In the world of diesel-powered equipment, whether for personal use, business operations, or recreational activities, maintaining the health and performance of your diesel engines is paramount. For fleet owners, farmers, construction operators, and enthusiasts alike, the AirDog® Diesel Fuel Filter offers a robust solution to ensure your engines run efficiently and last longer. This blog explores the diverse applications of AirDog® Diesel Fuel Filters, explaining why entrained air and particulates in fuel can cause damage and how investing in AirDog® filters can safeguard your diesel engines. The Importance of Diesel Fuel Filtration Diesel engines are the workhorses of many industries, from agriculture to construction to transportation. The quality of the fuel that powers these engines is critical to their performance and longevity. One significant issue that diesel engines face is the presence of entrained air in the fuel. Entrained air can cause several problems, including: Cavitation in Fuel Injectors: Air bubbles in the fuel can cause cavitation, which damages the fuel injectors and reduces their efficiency. Erratic Engine Performance: Inconsistent fuel delivery due to air pockets can lead to rough idling, misfires, and overall erratic engine behavior. Increased Wear and Tear: Air in the fuel increases friction and wear on engine components, leading to premature failures and higher maintenance costs. Reduced Fuel Efficiency: Engines running on aerated fuel consume more fuel, reducing overall efficiency and increasing operating costs. By removing entrained air, AirDog® Diesel Fuel Filters enhance fuel quality, leading to smoother engine operation, improved fuel efficiency, and extended engine life. Diverse Applications of AirDog® Diesel Fuel Filters 1. Agricultural Equipment Agricultural machinery, such as tractors, combines, and seed pullers, often operate in challenging conditions. Dust, dirt, and uneven terrain can cause significant fuel sloshing, leading to aeration. An AirDog® Diesel Fuel Filter system is particularly beneficial for large tractors with high horsepower, ensuring that these vital machines run smoothly during critical farming operations. 2. Construction Equipment Construction sites are harsh environments for diesel engines. Equipment such as excavators, bulldozers, high lifts, and backhoes experience constant movement over rough terrain, exacerbating fuel aeration issues. AirDog® systems are designed to handle these extreme conditions, providing a steady supply of clean, air-free fuel that keeps heavy machinery operating reliably and efficiently. 3. Commercial Fleets For businesses that operate fleets of trucks, maintaining consistent engine performance and fuel efficiency is crucial. AirDog® Diesel Fuel Filters are ideal for semi-trucks and other commercial vehicles, ensuring that engines receive a continuous supply of high-quality fuel. This not only enhances performance but also reduces maintenance costs and downtime, making fleet operations more cost-effective. 4. Marine Engines Marine engines, whether in large vessels or sailing yachts, face unique challenges. Fuel sloshing due to waves can introduce significant amounts of air into the fuel system. AirDog® filters are effective in marine applications, providing a reliable fuel supply for both backup engines on sailing yachts and primary engines on larger vessels. This reliability is crucial for ensuring safe and efficient marine operations. 5. Performance and Recreational Vehicles Enthusiasts who modify diesel [...]

