How often do you buy a new one? The paper looks pretty dusty. I could use a shop vac or compressed air but I doubt it would help very much.
Theoretically, the foam pre filter can be used and reused indefinitely as long as you clean it. After a while the foam can get sort of crumbly and start falling apart, then you’ll know its past its expiration date. Or you can replace it every year or according to schedule. The pre-filter can greatly extend the life of the main metal-mesh-paper filter because it prevents the latter from getting encrusted with debris. Looked at a Subaru EX17 manual (page 10) and it says:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/4136080/Subaru-Ex17.html#manual
6. CLEANING AIR CLEANER
A dirty air cleaner element will cause starting difficulty, power
loss, engine malfunctions and shorten engine life extremely.
Always keep the air cleaner element clean.
A. Urethane Foam Element Type (See Fig 7-6)
Remove the element and wash it in kerosene
fuel. Then saturate it in a mixture of 3 parts kerosene or
diesel fuel and 1 part engine oil. Squeeze the element
to remove the excess mixture
(See Figo-6)-0)
B. Dual Element Type (Urethane Foam and Paper
elements) (See Fig.m-O)
Urethane Foam cleaning (See Fig.äl-Ø-O)
Wash and clean the urethane foam with detergent.
After cleaning, dry it.
Clean the urethane foam every 50 hours.
Paper Element Cleaning:
Clean by tapping gently to remove dirt and blow off dust.
Never use oil. Clean the paper element every 50 hours
of operation, and replace element set every 200 hours
Denny is, I guess, that proverbial “creepy uncle” we keep hearing about. I never had a creepy uncle so I can’t relate.
