Before you place an order, make sure you’re basing your decision on your company’s needs by answering these 5 questions...
1. WHAT’S YOUR TARGET CLEANLINESS?
Before buying a cart, you should know how clean you need to keep the oil. The pore size of the finest filter should be at least as small as the smallest particles you’re trying to exclude—usually 3 microns for hydraulic fluid, 6 for gear oils.
2. WHAT’S YOUR OIL TYPE?
Let your supplier know the ISO VG rating of the oil you’ll be filtering, and be aware that if you use lubricants of different viscosity levels, you’ll likely need different units to filter them.
3. WHAT FLOW RATE DO YOU NEED?
Determine how many times all the oil must pass through the filter to meet your targets, and how much time you have per use to achieve that. Multiply the volume of oil with the number of times you want to pass it through the filter each time it is hooked up, and divide that number by the number of minutes available. This is your minimum flow rate in gallons per minute.
4. WHAT WILL YOU USE IT FOR?
Routine filtration, in which a cart is used to clean oil externally as a machine runs? Some alternate uses like oil changes or taking oil samples require special features that don’t come standard.
5. WHERE WILL YOU USE IT?
All filter carts are portable in theory, but your chosen model needs to be convenient to transport to wherever you’ll be using it. If you will be using it on a machine that is accessible only by ladder, or wheeling it across uneven outdoor terrain, you might be better off with a cart that weighs under a certain amount, or can be carried instead of wheeled. Also, in areas where explosive gases or dust are present, an air-driven motor may be a better choice.
Tip Provided by: Jay Denslow, Sr. Marketing Communications Manager