A clogged diesel fuel filter can wreak havoc on an engine. Learning to recognize the signs of a clogged diesel fuel filter and know when your fuel filter is bad is a game-changer. You will better know how to optimize your diesel engine's performance and protect its lifespan. Here, we dive into the critical issue of clogged diesel fuel filters, outlining the telltale symptoms of a bad filter, and emphasizing the importance of regular maintenance for peak engine performance. We’ll guide you through recognizing and fixing fuel filter problems. Understanding the signs of a clogged diesel fuel filter and knowing when to stop and replace it will help ensure your diesel engine runs smoothly, extending its lifespan and enhancing its efficiency, ultimately saving you money in the long run. What Fuel Filters Do and How They Work The role of a diesel fuel filter is to safeguard the engine components that interact with the fuel while removing contaminants such as dirt, rust, water, microbial growth, and air. The best fuel filters remove those contaminants; the smaller the particles removed, the better. AirDog® fuel filters remove contaminants down to 2 to 6 microns (varies by application) or 2 to 6 millionths of a meter, placing among them the industry’s best. Ensuring your engine receives the highest quality fuel increases fuel efficiency, provides optimal engine performance, and generally extends the longevity of your fuel injectors and engine. Of course, fuel filters are consumable parts that require periodic replacement. Fuel filters that do not get replaced on schedule or encounter particularly dirty fuel can become clogged, leading to performance and other engine problems. Therefore, it is critical to keep your filter from clogging and to replace it when the symptoms of a clogged fuel filter become apparent. Symptoms of a Clogged Fuel Filter A clogged fuel filter will restrict fuel flow to your engine, leading to noticeable symptoms as your engine gets starved of fuel. Here’s a quick review of common symptoms of a bad fuel filter. Difficulty starting. A diesel engine that does not receive adequate fuel can be hard to start. Engine misfiring. A clogged fuel filter can cause some cylinders to receive too little fuel to generate combustion, leading to engine misfiring. Rough idling. Your engine should idle smoothly. However, if the fuel pump, injectors, and cylinders do not receive adequate fuel, the fuel may not combust properly, leading to rough idling. Poor engine performance. Just as inadequate fuel causes rough idling, the engine can sputter or surge due to inconsistent access to the fuel. Symptoms such as sluggish throttle response and decreased power will be most noticeable when moving at high speed, on inclines, and carrying heavy loads. At the same time, the engine may feel shaky when driving at low speeds. Poor fuel economy. For the reasons noted previously, an engine that does not fully combust the fuel it receives will generate less power and consume more fuel to complete the same amount of work. Whining and unusual sounds. [...]

Diesel fuel filtration is critical yet underappreciated in heavy-duty engine optimization, easing maintenance, gaining optimum performance, and extending engine life. Unfortunately, the fuel filtering systems on the heavy-duty trucks rolling off assembly lines today are not as effective as they could be at optimizing fuel delivery to their engines.  This article reviews the limits of standard diesel fuel filtration systems and describes how advanced systems like AirDog® fuel systems take fuel filtration to the next level and provide numerous benefits. Whether you are a fleet manager or an independent trucker, understanding the value of superior fuel filtration can save you time, money, and headaches in the long run. Are Standard Diesel Fuel Filter Systems Good Enough? Ideally, diesel fuel filtering systems remove contaminants before the fuel enters the engine, ensuring optimal engine performance and longevity. The filtering process removes various diesel fuel contaminants such as particulates, bacteria, moisture, and air, with the standard approach working in two stages with a primary and secondary filter. Generally located between the fuel tank and the fuel pump, the primary filter commonly removes particles down to ten microns or one-tenth the size of a grain of sand. The secondary filter is positioned before the injectors and often removes particulates in the five-micron range. That sounds impressive, but is it good enough? Of course, the larger the particulates your filters allow to pass through, the more damage they cause when the injectors blast them against internal engine parts, causing slow but sure damage. As important, standard filtering systems fail to remove moisture to the needed level and are not designed to remove entrained air as needed to achieve maximum fuel efficiency and power. AirDog® Heavy Duty Diesel Fuel Systems Work Differently AirDog® fuel systems work differently. They provide cleaner fuel by first, sending it through a water separator that eliminates moisture and particulates down to 30 microns. Next, the fuel passes through the AirDog® particulate filter, featuring a superior quality Microglass media, removing particulates to at least 6 microns. An added benefit to the AirDog® Fuel Preporator, which is not found in typical filtration systems, is the removal of entrained air from the fuel, ensuring your engine receives pure fuel uncontaminated by air. The integrated fuel pump of the AirDog® sends pure diesel fuel to the engine at a regulated positive pressure. The positive pressure reduces the opportunity for air to enter the system by keeping vapors out and reducing vapor-causing cavitation. Enhanced Engine Performance Standard fuel filters do not attempt to remove air from the fuel, resulting in retarded injection timing, lower torque or power output, increased fuel consumption, increased exhaust emissions, and poor throttle response. Clearly, removing air from diesel fuel is critical. AirDog® systems ensure the diesel fuel entering the engine is the cleanest, purest stream of fuel possible sent under optimal pressure. This combination allows for significantly enhanced throttle response and power delivery because the engine receives air-free fuel at better and consistent fuel pressure. Eliminating air in the fuel leads [...]

