Currently Using OEM Replacement Filter #33-2072
Optional FIPK Replacement AirChargerSystem #63-1033
HOW THEY WORK?
AIR FLOW MYTHS
PAPER-VS-K&N ELEMENTS
THE WHOLE DAMN SCOOP!
Increases Power (up to 15 HP)
Washable and Reusable
Will NOT Void Vehicle Warranty
Emission Legal in all 50 US States.
10 Year / Million Mile Limited Warranty
This is one installed in a Dodge
Avenger (redavenger97 - ASOG)
The primary function of an air filter is to clean the air before it
enters the engine. If this is true, why do we see so many engines,
especially
expensive competition engines, without air filters? The answer is
airflow.
An engine’s power output is proportional to the volume of air it can
ingest
at any given rpm, assuming the fuel management system is capable of
sustaining
a near perfect air/fuel mixture ratio. The minutest restriction in the
air induction system will cause an engine’s optimum power output to
drop.
Maintaining optimum, unrestricted flow becomes a problem when the air must pass through a filter element. Conventional paper elements are very resistant to air flow because the filter material or medium is very dense. The greater the restriction the greater the power loss will be.
K&N engineers have made vast improvements in performance, durability and serviceability by directly addressing these inherent compromises. In the late ‘60s, K&N developed an oil impregnated cotton air filter gauze which exceeded the minimum filtration standards while offering little restriction to air flow. As a result, the first K&N filter element was manufactured by sandwiching several layers of surgical gauze between two sheets of wire mesh. The medium was then pleated to reduce the filter’s overall size and to increase its surface area. Finally the cotton gauze was oiled to enhance it’s filtering capabilities. The original concept exists today and after many refinements has evolved into the component used in our automotive, industrial, marine and motorcycle air filters.
K&N’s oil-impregnated, cotton-gauze element is the basis of our filter, as well as K&N’s overall dominance of the reusable air filter market. To further make the point, consider that square inch per square inch, our filter will flow at least 50% more air than the average paper filter without sacrificing filtration efficiency.
Most people believe that all air filters function on a go/no go basis where dirt particles that are larger than the openings in the filter media are trapped while particles that are smaller than the openings can pass right through. A dry paper air filter does function in this manner. That’s why paper filters are so restrictive to air flow. The openings in this type of filter have to be very small to filter efficiently.
The oiled cotton media used in the K&N air filter functions in an entirely different manner. There are proven scientific principles that determine how an air filter removes dirt particles from the air stream. The first of these principles is known as interception, which applies to dirt particles traveling with the air stream. Air flow will always take the shortest path and as the air is forced to flow around the filter’s fibers some of the particles will contact the sides of the fibers and be captured. These particles are then held in place by the oil or tacking agent in the fiber.
Another principle is known as impaction, which mostly affects larger or heavier dirt particles. Impaction occurs when the inertia or momentum of the particle causes it to deviate from the flow path. In other words the heavy particles do not follow the air stream around the filter’s fibers but instead they run straight into the fibers and are captured.
The most important principle for our use is diffusion, which deals with the laws of physics that govern the motion of very small dirt particles. Small particles are highly affected by the forces in the air stream. Forces such as velocity changes, pressure changes, turbulence caused by other particles and interaction with the air molecules cause these very small particles to become random and chaotic. As the result these particles do not follow the air stream and their erratic motion causes them to collide with the filter’s fibers.
This phenomenon enables an air filter to capture dirt particles that are much smaller than the openings in the media.
In addition, the way that dirt collects or loads on the K&N filter is very different. A paper filter exhibits "surface loading" which means dust collects only on the surface of the media. In contrast, K&N filters exhibit "depth loading". The multiple layers of cotton fibers provide many levels of dust retention.
This characteristic allows the K&N filter to hold many times more dirt per square inch of media than the average paper filter.
Utilizing these scientific principles, K&N has been able to
design
an air filter that is very free flowing while also being highly
efficient
at removing dirt from the air.
But to meet minimum filtration standards, the paper must be thick and/or the fibers must be tightly compressed and dense. Therefore paper elements that provide adequate filtration are restrictive to air flow by design. Any paper element that could flow as much air as an equivalent K&N would not provide safe filtration. Additionally, as a paper filter becomes more and more clogged, the pressure inside the filter drops while the atmospheric air pressure (approximately 14.7 psia at sea level) outside the filter remains the same. It’s like using your lungs to draw the air out of a plastic milk bottle. When the pressure differential becomes too great, the bottle will collapse. The same thing could happen to your paper filter, although it is unlikely. But what will happen could be just as severe. An excessively high pressure differential created by a restricted filter can literally pull dirt particles through the paper medium. In other words, the performance of a paper filter, i.e. air flow through the filter and its ability to protect your engine, DECREASES near the end of its service interval.
The K&N air filter is somewhat more complex. The unique design features multiple layers of oiled cotton fabric which captures the airborn dirt particles. These dirt particles cling to the fibers of the filter and actually become part of the filtering media. This process, known as depth loading, allows the K&N air filter to retain many times more dirt per square inch than a paper filter. The cotton fabric is sandwiched between pleated aluminum screen. Pleating increases surface area which in turn promotes additional air flow and prolongs service intervals. Pleating exposes five times the surface area compared to a flat element like foam.
The dirt particles collected on the surface of a K&N element have very little effect on air flow because there are no small holes to clog. Particles are stopped by layers of crisscrossed cotton fibers and held in suspension by the oil. As the filter begins to collect debris, an additional form of filter action begins to take place because air must first pass through the dirt particles trapped on the surface. That means the filtration efficiency of a K&N element actually increase as the filter collects dirt. Tests have shown a K&N E-1500 filter will flow 60 percent of its maximum flow capacity after 50,000 miles of street use. And, considering a new K&N flows at least 50% more than a comparable paper element, that same filter will provide all of the air the engine needs even after 50,000 miles.
Conversely, dirt trapped by a paper element will impregnate the
fibers,
which will impede air flow at a proportional rate. In other words,
performance
decreases dramatically as a paper element gets dirty. At the service
interval,
say 14,000 miles, air flow through a paper element can decrease as much
as 70 percent.