CorradoPsi said:
the cap can pop out under a hard hit or landing, allowing the element to fall out and leave your engine completely unprotected.
A catastrophic failure can happen to any air filter under these conditions. I have had a filter that uses a screw to a plastic lid on to the top brake off during impact causing the filter to slide off of the inner housing tube. With the motor saver, I have seen evidence of the cap being displace but the upward pressure of the foam kept it in place. Under extreme circumstances and the proper conditions any filter can fail. I don't see how this can be seen as a design flaw.
CorradoPsi said:
without a support tube inside the filter element it is free to collapse under vacuum. when it collapses it allows a gap between the bottom of the housing and the filter element, this allows in dirt.
If the element is in good shape it is much larger then the filter housing. Once the cap is on ""If the element is properly installed"" This isn't an issue. I have seen many people use the wrong size element in the 1/8th scale filters.
CorradoPsi said:
it will collapse when clogged with dirt, or brand new because the elements come over oiled.
Both these issues are user error. Being over oiled is the users issue. Do you ever use a part before looking it over first? I know you don't but others may. Motor Saver makes an off road "Cap" for extreme use. This will keep the filter from becoming clogged to the point of restricting flow. If the user chooses not to use it, its not a design flaw. Its a user flaw. I also believe that the cap would minimize the remote possibility of the cap coming off and the filter element dislodging to close to 99.99999%.
CorradoPsi said:
i didn't believe it when i was told either, but when i see the result on an engine i know was well maintained
Maintaining an engine well and getting something in the the engine are two different issues.
According to your post, the filter never came off of this engine. I assume the damage caused was from normal usage over time using only a motor saver. If this is the case, your friend may need to take a look at the way he maintains this part of his car. It doesn't matter how good you are everyone has a weak spot. You nor I were with the engine every single time it was used so there is a huge un-known here. My life long observation of humans shows me its a lot easier to put blame on something that can't argue back. I have also observed that people like to place blame places other them themselves. Nothing against your friend but I find the possibilities greater in this statement then saying its the filters fault.
CorradoPsi said:
I can and did.
No part is perfect and there is always room for improvement but to say the part suffers from design flaws is not IMO proper in this instance. I brake parts on my RC all the time. DO a search on broke A-Arms on a T-Maxx. 99.999% of them are user error. I had a sidewall blow out on the tire of my 1:1 the other day. Was it a bad tire? I believe it was. I don't ""remember"" hitting a curb or a pot hole. Have others had this same issue with the same tire design? The laws of probability say yes. Was it a design flaw? I don't think so.
Don't get my post wrong. Your friend may very well have had an issue with his filter as well as others but to say its from design flaws, IMO is a Flawed statement.