Maintaining your diesel engine's performance and longevity hinges largely on the quality and maintenance of your fuel filters. In this blog post, we dive deep into the critical aspects of diesel fuel filter maintenance. We'll cover factory recommendations, the impact of fuel quality, and practical tips for ensuring your engine runs smoothly. By the end of this post, you'll have a comprehensive understanding of when and why to change your diesel fuel filters. The Importance of Diesel Fuel Filters Many factors affect your engine's performance and longevity, and the quality of the fuel that enters the engine is among the most important. Like the adage, "Garbage in, garbage out," low-quality fuel can lead to a range of engine problems, so ensuring you use high-quality fuel is critical, as is proper fuel filtering. Diesel fuel filtering systems remove contaminants such as particulates, bacteria, and moisture from the fuel before they enter the engine to enhance engine performance and longevity. The standard fuel filtering system uses a primary and secondary filter, with the primary filter generally removing particles larger than ten microns. A secondary filter removes smaller particulates and may handle those as small as 2-5 microns. The larger the particulates your filtering system allows to pass through, the more damage they cause when the injectors blast them against internal engine parts. However, as critical as removing the solid particulates is the need to remove water and entrained air, which standard filtering systems do not handle or do not handle to the level needed for maximum fuel efficiency, power, and engine longevity. The Quality of Fuel Sources and Its Effect on Filter Life Diesel fuel is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture from the air at the molecular level, so it almost always contains some water. The challenge is to minimize the amount of water entering your truck's fuel tank and to filter the remainder to maximize fuel efficiency and protect your engine. One common source of water entering your fuel supply is fuel retailers and distributors. Some dishonest retailers and distributors may add water to their fuel, while water can find its way into diesel fuel through leaky storage tanks or human error. Poor or degraded tank seals can allow water into storage tanks, and human errors such as leaving a fuel tank cap off also invite water contamination. All retailers and distributors should use water-detecting filters in their dispensing equipment, but the filters are effective only when adequately maintained. To protect against this problem: Buy your fuel from reputable sources with well-maintained facilities and systems. Do not buy fuel from locations with storage tanks that show rust or other signs of degradation. Feel free to ask suppliers about their procedures for ensuring fuel quality. Another factor affecting filter life is asphaltenes, which have become more prominent with ultra-low sulfur diesel and hotter-running engines. Asphaltenes are black, tar-like particles that accumulate on the filter fibers, eventually building up to the point that they can plug the fuel filter. While there are additives [...]

