Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's cleaning an air filter

My Razor manual says to never try to clean a filter. Why not? An air compressor can remove a pile of dirt from one and if you blow the air backwards through it, it won't drive any dust through to the inside. Is there some reason I shouldn't other than cutting into their filter sales?

Yep, compressed air can blow holes in the filtering media and degrade the filter efficiency.

just an FYI for parts...oil...stuff

good guys

yes compressed air can/will damage air filter



https://www.polarispartshouse.com/

If ya gotta, vacuum it from the outside.

thanks for the replies. As it happens, my Razor has an aftermarket filter kit. It has 2 truck filters, one inside the other. The outer one has wire mesh both inside and out. It's pretty sturdy. Last week we were riding in a very dusty area and it clogged up and stopped. I had to knock the dust out of the outer one to get going again. The inner one was still nice and clean. With the air having to go through 2 filters, it makes air harder to suck through heavy dust so it's more prone to choking out. I have to clean it out more often.

Not sure which Rzr you have, I replaced the OEM filter on my 570 with a foam element Uni. It uses an oil thicker than snot and stickier than honey. The factory pre-filter is a mesh that sets behind a grill on the outside panel. I soak a rag with WD-40 and wrap it around the grill, it catches a lot of dust. The Uni seems to do a better job than K&N filters.

Mine has an after market filter kit. The outer one is one of these Donaldson heavy equipment filters with another smaller one inside of it. Almost nothing gets through them. It does clog up quickly, though. With the engine having to pull air through 2 of them, it takes less dirt on the outside to block it.

Have you tried NAPA, Autozone, O'Reilly's to see if they could cross reference them to something they have in stock that is cheaper than your stock Polaris filter? Might be cheaper in the long run and you could carry a spare with you.

For example, I get the fuel filter for my sled ( 2014 Ski Doo Summit) from NAPA, costs me $12 whereas the Doo filter costs me $32 from the dealer and it's the same damn filter.