Let me introduce myself. I am the air filter on your power equipment. You know, that little thing on your trimmer that you never pay any attention to. Don't lie to me, I know you haven't even looked at me all season. I don't like it. I am also that thing on your mower engine that the service shop wanted to replace but you yelled at them, telling them I don't need to be replaced. I don't appreciate your attitude toward me. Like it or not, I am very important.
I will try to explain to you why I believe I have one of the hardest jobs of any part on your equipment. Matter of fact, I think I work harder than you do! For example, look at the following figures (these figures are approximate, according to my calculations):
If I am installed on a 27.2 cubic centimeter (cc) Stihl FS 55, that is operating at max permissible RPMs, I need to clean about 4,440 GALLONS of air per hour, which is about 1.25 gallons PER SECOND!! That is a 55 gallon drum of air in less than every 45 seconds!
If I am installed on a typical 18-HP Briggs and Stratton Vanguard engine, in the 350000 model series, and the engine is being operated at max permissible RPMs, I will need to clean just over 9 gallons per second. That is over 32,524 gallons per hour!! That adds up to over 591 of the 55 gallon drums full of air in an hour. For every 6.6 revolutions of the engine, I clean about one gallon of air. For comparison purposes, the tanker trailer in the attached photo holds only 9,400 gallons. I would have to clean that entire tanker trailer full of air in just over 17 minutes. I get tired just thinking about that!
My goal here is to make you folks more aware of the job I do for you and your equipment. Don't take me for granted. Keep me clean, and I will help your engine last a lot longer.
For a list of problems caused by permitting us air filters to get dirty, see this topic:
What is all the hype about keeping my air filter clean?.
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