Filter Barn - Caution and Recommendation

[Smitty77]

This is a caution to others that are ordering, and a recommendation to Filter Barn to change their business practices.

I ordered four filters, 2 each of FS1015 and FS1022, Fleetguard’s. These both have three year shelf lives.

Good price, and prompt well packaged shipment and delivery. However:

-FS1022 – Had year codes of 2013, with high Julian Dates (later in the year). So this was good.

-FS1015 – Had year codes 2004, with lower Julian Dates. So these were just under 6 years expired, per Fleetguard’s Three Year Shelf Life. This was bad.
(Note: Shelf lives vary between different kinds of filters, and filtration materials. 3 years on this product.)

I called Filter Barn, asked about the age of the filters. The gent was polite, and said they would ship two replacement filters, and to go ahead and salvage the first two.

Two new filters arrived with a 2011 Julian Date 127 - so these are not expired, but have a remaining shelf life of about four months.

I'll keep these for our spares, though I frankly am not pleased with filters that have less than four months of shelf life, and will cycle these out this year.

To Filter Barn:

I recommend that if you sell filters that are expired, per the manufacturer’s guidelines, that you should identify them as 'New/Expired Stock' - and discount price them accordingly. (While I’d personally not purchase Expired Stock, others may wish to do so.)

I recommend that if you are providing filters with less than 1 year shelf life, that you should identify them as 'New/Limited Life Stock' - and price these accordingly.

This posting is done in a positive nature as a caution to those that are shopping for filters, and as a recommendation to Filter Barn on being more forthright on the stock that they are selling. I wish them only the best, and this is not done to be vindictive – but I feel it is wrong to sell Expired Stock without identifying it up front as being so.

I sure understand that many will not have a problem with using older/expired filters. I do, and the manufacturers have ‘Shelf Life’ for a reason. So I’ve shared my opinion, and it is OK if others feel differently.

Be safe, have fun, best to all,
Smitty

[gtschulz]

Anyone know if Cat filters are dated and if so how do you interpret them?

[Cuffs054]

Scott, you just made me blow gin out of my nose, damn it hurt!!!

[Smitty77]

On another board, Spike45 has decades of experience,having retired from Cummins. He has provided his input under the Cummins forum of IVR2, that almost all filters have Shelf Lives.

As noted, materials will break down. Resins, glues, paper, other - materials have different shelf lives.

These happen to be Fuel Filters. And when I called Fleetguard (two times, two different tech's), three years was what I was told on these fuel filters.

I've seen two different date codes formats, but others exists, all based upon how the manufacturer build spec's dictate:

1) yyddd - "08153" is year 2008, and the 153rd day of that year. You would add three years to that date, to determine Expiration Date.

2) yyddd xxxxxxx - "08153 ba12345" is the same year/date and build batch run number ba12345, which can be used to back track actual build heritage of the filter.

Some common sense has to come into this. If I were on the side of the road with a plastic sealed fuel filter with no signs of external rush and a date year of 4-5 years old. I would use it if my fuel filters were clogged from a bad batch of fuel. If they date year was 6, 7, 10 years old - I would not want to risk contamination of the fuel downstream from the filters.

I'll take sometime to stagger this, but I'll end up with:
-Installed, two years old
-Spare 1, one year old
-Spare 2, as close to new as possible

Then each year, each filter moves up in the pecking order.

Best to all,
Smitty

[mlts22]

I'm guessing one reason for dates on filters is due to the rubber O-rings and seals which decay/fail just like tires do. Slap a 15 year old filter on, and it might just leak all over the place, or even worse, fail inside.

[hotbyte]

Shipping such an old filter to you was sad service. I've never looked at dates on filters I've bought in store for a date...think I will next time. Thanks!

Hjudge49 wrote:
Like yogurt, how do you know when it goes bad? 🙂

Taste it? How is a good filter supposed to taste? Like chicken? 🙂 🙂 🙂

[Hjudge49]

Like yogurt, how do you know when it goes bad? 🙂

[wolfe10]

Not sure there is a "specific drop dead date", but the filter media DOES break down.

[lanerd]

I'm gonna have to check my spares... never heard of an expiration date for filters.

Ron

[gbopp]

ScottG wrote:
I didn't know they expired, what happens to them? They turn into Fram's? 😛

That is interesting. I didn't know they expired either.
Maybe there is a chemical or something on them?

[ScottG]

I didn't know they expired, what happens to them? They turn into Fram's? 😛