As the leading name in diesel fuel filtration technology, AirDog® and its parent company PureFlow Technologies provide heavy-duty diesel engine users with industry-leading fuel filtration solutions. But AirDog® didn’t start out at the head of the pack—it started as an idea of innovator Charles “Charlie” Ekstam, who wanted to protect the investment in his truck and thought there had to be a better way. His commitment to sound engineering and practical solutions served as the foundation of everything that came after. Charlie invented the Fuel Preporator to protect his diesel engine from contaminants, including entrained air. The system he developed allowed him to deliver clean, air-free fuel at optimal pressure to the engine, which in turn provided improved performance, fuel efficiency, engine life, and more. AirDog®diesel fuel system technology has continued to advance over the years to provide ever-improving performance. But none of it would have been possible without the inspiration and hard work of a man with a vision. Origins and Early Development Charles “Charlie” Ekstam In the early 1990s, Charlie was making at least part of his living driving a commercial heavy-duty truck. He was also reading regularly about different service topics to keep on top of the technology of the time. Companies like Caterpillar and Cummins were publishing reports about common issues in trucking, one of which was entrained air in diesel fuel. Charlie started digging into the topic, trying to discover the finer details of what entrained air did to engines and overall efficiency. While on a run in the mountains out west, he made note of the effects of pressure differentials and made a connection between his observations and the overall problem of entrained air. He got to thinking about the whole fuel system and how low fuel pressure could affect the engine. Charlie decided to experiment to see if he could address the problem of air in the fuel system and make his and other trucks run better—putting money back in everyone’s pockets and helping engines last longer. Charlie’s work on the problem took several years of trial and error, including building a number of prototypes, using them on trucks, and eventually finding a solution he was happy with. He named what he created the “Fuel Preporator(™).” The Breakthrough of the Fuel Preporator Charlie’s first complete Fuel Preporator(™) system included the main components that make up AirDog® systems today. These included an integrated lift pump that pulled fuel from the tank, components to remove water, particulates, and entrained air from the system, and continued pressurization from the pump to ensure net positive pressure all the way to the fuel injectors. Standard fuel filters at the time—and still today—use an engine-mounted, gear-driven fuel pump to pull fuel from the tank. The suction generated by the gear pump is enough to get the fuel from the tank, through the filter, and onto the fuel injectors, but it also introduces air/vapor into the system and does little to improve fuel efficiency. Charlie realized that [...]

Getting the most out of your heavy-duty diesel engine requires keeping your fuel as clean as possible before it reaches your engine. Today’s diesel engines are built to high tolerances—a remarkable achievement by engineering standards, delivering better performance than many would have thought possible a few decades ago. But those tolerances are not well-suited to contaminated fuel. Hence the importance of cutting-edge filtration systems like AirDog®. Diesel fuel used to contain significantly more sulfur, along with a range of other components for lubricity. Today’s diesel fuel is much cleaner—as it leaves the refinery—but there are still many opportunities for contaminants to enter the fuel before it reaches your fuel tank. Understanding Diesel Fuel Changes Sulfur is an element that occurs naturally in fuels derived from oil, including diesel. When the sulfur is burned, it releases particulates into the air which contributes to air pollution. It also creates sulfuric acid, which can corrode engine components. Starting in the 1990s, the European Union started requiring oil refineries to significantly reduce the amount of sulfur in diesel fuel to lower the negative environmental impacts of diesel fuel use. The EU pushed for the steady reduction of sulfur over the years, and the United States hopped on board in 2006 with the requirement for the near-universal use of Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD). By 2010, almost all the diesel used in the EU and the US was ULSD. Today, diesel engines produce about 10% less carbon dioxide than gas engines in the same category, which is quite an achievement for diesel in general. According to the US Energy Information Association, “Using ULSD fuel and advanced exhaust emission control systems can reduce vehicle particulate emissions by up to 90% and emissions of nitrogen compounds (NOx) by 25% to 50%. ULSD fuel helps reduce emissions in older engines as well.” The Effects of Low Lubricity in Modern Diesel Fuels Diesel fuel lubricity is a term that refers to a fuel’s lubrication abilities. With diesel fuel, the expectation is that the fuel will have a basic level of lubrication that will prevent damage to an engine’s parts while in use. Sufficient lubricity should keep an engine’s parts lubricated so that the potential damage of friction between parts is avoided. Unfortunately, the process of removing sulfur from diesel fuel also lowers the lubricity of the fuel. This can cause additional wear and tear on engine components. For older engines not designed to run on ULSD, lack of lubricity can cause additional wear that can damage the engine. For new engines with ultra-tight tolerances, the lack of lubricity can make any additional contaminants extra hazardous for the engine. When there isn’t enough lubrication, fuel injectors, fuel pumps, and other components can wind up rubbing metal against metal and therefore wear out more quickly. The additional friction can also reduce engine performance. High-quality diesel fuel accounts for the removal of lubrication inherent in ULSD by adding additional lubricants—one of the reasons why it’s so important to opt for high-quality fuel. [...]

