For those that would like to install a drain plug with a magnet and find them to expensive do as I did. I used neo magnets from Ebay(like item 190941084399) and drilled a recess hole in my motors drain plugs and set a magnet in it. I don't use any adhesive as the magnet is so strong it doesn't come loose. Just make sure hole is deep enough.
DIY Magnetic Drain Plugs
- Thread starter Bill Ellerby
- Start date
- Tags drain magnetic plugs
I don't think magnetizing the drain plug would come close to the magnetic power of those neodymium magnets-those things are CrAzY magnetic.
Wikipedia says they are THE strongest magnet commercially available so yeah, magnetizing a ferrous alloy drain plug isn't going to come close, IMHO...
Neodymium magnet (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia says they are THE strongest magnet commercially available so yeah, magnetizing a ferrous alloy drain plug isn't going to come close, IMHO...
Neodymium magnet (Wikipedia)
Well, I kinda thought it was obvious (or maybe you are being a smart arse. . .he he he, nooooo NOT YOU!) but it's capture ferrous metal shavings, chips, etc? :shrug:
On a typical small engine, there likely isn't much of this other than maybe some from the rings or cast iron liner (if you have one) or ball bearings (again, if you engine has one) or contaminates in the oil (if you have some crappy oil or contaminated it somehow). So it's probably not a huge need on the typical small engine, especially with oil not going through an oil pump or circulating in a larger, more complex engine or anything like that.
HOWEVER, there are definitely many applications where a magnet on the drain plug would be pretty awesome, such as many other types of more complex engines or parts with plenty of potential ferrous chips and metal detritus in the oil. Rear differentials would be a big one-I know my old Toyota truck which was pretty abused by the former owner, had all sorts of metallic crap attached to the plug and an obvious sparkly sheen to the used gear oil due to metal dust in it.
I also had a great running VW bug many moons ago, that when I went to change the oil I found bits of a piston ring and aluminum chunks in the screen (obviously a magnet wouldn't have captured the latter, though). After freaking out, I figured out it was from before the previous owner's rebuild when they blew the motor but apparently didn't get all the fragments out.
Another example is my Honda CB500/4 motorcycle which has had a few little metal filings show up on the magnetic plug-nothing really to worry about, but I'm glad it's not circulating around in the oil anymore, potentially scratching up stuff like the oil pump, etc.
TL
R (too long, didn't read) version: To get ferrous crap out of your oil in many applications, with some more likely to have this type of contamination than others. :thumbsup:
On a typical small engine, there likely isn't much of this other than maybe some from the rings or cast iron liner (if you have one) or ball bearings (again, if you engine has one) or contaminates in the oil (if you have some crappy oil or contaminated it somehow). So it's probably not a huge need on the typical small engine, especially with oil not going through an oil pump or circulating in a larger, more complex engine or anything like that.
HOWEVER, there are definitely many applications where a magnet on the drain plug would be pretty awesome, such as many other types of more complex engines or parts with plenty of potential ferrous chips and metal detritus in the oil. Rear differentials would be a big one-I know my old Toyota truck which was pretty abused by the former owner, had all sorts of metallic crap attached to the plug and an obvious sparkly sheen to the used gear oil due to metal dust in it.
I also had a great running VW bug many moons ago, that when I went to change the oil I found bits of a piston ring and aluminum chunks in the screen (obviously a magnet wouldn't have captured the latter, though). After freaking out, I figured out it was from before the previous owner's rebuild when they blew the motor but apparently didn't get all the fragments out.
Another example is my Honda CB500/4 motorcycle which has had a few little metal filings show up on the magnetic plug-nothing really to worry about, but I'm glad it's not circulating around in the oil anymore, potentially scratching up stuff like the oil pump, etc.
TL
R (too long, didn't read) version: To get ferrous crap out of your oil in many applications, with some more likely to have this type of contamination than others. :thumbsup: 