FAQ

When looking at our hydraulic filter technical specifications you may notice each part has a Micron Rating (µ), but what is this?

A micron or micrometre is 1×10−6 of a metre also written as 0.000001m. In filtration, the Micron rating is the minimum particle size the media will filter and is determined by the Beta Rating at that size.

For example, a filter could be β1000 at 10µ and so will allow 1 in every 1000 particles of 10µ to pass through however, it could also be described at β2 at 3µ and so will allow 1 in every 2 particles of 3µ to pass through. Because of this, it’s very important to understand both the micron and Beta Rating of an element to see how efficient it will be when used in the application.

When comparing a Micro-Mesh part always check the Beta Rating to ensure you are not only getting the correct micron rating, but also a hydraulic filter element with a high efficiency to prevent unnecessary damage to your hydraulic system.

The most important property of a filter is its efficiency. The Micron Rating is negligible whether you have a 3µ filter or a 100µ filter – it doesn’t matter unless your filter is removing the particulates from the filtration medium which is why the Beta rating, β, is important.

The Beta rating, β, is the efficiency of the media within the filter element and is written as the number of particles that will pass through the element and into the system. For example, a filter with a rating of 10µ > β1000 means that 1 in every 1000 particles greater than or equal to 10µ will pass through the media which can also be written as an efficiency of 99.9%.

To calculate the Beta rating, you simply take the number of upstream particles and divide this by the number of downstream particles.

If you look at a filter a β1000 element and a β20 element on the outside they may seem identical however, the difference between the two is critical in ensuring the safety of your hydraulic system against potentially harmful particulates. At FilterFinder all our hydraulic filter elements are rated at either β1000 or β200 to prevent damage to our customers systems and be certain that they are running as efficiently as they can be.

When an element is installed in a hydraulic system, the media becomes blocked over time due to the removal of particulates from the medium that is being filtered. Eventually this can lead to an increase in the pressure drop across the filter and if the media becomes too blocked, can lead to an increase in the pressure of the hydraulic system.

Once this pressure increase becomes of a sufficient level, the bypass within either the housing or element will trigger, allowing the medium to bypass the element and relieve this build-up of pressure within the system.

In the event that the bypass does not trigger or there is no bypass installed and the pressure becomes sufficiently high, one of two things can happen:

1. The element will collapse.

2. A back-pressure will build up which could potentially cause catastrophic failure to the hydraulic system.

This can be prevented by installing an indicator on the filter housing which will show when the filter has bypassed or when the pressure has reached a predetermined pressure which is set to be before the filter has collapsed. Once the indicator has activated, the element should be replaced to stop the filter bypassing, allowing particulates to go unfiltered which could cause damage to your machine.

When buying an OEM filter element not only are you paying for the product, but also for the name that comes attached to it. We use our 50 years manufacturing experience to provide an alternative to the OEM’s part without compromising on quality or functionality and most importantly without the hefty price tag that comes with an OEM Why pay OEM prices when you can purchase an Alternative without compromising on quality?

If you are looking for low volume OEM alternatives on a short lead time, check out e-commerce at Filter Finder.