cartridge bypass system, similar to an oil bypass filter with a sump and drain on the bottom.
It was connected to the block drain and teed into the water pump heater hose.

I ran it for a couple of years on my old 235 block and it's amazing how much sediment was still in the system after a good vinegar flush.


Don't have a picture right now and can't find anything online.

But the auction site has some newer ones.

 

this is how ive heard them used for this purpose too..i wouldnt ever think of sticking something like that in my cooling system..recipe for disaster

stranger shit has been known to exist tho..never would have thought to use it that way

 

Been around a very long time and running a coolant filter must be a young guy thing. I've never ever heard of anyone running one, we always just made sure our system was moderatly clean and went for it. If your cooling system is full of crap try boiling and back flushing. This is vehicle maintenence 101 fellas not rocket science.

My point is try thinking for yourself just a little bit (not you personally you in general); just that there are way to many which way do you turn the screw questions out here any more.

 

I took off my fishnet pantyhose and tried it and it didn't work !

 

Thanks for the insight + link. I would imagine these would be used more in a marine coolant system that cools it self on salt water to get any crud out. Ive been trying to flush the crud out of a 194 for a while, maybe this will help.
-Spity

 

Not sure that I agree with the 'why bother, must be a young guy thing' opinions.

So first off no way I am a young guy. LOL

Why would anyone for a moment imagine that an open cooling system could not have gunk floating around in it? Why would anyone imagine that flushing a motor gets everything out (we always hear stories about crap that is in the nooks and crannies, even leftover casting sand, in our old engines) or that more is not being produced (ongoing rust, bits of sediment breaking off, whatever).

Yes, cooling systems are resistant to this sort of thing but they are not immune. So, when after a time your heater core is not working quite as well as it did years before, maybe this is why. When your radiator finally decides to erupt in steam in the middle of a hill climb or Fourth of July parade, maybe this is why -- chronic plugging of the tubes in the radiator, a little at a time, until things get to a tipping point.

If you lease a new car every three years then you don't have to give a crap about the potential for long-term buildup of crap in your radiator.

But since most of us are interested in preserving our old iron - including not wanting to replace that 60 year old core with an $800 honeycomb repop - well then all of a sudden maybe this might make more sense.

So I guess that an important point is that the filter either needs to be bypass or if in-line then frequently checked. At least until you understand the behavior of your particular combo.

BTW 18-wheelers do filter their coolant. Gee, must be a reason why, huh? Maybe some truckers can weigh in on this in case I am mistaken on this point.

 

Originally those were sold for cars, at least mine was.
The filter was originally soaked with some 'conditioner' that prevented corrosion.
This was before antifreeze.


These bypass filters are really good for trapping the very fine sediment floating in the coolant you can't see with the bare eye.
Brand new blocks have sediment as well.
It hides in the casting surface and floats around with the coolant, not helping much with heat transfer.

Probably doesn't make the engine run cooler, but it's a primitive filter device that is safe and works.
After the filter element doesn't get clogged any more, when rinsing it every couple of months or so, the filter can be removed.
Using distilled water with anti-corrosion or antifreeze and regular flushing should keep things clean for a long time after that.

 

makes a great fan belt in a emergency

 

Forget it my grandad always said never allow yourself to be influenced by fools.

 

I agree, fail to see the point of purposly putting an obstruction in the system anyhow. Contamination comes from deteriorating metal, everywherein the system. A sock in there is a bigger potential threat/obstruction to the system than ten years of no drain and flush.

For me, drain and flush every couple of years is the remedy.

 

LOL that would be one motivated rag to get thru your upper tank, down thru the tubes in your radiator, and then up into your water pump. Unless your motor was sucking coolant out of the top tank, that failure mode is not gonna happen (would be interesting to see it get sucked the wrong way past the thermostat, too).

So what happens if the 'rag' as you call it gets into your upper tank? Probably not a lot, and it is easily fished out, and there is nothing up there to rip it apart. So, in terms of failure modes, not too much risk.

If you want to debate whether there is anything floating around in ANYONE'S cooling system that could be filtered out because it should not be in there in the first place - well then, it's pretty well established that there is crud in there if only as indicated by the many threads about flushing radiators and blocks.