Diesel engines are built to last, but just because they keep operating does not mean they are operating efficiently. Components can wear out, expensive fixes can be necessary, and an engine can keep pushing along for years while using more fuel than it needs to. If you want to know how to prolong the life of a diesel engine—and equally important, maintain its performance—you need to understand the fundamentals of how they work and prioritize maintenance. It’s also a good idea to invest in high-quality components, like AirDog® Heavy Duty Diesel Fuel Systems. AirDog® works to keep diesel engines in good condition by removing moisture, particulates, and entrained air and vapor. By ensuring only pure, clean diesel enters your fuel injectors and therefore your engine, you can make significant strides towards prolonging the life of your engine. The Basics of Diesel Fuel Systems The life expectancy of a heavy-duty diesel engine can be greater than 1,000,000 miles. Part of what makes these engines last so long is their simplicity. The fuel system only has five major components: fuel tank, fuel transfer pump, filters, injection pump, and fuel injectors. The fuel transfer pump pulls fuel from the tank and through the filters, which remove particulates and separates water from fuel. The injection pump pushes the cleaned fuel through the injectors and into the engine for combustion. Stock systems do a serviceable job of getting fuel to the engine without too many contaminants. However, there are drawbacks to these standard systems. The gear-driven pumps can introduce air into the fuel, adding the air that already occurs through fuel slosh. Over time, this can lead to wear and tear on the fuel injectors, reduce fuel economy, and even prevent the engine from starting. The Role of AirDog® Systems AirDog® was designed by our engineers to solve the common problems that come with basic diesel fuel systems. Our systems accomplish this goal in several ways, including: Removing Entrained Air A diesel fuel system that is operating perfectly never lets air reach the fuel injectors. One of the main purposes of AirDog® fuel systems is to remove entrained air from diesel fuel before pushing that fuel to the fuel injectors. Along with removing solids from the fuel, it also sends the fuel through the AirDog® Fuel Preporator, the world’s first patented system for removing air from fuel. When the air is removed, it is sent back to the fuel tank. Optimizing Fuel Pressure Removing existing air is not enough to protect your engine. It’s also necessary to minimize air and vapor in the fuel lines and to ensure that the air-free fuel makes it from the Preporator without the reintroduction of air. Our systems accomplish these goals in a few different ways. Fuel pressure is maintained by integrated fuel pumps included in the AirDog® system along with the filtration components. These pumps maintain appropriate pressure to minimize vapor creation in the fuel lines and reduce strain on the existing transfer pump, which extends its life. [...]

