Cabin filter replaced, now airflow is distinctly low.

[OldBomb]

I get a lot of my **** from AliExpress nowadays. $45 for a hi-flow air filter. K&N variant is 3 times the price.

 

[Fu Manchu]

I get a lot of my **** from AliExpress nowadays. $45 for a hi-flow air filter. K&N variant is 3 times the price.

 

[Simso1]

Of course it will back to normal when you take the filter out.
People are forgetting that there are different quality filter fabrics, not only the number of pleats.

That actually wasnt my point.

many times we can fit something and damage someth8ng else in the process of the fitment, removing the cabin filter allows them to check if it is the same as it was previously, if it isnt then possibly they may have damaged the fan itself or something else

if the airflow returns to how it was then you know factually the fitment of the filter has now slowed the fan speed, next step is to work out the why

steve

 

[Fu Manchu]

Let’s go back a few pages.
These cars are not new anymore. The first VE’s are now 17 years old! 17 years of the blower motor working hard to blow farts out the air gaps. The fan motors can be a bit how ya goin’.

I’m betting in this situation the blower motor is a bit worn out.

 

[greenacc]

Let’s go back a few pages.
These cars are not new anymore. The first VE’s are now 17 years old! 17 years of the blower motor working hard to blow farts out the air gaps. The fan motors can be a bit how ya goin’.

I’m betting in this situation the blower motor is a bit worn out.

Without reading this whole thread again I do believe it's 3 people who say they fitted wesfil filters and noticed reduced flow. And I mentioned that the filter material looks more like blue A4 paper than filter paper.
So let's test that. If you put a few sheets of A4 paper over your mouth don't you think it would make it hard to breathe? The only explanation people have offered is the number of pleats, and wrong installation. But they're ignoring the fact these filters are cheaper for a reason.

 

[Fu Manchu]

Ok.

 

[Skylarking]

The only explanation people have offered is the number of pleats, and wrong installation. But they're ignoring the fact these filters are cheaper for a reason.

Less pleats is simply an easy cost cutting measure as it allows for less filter media to be used. And given the airflow needs of the hvac are a constant, the outcome of using less filter media almost always will result in the filter media clogging up sooner than a quality cabin filter with more pleats.

The quality of the filter medium itself is much harder to gauge but one would expect that the filter medium isn’t going to be more restrictive as it gets cheaper. If anything I’d say that the cheaper the filter gets, the the less filtering it can actually do as the maker would want to avoid airflow restrictions which would be noticeable to the end customer.

Put in a simpler way, cheap filters won’t filter well while still maintaining good airflow…

As such, pleats are still the simplest laypersons method to determine filter quality but like anything, there is no steadfast rule and everything must be taken with a grain of salt.

Heck, the Chinese stuff that some people buy on the www is utter garbage and not even fit for use. So people need to carefully evaluate where they are getting stuff from, what they have and whether it‘s indeed “milk“ they’ve got or they’ve being sold “milk with melamine”…

With this in mind, @tomsan ’s issue would either be (1) forged non genuine and really crappy made product, (2) genuine filter but some poor filter manufacture QC/QA has let a crappy product where too much glue has wicked up and spread across the filter media restricting airflow get through to the end customer, (3) install issue where the fan assembly was knocked and that has caused a performance problem, (4) there is something forgotten within the airstream that is now blocking airflow (wouldn’t be the first time someone has left a rag where it shouldn’t be) or (5) nothing wrong with the filter and it’s just a coincidence that the fan or some other hvac control has partly pooed itself

But tomsan revisiting the install and putting back the old screen filter would be a good sanity check that may rule out some hardware related mishap. And doing such would also allow him to again carefully inspect the wesfil cabin filter is indeed ok and not suffering some QC issue…

It does seem that tomsan wants to go back to mesh but as he trashed not got something to use. Hopefully he’s close enough to @lmoengnr as he’s kindly offered him one of hist spare screen filter. If the offer is taken, then we may finally get an answer..

 

[greenacc]

Less pleats is simply an easy cost cutting measure as it allows for less filter media to be used. And given the airflow needs of the hvac are a constant, the outcome of using less filter media almost always will result in the filter media clogging up sooner than a quality cabin filter with more pleats.

The quality of the filter medium itself is much harder to gauge but one would expect that the filter medium isn’t going to be more restrictive as it gets cheaper. If anything I’d say that the cheaper the filter gets, the the less filtering it can actually do as the maker would want to avoid airflow restrictions which would be noticeable to the end customer.

Put in a simpler way, cheap filters won’t filter well while still maintaining good airflow…

As such, pleats are still the simplest laypersons method to determine filter quality but like anything, there is no steadfast rule and everything must be taken with a grain of salt.

Heck, the Chinese stuff that some people buy on the www is utter garbage and not even fit for use. So people need to carefully evaluate where they are getting stuff from, what they have and whether it‘s indeed “milk“ they’ve got or they’ve being sold “milk with melamine”…

With this in mind, @tomsan ’s issue would either be (1) forged non genuine and really crappy made product, (2) genuine filter but some poor filter manufacture QC/QA has let a crappy product where too much glue has wicked up and spread across the filter media restricting airflow get through to the end customer, (3) install issue where the fan assembly was knocked and that has caused a performance problem, (4) there is something forgotten within the airstream that is now blocking airflow (wouldn’t be the first time someone has left a rag where it shouldn’t be) or (5) nothing wrong with the filter and it’s just a coincidence that the fan or some other hvac control has partly pooed itself

But tomsan revisiting the install and putting back the old screen filter would be a good sanity check that may rule out some hardware related mishap. And doing such would also allow him to again carefully inspect the wesfil cabin filter is indeed ok and not suffering some QC issue…

It does seem that tomsan wants to go back to mesh but as he trashed not got something to use. Hopefully he’s close enough to @lmoengnr as he’s kindly offered him one of hist spare screen filter. If the offer is taken, then we may finally get an answer..

Waaaay too many assumptions used in reaching your conclusion. Sounds like you are simply stuck on one train of thought.
There are all sorts of ways to cut costs on filters. Your logic would imply that the cheapest Chinese air filter you can get online should always outflow the most expensive brands. Gee I bet K&N are getting themselves into a panic now that their secret is out.
Imagine the horsepower gains to be had by installing an air filter from Alibaba for $4.31

 

[Skylarking]

Your logic would imply that the cheapest Chinese air filter you can get online should always outflow the most expensive brands.

And they’d almost certainly outflow them while providing SFA filtration being the point

 

[greenacc]

And they’d almost certainly outflow them while providing SFA filtration being the point

Glad you see my point! So the manufacturer has several choices to make to produce something like a cabin filter. Type, quality and the number of pleats/ surface area of filter media to use being just a few. The wesfil I fitted has plenty of pleats and plenty of paper. Unfortunately, to the naked eye the paper seems to be a very cheap and restrictive type. Don't forget we are talking about paper not a woven fabric. Woven fabric you save money by reducing the number of fibers, this increases the space between the fibres and increases flow but reduces the amount of crud the filter would actually catch.
With paper filters you pay by the hole. So the cheapest paper would have the least number of holes per square metre so flow less than a more expensive paper with more holes and probably smaller holes to catch more pollen and soot.
The fan is very quiet, there's nothing rubbing on the fan and it even sounds like it's working hard to suck air through the filter. Like it's trying to breathe through a straw.