Oil Everlasting?

[Burbinator]

Has anyone heard of the Electro-Lube Refiner? According to the website, it virtually eliminates the need for oil changes by (generally speaking) replacing the oil filter assembly and re-routing the oil through a miniature oil tank/refiner that filters (down to 5 microns) and restores the engine oil. I found that a little hard to believe, but OEMs say that using this device won't void the vehicle warranty Here's a couple of snippets from the website (http://www.electrolubegreen.com/home.html):

"Based on the proven fact that motor oil never wears out, it only gets contaminated or its additives get depleted, it stands to reason that if we keep it clean and free of solid particulate matter and undiluted by water, diesel fuel, glycol coolants and highly corrosive acids, lubricating oil will retain its physical and chemical properties almost indefinitely."

and

"Major manufacturers of gasoline and diesel engines have gone on record stating that although they make no claims for after-market oil refiners, an Electro-Lube Refiner, properly installed, will not void the engine warranty. The by-pass design of the refiner makes it impossible for it to block the oil flow to the engine. Electro-Lube Refiners come in different sizes to meet the requirements of any engine, diesel or gasoline, at a cost anyone can afford."

The entire site is pretty interesting, and I'd love to know if anyone lurking around TheDieselPage.com has now or in the past given this device a try.

[NH2112]

It's true that the oil itself doesn't wear out, only the additives are consumed. How are the additives replenished by this thing? I don't know for sure but I highly doubt it's as simple as running the oil through an additive cartridge.

[Burbinator]

Yeah. I'm thinking that, too. While I do know that there are such things as oil scrubbers that are used inline in aviation and on diesel equipped vessels that run EMDs and something like a I6-71 or a V8-71 for a generator, these motors also use milspec lubricants and have additives re-introduced when the oil is drained and filtered outside of the motor. That's the reason why I raised and eyebrow at the 'restorative' ability of the filtration sytem, and wanted to know if anyone had any experience with it. I'll buy that about restoring lubricity--to a point. But still, its an interesting web site and the filtration system is intriguing. I didn't know they are now available for vehicles.

[suburbanK-2500HD]

Sounds to good to be true.

try to mix a Vodka sprite, and separate the sprite...........

I think the oil is poluted and thinned out with Diesel, and sot +++, and to remove all this doesnt sound easy...

Oil change is not the thing that ruins diesel truck owners, there are other things that costs more that oil..


:)

[crashz]

Sounds like a fancy bypass filter. Only thing is that typical bypass filters like the TP ones or the Amsoil ones, filter down to less than a micron. Soot particles can be 2-3 microns, and are very abrasive.

Also, as mentioned above, the additives would be depleted and not replenished. Other bypass filter companies usually require some make-up oil when changing a filter, therefore replenishing some additives.

So after a while you may be running around with an oil that has high concentrations of fine soot particles and very little detergents and dispersants to help control them. Bad combination.

[More Power]

Since sulfur has been greatly reduced in today's diesel fuel (<15-ppm), a dual-bypass oil filtration system and synthetic oil would allow you run the same oil for a long-long time. This is all proven technology. PPE's new oil centrifuge filter system might work well too. A centrifuge spins all particles out of the oil passing through it, including soot particles. Plus, there's no filter elements to deal with - just occasionally scrape out the accumulated "cake" that forms inside the drum. Acid formation is actually more of a concern in gas engines.

Jim