No.

No.

Yes... and No.

Best practice is to disconnect NEGATIVE cables to the battery(s).

Electricity flows through the positive and negative terminals of the battery, not just the positive. The safest way to interrupt that flow is by removing the negative. Here is why:

Every metal part of the truck is just like the negative post of the battery. So if you use a wrench to loosen the positive cable first, and the other end of that wrench touches ANY metal on the truck, it would be no different than taking that same wrench and purposely bridging it directly across the positive and negative terminals of the battery... causing a dead short that would internally damage the battery, as well as create sparks that could ignite the cloud of explosive gasses hovering above the battery, causing serious bodily injury.

For any vehicular service procedure where the battery needs to be disconnected, always disconnect the negative terminal(s) first. If you bridge the wrench from the negative terminal to any part of the truck, there is no damage, no short circuit, no spark, no problem. Just an alternate current flow path that is not even felt.

Removing the negative cable first is ratified in every service manual from any vehicle manufacturer, every DOD procedure manual in any branch of the military, every training manual in any ASE certification center... even firefighters who are trained in vehicle extractions are taught emphatically to disconnect the negative cable first.

Once the negative cable is disconnected and secured away from contacting the negative post of the battery, that is sufficient. The circuit is opened. No electricity can flow. There is no need to disconnect the positive terminal, ever. (Unless removing the battery).

 

For safety reasons... yes, I practice what Y2KW57 mentioned - so I wholeheartedly agree with him. That's the difference between what will suffice and what is best.

 

How about an intake filter that uses the same media as the AIS, but in an open element filter like the 6637/AFE version?

Donaldson Blue® 6637 Intake Filter - Ford 7.3L Powerstroke

I got a push alert from the Riffraff app a few weeks ago letting me know Clay has these in stock.

I think I may try this filter when I need to replace my 6637.

Stewart

 

How about it? Not the same. The Donaldson Blue 6637 is colored blue, and the AIS is colored blue, but the media design is radically different.

The Donaldson Blue 6637 replacement is still an axially oriented cylinder of fan folded pleated filter, just like a Napa 6637, or Baldwin, or Tymar, or a large shop vac filter. The only difference with Donaldson's Blue version of this filter is that the fan folded paper itself is made of nano fibers that are smaller in diameter than the typical cellulose paper used to make similar filters, including Donaldson's white version of the same axial pleated filter.

The smaller diameter nanofibers in the Blue paper can fit closer together, which also reduces the space between fibers. Donaldson claims that the tighter interfiber space tolerances prevent dirt from penetrating deeper into the paper. Instead, the dirt is held at bay on the outer surface of the Blue paper. By comparison, the larger gaps in typical cellulose paper filters, gaps that are due to the larger individual fiber strand diameters in cellulose paper, permit dirt to drill itself deep into the pores of the cellular media, loading it up to restriction faster than if the dirt were blocked from entering the filter pores in the first place, according to Donaldson.

Donaldson claims a 2 to 1 ratio in favor of the Blue "Ultra Web" Nanofiber media. In other words, for every 2 cellular fiber 6637 filters one might typically replace, one would only need to replace 1 such filter with the Blue nanofiber pleated paper.

On the other hand, the Donaldson PowerCore technology of the AIS has a 3 to 1 ratio for dirt holding capacity, and that is because the entire method that the filter media is made, and the way that it functions, is radically different from a pleated paper filter. The PowerCore is like a "diode" honeycomb. The honeycomb is very deep, and every other cell of the honeycomb is blocked, on both the dirty side and the clean side. The channels that are open on the dirty side are blocked on the clean side. And the channels that are open on the clean side are blocked on the dirty side.

As dirty air enters the open channels on the dirty side, it can flow no further once it gets to the opposite end of the channel, because the channel is blocked on the clean side. Therefore, the air has to change directions INSIDE the filter. Instead of flowing through the channel, the air must now permeate through the very walls that define the channel, so it can "switch channels" to one that is open on the clean side. It is the channel switching, by passing through the walls that make the honeycomb, which causes the air to get filtered.

There is no resistance to dirt as air flows into the channels that are open on the dirty side. The dirt gets resisted when the air changes channels by passing through sides of the channel walls inside the honey comb, like a ghost passes through walls in a house. The air is constantly changing channels toward the direction of suction, like a late night insomniac changes channels of infomertials at 3 AM.

