Magnetic Drain Plug Question

[Elroy the Unique]

Will using a Magnetic Oil Drain Plug cause the plug to affect the oil additives at all.

I am wondering if the "grey sludge" that is attached to the magnetic drain plug at the end of an oil interval is in fact some of the oil additives.

 

[Kestas]

The few materials I know that are ferromagnetic are Iron, Nickel, Cobalt, Gadolinium, Dysprosium, and Magnetite. I'm sure there are a few more, but not many. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Gary Allan]

I don't think so. My Caravan has had one since 93 and has had the same "beard" on it. I never developed the proper technique to get it all off. It seemed to just squish around and form up in any little gap that the paper towel or rag allowed. Almost like a powder graphite lubricant ..except with magnetic properties.

Anyway ..it never collected a whole lot of stuff...and appeared to stop or disappear with Auto-Rx. Perhaps the bond or attaction of Auto-Rx was greater than the free Fe in the oil..

 

[Elroy the Unique]

How beneficial are magnetic drain plugs?

 

[Jim]

I like the idea of being able to see the wear metal. Seems like a quick and simple way to check effectiveness of your oil.

 

[1 FMF]

if you think about it, they might not be effective at all. The only common wear metal that comes to mind that the magnetic would catch is iron (Fe). The other common wear metals Al, Cu, Tn, Pb, Moly? are not magnetic. Not sure about nickel, I thought it wasn't. Not sure about chromium either.

 

[wileyE]

For aircraft you can get a drainplug that has 2 magnetic posts on it, and a 1 wire hook up. If or when the the 2 posts are bridged by metal "chunks" or particles the connection to power the indicator is made. This can alert the pilot that something has broke loose or scraped enough metal to cause concern. Pretty cool really. Downside? about $300 cause it's for aircraft. Could make one for $15. Aircraft Spruce has them if you wanted to see one.

 

[Bill Plock]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan:
... I never developed the proper technique to get it all off. It seemed to just squish around and form up in any little gap that the paper towel or rag allowed. Almost like a powder graphite lubricant ..except with magnetic properties...

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I wash magnets with some brake cleaner and blow off with compressed air... Same process for internal transmission magnets... seems to get most of the stuff off...

I always find some sludge on the disc magnet that's part of the external spin-on filter on my Chevy Truck's Allison transmission. I also put some magnets inside the OilGuard Bypass filter on my truck.. I'm anxious to see what it looks like at the next change... I'll post some pics if it catches anything.

 

[Lumberg]

quote:

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Originally posted by wileyE:
For aircraft you can get a drainplug that has 2 magnetic posts on it, and a 1 wire hook up. If or when the the 2 posts are bridged by metal "chunks" or particles the connection to power the indicator is made. This can alert the pilot that something has broke loose or scraped enough metal to cause concern. Pretty cool really. Downside? about $300 cause it's for aircraft. Could make one for $15. Aircraft Spruce has them if you wanted to see one.

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that is pretty cool.

 

[tom slick]

quote:

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Originally posted by Lumberg:

quote:

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Originally posted by wileyE:
For aircraft you can get a drainplug that has 2 magnetic posts on it, and a 1 wire hook up. If or when the the 2 posts are bridged by metal "chunks" or particles the connection to power the indicator is made. This can alert the pilot that something has broke loose or scraped enough metal to cause concern. Pretty cool really. Downside? about $300 cause it's for aircraft. Could make one for $15. Aircraft Spruce has them if you wanted to see one.

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that is pretty cool.

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even cooler is the newer turbine engines monitor the resistance between the 2 posts and can tell the difference between normal fuzz and detrimental chips. it logs it's findings in the maintenance computer and brings up a fault code when the plug needs attention.

 

[Lumberg]

quote:

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Originally posted by tom slick:

quote:

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Originally posted by Lumberg:

quote:

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Originally posted by wileyE:
For aircraft you can get a drainplug that has 2 magnetic posts on it, and a 1 wire hook up. If or when the the 2 posts are bridged by metal "chunks" or particles the connection to power the indicator is made. This can alert the pilot that something has broke loose or scraped enough metal to cause concern. Pretty cool really. Downside? about $300 cause it's for aircraft. Could make one for $15. Aircraft Spruce has them if you wanted to see one.

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that is pretty cool.

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even cooler is the newer turbine engines monitor the resistance between the 2 posts and can tell the difference between normal fuzz and detrimental chips. it logs it's findings in the maintenance computer and brings up a fault code when the plug needs attention.

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I think I'm gonna go ahead and run for President on the platform that the above should become standard on all passenger vehicles by 2011.

What say you?