Particle filter: original vs. replica.

01.Caution fraud trap!

Increasing competition and the associated increase in production volumes have brought about a reduction in the costs of diesel particulate filters, which were previously very high.

Thus, the increased consumer demand for diesel particulate filters has also led to the fact that – in addition to the large manufacturers of particulate filters – dubious companies offering diesel particulate filters at cheap prices have also been able to integrate into the market.

Here however for you as a consumer largest caution is required!
Because: not every cheap diesel particulate filter meets the legal standards and requirements.

A defective, cheap DPF often has only limited functionality. Likewise, the structure or the catalytic effect of such a ‘cheap’ DPF may be limited.

This is the only way to save enormous costs in the production of DPFs, which enables the particularly favorable distribution of DPFs.

We can only advise you against claiming such ‘cheap DPFs’. Here is almost a downright fraud, since many of the consumers are not sufficiently informed, which functionalities a safe diesel particulate filter must fulfill and can be convinced finally by the price of such a ‘cheap filter’.

The result: unnecessary burdens – for the consumer’s wallet as well as for our environment!

Inexpensive DPFs, for example, can become clogged after just 10,000 kilometers, which in extreme cases can lead to damage to the engine.

In the following, we list the two most common scams used by low-cost suppliers and their often devastating effects. Often, these even occur in combined form, which allows the fraudsters to manufacture soot filters even more cheaply.

The goal of this article is to protect you from falling for ‘cheap replicas’ with limited functionality, thereby unnecessarily straining your wallet.

Many of the defective replicas are often not detected even in professional workshops or by TÜV inspectors.

Ultimately, a few hundred euros can be saved on the purchase of the filter for the time being. Later, however – after using the DPF – users of such cheap particulate filters can expect to have to invest several thousand euros in repairing the engine damage.

The purchase of such a cheap filter is therefore neither profitable in the short nor in the long term.

02.Fraud: installation of small DPF cores.

Original diesel particulate filters always have a certain core volume, the core size. This core filters the soot particles and also absorbs the ash produced during regeneration.

A major cost factor in a DPF is this filter core in particular – as well as the catalytic converter, which is also often part of the filter.

Here, the low-cost particulate filter suppliers are now trying to save considerable costs by installing smaller cores, so that filters (with a smaller core) can be offered at a much lower price.

However, if a smaller monolith (core) than usual is installed in the DPF, it is logically filled faster. The result is an increasing differential pressure, which signals to the ECU that regeneration is needed. Consequently, the internal vehicle regeneration starts more frequently than with an original diesel particulate filter.

However, the resulting increase in fuel consumption can be safely ignored when considering the other effects of increasing the regeneration intervals:

The engine oil is diluted in the long term, its lubricity decreases and the thermal load on the engine increases. The result is engine damage due to overheating!

And repairing these is really cost-intensive – compared to buying a new high-quality particulate filter or cleaning it.

03.Fraud: reduction of the precious metal of the catalytic layer of the DPF core (monolith).

DPF systems have a coating – both on the core (monolith) and on the catalyst. This coating is also referred to as the catalytic layer, which is applied to the core of the DPF and its filter channels.

The function of the catalyst, or catalytic layer, is to remove toxic substances from the exhaust gas. Another function of the catalyst in diesel vehicles with DPF is the self-ignition function.

During active DPF regeneration, when soot is to be burned in the filter, the control unit injects a small amount of diesel fuel into the exhaust system. The fuel consequently enters the catalytic converter, where it reacts with the catalytic layer. There it ignites, so that soot is burned in the filter.

However, the ignitability of the diesel fuel depends on the precious metal coating in the catalytic converter (the catalytic layer). Precious metals in particular – such as platinum, palladium or rhodium – are used as coatings, which have a certain saturation (thickness) and thus ensure successful DPF regeneration.

Also, precious metals with good saturation extend the life of the catalyst.

In the case of cheap diesel particulate filters, very thin coatings are often applied. These just about enable the functionality of the diesel particulate filter.

The major disadvantage here, however, is that such catalytic converters usually only have an approximate service life of 20,000 km and often malfunction and drop out during regeneration.

04.Conclusion.

In this DPF scam, the soot filters are provided with a defective filter core coating. Although this enables a supposedly low purchase price for the DPF, the filter clogs up after a very short time (faulty regeneration).

Here, however, the risk for you as a consumer is lower than in scam 1, to get a permanent engine damage by using such a “cheap DPF”.

For example, although there are European regulations for the service life of catalytic converters, there are no controls or penalties for manufacturers for non-compliance with the standards. So manufacturers try to reduce the saturation of valuable precious metals to the technical minimum and can thus produce particularly cheap DPFs.

05.Recommendation of Barten GmbH.

If you have a functional original particulate filter that is clogged, it usually does not need to be replaced to regain the technical properties of a new filter.

We offer you cost-effective, safe cleaning with our innovative thermal cleaning process. By means of thermal-mechanical cleaning we can guarantee the complete cleaning of your particle filter. DPF cleaning by means of thermal cleaning process is: fast, cost-effective and safe.

Thus, already 80% of the filters are completely freed from soot and ash residues within one to two days, so that the filter has the technical properties of a new filter again after cleaning.