Menu
View Details

Tap to Call

Blog

Cleveland Brothers

Cat® vs. Aftermarket Filters: All Filters Are Not Created Equal

By: Kelley Sloyer
January 5, 2016

Cat Filters & Aftermarket Filter Comparison

You need your filters to protect your most critical components, so why trust your equipment to any brand of filter? The advanced design features found in Cat® Fuel, Oil and Transmission Filters combine to deliver maximum efficiency and consistent quality, so you can get the most out of your machine. 

Each Cat Filter is built in an automated manufacturing facility where its quality is continuously verified. And all go through multiple layers of computerized monitoring, testing and inspections to ensure that they meet high standards. Only Cat Filters have:

  • Acrylic beads to prevent pleat bunching
  • Spiral roving for greater pleat stability
  • A nylon center tube to prevent metal contamination
  • Molded end caps to prevent leaks
  • A one-piece canister with folded edges to withstand greater pressures and eliminate leaks

What Makes Cat Filters Better than Aftermarket Filters?

Even though other brands will fit your machine, they won’t provide the best protection for it, like Cat Filters will. But just how do Cat Filters and other brands compare?

cat-filter-internal-view

Acrylic Beads

  • Cat Filters:
    • Feature acrylic beads to maintain even pleat spacing and prevent bunching
    • Eliminate bunching to help capture and hold contaminants until the next change interval
    • Help to maximize the surface area throughout the life of the filter
  • Other brands:
    • Commonly experience pleat bunching, which leads to clogging and shorter change intervals
    • Have bunching that can trigger bypass which allows contaminants to circulate through the system and cause additional wear

 

Spiral Roving

  • Cat Filters:
    • Feature fiberglass spiral roving that keep media pleats from flexing as fluid travels through the media
    • Eliminate pleat movement, ensuring that contaminants are captured and held away from the clean side of the media
  • Other brands:
    • Have pleats that often flex and release contaminants through the filter media into the clean side, resulting in additional component wear

 

Non-Metallic Center Tubes

  • Cat Filters:
    • Use fiberglass-reinforced nylon for center tubes to eliminate a common source of metal contamination
    • Are 30% stronger than typical metal tubes to help prevent collapse during pressure spikes and machine cold starts
  • Other brands:
    • Use metal center tubes which can carry metal contaminants left over from the manufacturing process
    • Allow contaminants to be picked up by the fluid from the clean side and continue through to cause component wear

 

Molded End Caps

  • Cat Filters:
    • Feature molded end caps that eliminate the possibility of gaps
    • Have a filter media that’s inserted into polyurethane during the manufacturing process before it hardens to create a bond that keeps contaminants confined to the dirty side of the filter
    • Have an aluminum base plate that joins to the molded end cap and is enclosed within the one-piece canister, resulting in greater burst strength and the elimination of a potential source of metal contamination
  • Other brands:
    • Feature metal end caps that are glued on top of filter pleats
    • Have end caps that gap and allow contaminants to reenter the clean side of the fiber

 

The advanced design features of Cat Filters create and maintain high standards for each and every one that you use in your engine, hydraulic system and transmission. You can rest easy knowing that your Cat Filter will deliver consistent quality and protection, from when you first install it, until the next change interval.

Genuine Cat Filters Compared to Aftermarket Brands

Don’t let aftermarket filters fool you, all filters are NOT created equal. Give your machine the respect it deserves. Have a question about Cat Filters? Speak to one of our experienced Cat Parts representatives at (866) 551-4602 or send a message.

See what happened to Carl when he decided not to listen to his Cat® Backhoe.


SHARE THIS:

Write a Reply or Comment