Since dirt is rejected at the point of passing through the wall, but the channel remains open on the entrance side, and furthermore is open downward... when the suction ceases, the big dirt falls down and OUT of the AIS filter, rather than getting trapped in the cracks between pleats on the Blue 6637 filter, and in the case of cellular fiber 6637 filters, also in the pores of the pleat material itself.

The open, downward oriented dirty side channels also permit the PowerCore / AIS filter to be periodically serviced with a few love taps, as seen in the photos further down below.

There is no PowerCore / AIS media available in a cylindrical shape like the 6637. By virtue of the Powercore filter flow pattern design, there CANNOT be, because there must be an equal surface area of open channels on both the clean and dirty sides of the PowerCore honeycomb. This equivalence in surface area is obviously not possible to achieve when air is flowing from the larger circumference outer surface of the cylinder to the smaller circumference inner ring. The only way a PowerCore could work in that shape would be if air entered one end of the cylinder, and exited on the opposite end. But this type of flow arrangement would not lash up to the typical 4" tube that the 6637 so easily mounts to. A funnel and an airbox would be required.

The filter media between the Donaldson Blue 6637 and the Donaldson designed Blue PowerCore AIS are both fundamentally and functionally very different, with the PowerCore having a higher dirt holding capacity with a smaller cubic space footprint. Donaldson summarizes the difference in efficiencies by using ratios... 3 to 1 (PowerCore) vs 2 to 1 (Blue Ultra Web Nanofiber).

That all being said... there is one area where the two blue but markedly different media filters are similar... in the paper itself. The blue colored filter in the AIS, such as what is originally sold by Ford/Motorcraft (also available from Donaldson) is a made of a higher, tighter strand and spacing nanofiber than the less expensive white version of the PowerCore media also sold by Donaldson, (and that is now available as even less expensive replacements sold in the aftermarket.) The substance of the paper itself is important, because that is what makes the walls of the honeycomb channels that the air seeps through to get to the open channels.

But it would be kind of misleading to suggest that the Donaldson Blue 6637 "is the same media" as the PowerCore in the AIS, as if the Blue 6637 was the same thing as the AIS in cylindrical form without an air box. It isn't.







Filter dirt tapping, into white grocery store bag, set on top of foam pad to cushion filter edges, with wood below the pad. Wood is also used between rubber mallet and filter frame, to distribute impact so as not to damage filter during dirt tapping.



First filter dirt drop, onto paper towel.

 

Hmmm, my bad. I could have sworn when I got the push notification that info was presented. In fact, that's the only reason the filter interested me.

I apologize for posting bad info.

Stewart

 

Reps sent Y2k, depending on brand of car I always disconnect one or the other, I get what you saying but on our trucks it's hard to hit any metal part unless your using a long foot wrench. On Chitty's well the positive is always an inch away from the inner fender (which is steel) but since the OP was just removing his chip would it matter which one he removed?

 

Thanks for the reps. About 20 years ago, I once did a little inadvertent welding with a small 1/2" wrench, no more than 6" long, while disconnecting the house battery bank of my motorhome. That gave me religion. The best practice is to make the best practice... the only practice.

I use only AGM batteries now. They don't outgas, generally speaking (unless in the middle of being severely over charged at voltages beyond what an alternator can generate). So in theory, I don't have to worry about spark ignited explosive acid gasses. But I still follow the best practice.

To remove the Banks chip on an F-SuperDuty (something I've done to my own SuperDuty without any problems) I would disconnect the negative cables to BOTH batteries. Disconnecting just one battery would not be enough, since the batteries are wired in parallel, not in series.

 

I thought it was great that you posted, because it is easy to see how a lot of people might think the same thing you did as far as the "blue" is concerned, and furthermore they would be highly motivated by the much cheaper price of the Blue 6637.

If they never had the AIS, which is highly probable, since they most likely would be looking to simply replace the older 6637 they're already plumbed for, they would be none the wiser, genuinely believing that they had "the same thing" as the AIS for 1/5th the price.

But no, they would not have the same thing as the PowerCore. They would still have a traditional pleated paper filter. Just with a better paper.

Your post also opened the door to talk about the difference in the microscopic quality of the paper, which will help people understand why the blue version of the AIS is better than the white version.

 

Y2k, thanks for the heads up on the chip, and the breakdown on the AIS awesome write up!

Just a quick update, after diagnosing and replacing the ICP the truck has been running great! I installed the AIS with no problems and also replaced my crappy dynafact gauges.

Still have a little over a half tank from camping (averaged 15.5 mpg, not towing, up and downhill, windy roads). Than I will be doing the hutch/harpoon mod using the ps120 mentioned earlier.