Air Filter .... what's a "quick" clean

[Dale]

Guys, pardon if this has been discussed a zillion times in the past week, but my search does not work for some reason.

I had an old scrren type air filter on my 028, and have since went to the nap material type. Is there a quick way to clean this filter on a daily basis without ruining the "nap". I run about every day, and don't want to take the time to wash with water/soap and dry it out. Any suggestions. I was thinking a soft bristle toothbrush and some easy swipes.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

If nap is similar to the felt (flocked wire screen?) Carb cleaner works well.


Spray from the inside out to avoid forcing dirt inwards.


Why do you need to clean it every day?

 

[Lakeside53]

Just use a soft brush and blow gently with air. You only need to use soapy water or some solvent (be careful of accumulating damage with any solvent, particularly the harsh types like carb cleaner, and limit it's use) every week or so to remove any oil that has spayed back from the carb.

A filter can look dirty and still work just fine. If the saw is cutting normally, and idles when hot, then the filter is probably ok and just knock off the excess.

 

[Dale]

yeah it's the felt. Does the carb cleaner dry fast (like within an hour or so).

If I run that saw for 4-5 hours per day, that filter gets caked awfully fast.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Just shake the carb cleaner off or blow with compressed air, install and let her rip. The saw will even start when the filter is still wet, but it will smoke and cough for a minute.


Ive been cleaning the same filter with Gumout for 10 years without any harm. Of course my advise comes from experiance rather than others who give well meaning but overly cautious advise.


Over time a tooth brush will do as much if not more damage to the felt than anything else. If you are going to clean this often you will need to change out the filter more often anyhoo.

 

[West Texas]

Depending on the saw, some accumulate more than others, particularly the older 026. At the end of the day I hit the entire saw with an air hose first, then use a soft tooth brush on the air filter if its still cruddy and then hit it again with the air hose. I only wash the air filter on a periodic basis. You can use a variety of cleaners, Simple Green, purple, soap and water, Kerosene; all with good results. Some take longer to dry than others, etc.

 

[sawn_penn]

If filters take too long to dry you could buy a second filter and rotate it with the existing one... I don't do this with a saw but I do it with some other kit.

 

[Bad E]

yeah it's the felt. Does the carb cleaner dry fast (like within an hour or so).

If I run that saw for 4-5 hours per day, that filter gets caked awfully fast.

You need a new Husqvarna or Jonsered. I seldom clean the airfilter, they are naturally kept clean by design.

 

[Dale]

True there Bad E. That 028 Stihl begs for dirt/dust to get sucked into the air cleaner. After putting the air cleaner/carb. housing on, there is a large space entirely around the cover that allows crud to get sucked in. Not a good design.

 

[Bad E]

I always cleaned my airfilter regularly on my Pioneer. Now with my new Husky I keep taking the cover off and checking it...but it seems to never need cleaning. Something that works as advertised is rare.

 

[buck futter]

I read on here to use womans panty hose as a prefilter. I gave it a shot on my 025 and it worked well didn't affect the jetting at all but gave the saw a little more protection. I did this after I bought a new filter from my dealer and I thought the price was a little on the high side. Hopefully this will add some life to the filter.

buck

 

[Mike mandry]

I bought a sheet of thin foam filter that is used for window A/C units.

I use this as a pre filter & it works great.

 

[Dale]

Good thoughts on the prefilters, but how/where did you apply them ?

I can't think off-hand of a good way to attacha prefilter to the 028

 

[Lakeside53]

Good thoughts on the prefilters, but how/where did you apply them ?

I can't think off-hand of a good way to attacha prefilter to the 028

You can wrap pantyhose around the filter and secure with a rubber band, but the fine dust (keep the chain sharp) will still clog. MUCH of the real problem with filters is not what get on from the outside, but the oil that get applied to the inside from the carb. The worse shape your piston skirt is in, the worse the spray back though the carb. The oil accumulates as the gas evaporates and makes a a resin. A filter can look really dirty from sawdust and perform quite well, but "paint" it with oil resin and it goes downhill fast. I resurrect really crummy looking filters every day in the shop by a quick soak (5 minutes) in 2:1 diluted Purple Cleaner, then wash in hot water and blow out. They go from "throw away" to like new. We've sold a lot less air filters since I started doing this as part of the the tuneup/service a couple of years ago!