Now, in terms of whether you feel the need to do this, no problem. Personal choice, and if it makes sense to you you can do it, we all know that most cars run a long time without this. Personally I don't bother but as I said I did try this once on a Jag - Jags as you know have chronic problems with overheating right out of the factory - reason is that Jag recommended adding Barr's Leaks to every car - right new out of the dealer - and as a result their odd one-and-a-half-flow radiators would tend to be plugged, and bits and pieces tended to break off over the life of the car. So on these the filters actually made a lot of sense.

Throwing terms around like 'ignorant' can itself be ignorant. In reality there is a lot to be learned in this world about a lot of things, and many folks enjoy obtaining insights into new things.

 

I am not sure that a full flow coolant filter is a really very good idea.
If the filter is fine enough to catch most of the crap, it will probably block solid with mud fairly quickly, and create a worse cooling problem than a bit of grunge circulating around in the coolant.

A bypass type of filter is going to be much safer, and if it does completely block, then it does not matter. I do not know if the filter element in a standard screw on oil filter will work o/k, or quickly fall to bits in hot water. But it is something I have been thinking about trying for quite a while.

An oil filter is a very fine filter, but it also has a very large filter surface area. Just change it every time you change the real oil filter.

I may try boiling up a new oil filter element in a saucepan full of water for an hour, and see how the filter element stands up. If that works o/k, I may plumb an oil filter can directly across the water pump (highest differential pressure) maybe with some 3/8 hose, and see how that goes.

 

Some of the full-flow filters that are out there are designed to resist plugging. Some are transparent so you can see inside. None of them are for people who never check under the hood. You gotta see the rate at which your particular motor circulates debris, and act accordingly. Sometimes these things grab a lot right after motor work, and then not much afterwards. Other motors circulate pieces of crud more regularly.

If you are serious about installing a partial flow filter, then check out what the 18 wheelers are using.

When you think about it, it probably makes a lot of sense to run a partial flow filter on the supply side of the heater core. You know when it is plugged because you dont get heat, and your heater core will last forever (and they generally have smaller passages than your radiator).

Expense, weight, space etc plus the fact that in general these filters are not perceived to be needed = the reason why you don't see them on passenger cars.

 

Holy shit fellas, let it go already. 'beaner's right. In a simple passenger car cooling system a filter is a waste of time, effort and thought. Now I see 18 wheeler comparisons. Why? You plan on drivin a million miles? And of course we all know that over-the-road tractors are the SAME as our hot rods, right? Explain to me how I logged over 60K miles on a daily with the same coolant without fail if it REALLY shoulda been filtered. Oh never mind, it was DEXCOOL. Made to last that long. Even my snowmobile (liquid cooled 180HP) doesn't need a filter.

You want the real story, well here it is. Someone probably a lifetime ago did it to catch the last of a particularly bad system temporarily and then tossed it. Now the urban legend has come around to bring us all to the enlightened position of engineering and mechanical genius that our coolant should be filtered ALL OF THE TIME. Wrong. Packard, Duesenberg, Roll Royce, Mercedes, Ferrari, Lamborghini...not one of them has a part# for a coolant filter. Why should a farm-tech Model A motor need it? It doesn't.

I hope that's enough shared knowledge for those who long for it.

 

nobody held a gun to any of your heads and made you read, let alone post a reply to this thread. if the idea is crap say so, but don't get rolling down self-satisfaction lane. maybe some of you should take your wealth of experience and go find something to occupy your time besides pissing on "greenhorns"

for those that weighed in without a bunch of bullshit, thank you, and i'll be running a stainless screen for short periods of time with regular cleanings until the large chunks are out.

 

18 wheelers usually use a "need release" type of coolant filter- it releases SCA (supplemental coolant additives) as the coolant starts to "break down"... but they recommend flush/fill at 250K miles or so- hence the need release part.

How many people actually do check their coolant once a year (with a refractometer, not the "ball thingy" at the auto parts store)? I bet not many.

I wish magazines like Popular Science and Popular Mechanix still had the "how to" sections like in Tardels catalog- thats some damn fine readin, there.

JK