Filter Cross Referencing

With so many filter manufacturers in today’s market and each of them manufacturing or private branding the same filter for a particular application,  and each with their own unique part number, effectively cross referencing filters to identify the correct number you require can be somewhat difficult to say the least.

1.     What part number should you start with?

2.     How do you know the filters fitted to your machine now are the correct ones?

Here’s a few tips to help you correctly identify the filters you require.

If possible always use the OE part number for your application to prevent an indirect cross reference occurring. If you have a parts manual for your machine, this may be the best place to commence.

Depending on the age of your machine and the number of owners it has had, It’s highly likely that somewhere down the line during the service history of your machine, someone could have fitted an incorrect part, known in the industry as a “will fit”. Unless they are still the original ones fitted and have not yet been replaced.

At ricoeurope.com we offer an extensive database for filter cross reference and filter application information to help you correctly identify and buy the Filters you require.

There are also many other website resources including Baldwin, Fleetguard, Donaldson, Filtrec, SF Filter, HIFI, Wix

Visit the sites and familiarise yourself with them, as well as cross reference Information there are also a variety of other useful tools you can use such as application searches, size chart searches, training videos and a mass of other useful literature too.

When using the cross reference search boxes on any of the websites, the site may have difficulty identifying your part number. Try removing any beginning (0) zeros, (-) hyphens, (/) slashes, (.), full stops and any ( ) spaces from the part number. Some sites will recognise this context and some will not.

There are many filters that look completely identical, whilst they can have exactly the same threads and dimensions, the issue is that the internal components such as the filtering media and by-pass valves could be completely different.

Using a filter which is not suitable for your application could cause serious damage to your equipment. Seek advice from a professional filtration specialist like RICOEurope to ensure you use the correct parts.