One of the things that makes AirDog® fuel filtration systems so effective is that they are customized for specific applications. It’s important to select the right filters for your specific diesel engine, whether you are operating a commercial heavy truck or a pickup truck. We make it easy to identify the correct fuel filters for your vehicle so there is no question about which is right for your needs. We encourage users of AirDog® fuel filters to always keep a spare set of fuel filters when out on the road. Otherwise, a clogged filter could result in unwanted downtime and calling in expensive mechanical help—when all you really need is another set of filters to screw on. Understanding AirDog® Filter Options We try to make it as easy as possible to know which fuel filter is right for a diesel engine. Our semi-truck filters are categorized in the 200s and our pickup truck filters are categorized in the 100s. A filter in the 200s is only appropriate for heavy-duty commercial vehicles, while a filter in the 100s is only appropriate for pickup trucks. You can easily tell if the product is a fuel filter or a water separator by the letters at the beginning of the filter name: FF for fuel filter, WS for water separator. Let’s take a closer look at our filter categories so you know how to know which filter to buy for your vehicle.   Commercial Medium- and Heavy-Duty Trucks (Class 4-8) FF200-MG-6: This AirDog® fuel filter is performance-matched to the AirDog® FPII and Champ systems. Using microglass media, it filters down to 6 microns while allowing a freer flow of fuel than traditional cellulose filters. This filter can typically be operated for up to 40,000 miles as long as no algae or other serious contaminants are present. WS200-HS: This water separator/pre-filter is performance-matched to get the most out of the AirDog®FPII system. It should be changed when changing the fuel filter. It features high-performance Hydrosorb media, which allows it to remove water and large particulates with excellent efficiency. It’s always a good idea to carry an extra set of fuel filters and water separators when operating heavy trucks. We offer multi-packs at cost savings to ensure you always have a spare set in case of clogs while on the road. Industrial Applications, Marine, and Light Duty Trucks FF100-2: Manufactured with high-quality Stratopore media, this 2-micron fuel filter is well-suited to get the most out of the smaller AirDog® Heavy Duty and Industrial Diesel Fuel Systems for industrial, marine, and light duty truck applications. WS100: This water separator/pre-filter is performance-matched to get the most out of the AirDog® FPII Diesel Fuel Systems. The filter is serviceable and simply requires draining at regular intervals. Remember, our 200-level filters are for heavy-duty truck and other high-demand applications, and our 100-level filters are for light-duty pickup trucks and other applications using the 3” diameter filters . The Importance of Spare Filters Any experienced commercial driver can tell you how expensive [...]

One question we get asked a lot concerns the impact of AirDog on fuel efficiency. The way that AirDog improves the fuel delivery process to the engine, including providing cleaner, air-free fuel, and maintaining optimal pressure to the fuel injectors, is going to result in improved diesel fuel efficiency in a heavy-duty engine. But the question is, how much? That’s a surprisingly complicated question. We generally can say that operators can expect fuel economy to improve by three-tenths of a mile. However, we have had reports of greater improvements, but there are so many factors that go into fuel economy that we can’t make specific guarantees. When you use AirDog systems, you should see an improvement in fuel economy. But how much depends on a variety of factors that we will explore below. The Complexity of Fuel Efficiency When it comes to examining fuel efficiency, there are numerous things to consider, including: How does the operator drive the vehicle? What is the vehicle type? What kind of engine is being used? What is the terrain like? What is being hauled? What quality of fuel is being used? As you can see, there are plenty of variables to consider, and these are only some of them. It certainly makes sense that AirDog users and potential customers would want to know how much AirDog will improve their fuel efficiency. Unfortunately, the generalized answer we have to give is, “It depends.” Major Factors Influencing Fuel Efficiency Several major factors should always go into the fuel efficiency equation. These include: Driver Behavior You have likely noticed that different drivers can take significantly different approaches to operating a vehicle. One driver might take a very cautious approach, accelerating slowly and steadily from each stop, never going above the speed limit, and generally taking it as easy as possible on the vehicle. Another driver might let nothing get in the way of reaching their destination. They might stomp the gas pedal to the floor after each stop, have a rule to travel at least 10 mph above the speed limit (if not more), and demand as much out of the vehicle as possible. These are examples of extremes, and most drivers fall somewhere in the middle. However, studies have shown that driver behavior can affect fuel economy by as much as 30% at highway speeds and 40% in stop-and-go traffic. Vehicle and Engine Type The vehicle and engine type can make a significant difference in fuel economy. There are so many different diesel vehicles out there, even if you only consider heavy-duty trucks. Over a hundred years of diesel trucks have been manufactured. While it’s unlikely someone will be driving a hundred-year-old truck, the point is that many different trucks can use AirDog. And that’s only the trucks. When you add in the engines, you have many potential combinations. A modern diesel engine is a beautiful, highly efficient machine. Older diesel engines are workhorses, but efficiency was not as much of a concern. The increased fuel [...]