Why heavy-duty filters are different
Heavy-duty filters are large, heavy and expensive to replace. A truck, bus or coach that comes in with a blocked filter usually has two options: fit a new one, or send the old one away and keep the vehicle off the road until it comes back. For a fleet, that downtime often costs more than the clean itself.
Because the filters are expensive and the vehicles work to a schedule, many fleets already plan filter work around services and inspections. Cleaning in-house turns that into a routine job. You decide when filters are cleaned, how long a vehicle stands, and whether to keep a cleaned spare ready to swap so the vehicle leaves the same day.
Ash builds up whatever the duty cycle, and regeneration can’t burn it off, so a filter that has been regenerated many times will still need cleaning eventually.
The machine for large-format filters
The METClean XL Multi+ is the large-format platform in the range, with a longer working space than the car-and-van cabinets and PLC control with an operator screen. It is positioned as a multi-service machine; which services and component types are confirmed for the current model is shown on its machine page, and we confirm them against the components you see.
The manual for the earlier XL describes the heavy-duty workflow: the filter is held by a pneumatic clamping ram, the pneumatic door is closed with two hands, a pre-test measures how full the filter is, and an automatic wash is followed by a hot dry through a separate drying hose, with an audible alarm and beacon at the end of each stage. How far that carries over to the Multi+ is confirmed when we look at your filters.
Mixed fleets often have vans and cars too. Their filters fit the METClean S, and a depot can run one beside an XL Multi+ so the large machine stays free for heavy-duty work. The METClean WashPRO is a heated parts washer for general component cleaning, not a DPF cleaning machine.
- Working space
- Awaiting approval
- Control
- PLC/HMI
- Cleans per tank fill
- 30–40 expected
Handling, throughput and staffing
Lifting is the first thing to plan. Heavy-duty filters need a lifting aid or two people, a clear route from the vehicle to the machine and room around the cabinet to line the filter up with the clamp. Tell us the heaviest filters you handle so the setup and adaptors suit them.
Throughput depends on filter size, how blocked it is, the wash time set and how long it takes to dry. Heavily blocked filters need a longer low-pressure start to avoid damage, and some combined filter and catalyst units hold too much water to dry in the machine and are finished in a filter oven or on the vehicle with a drive cycle. We don’t quote a number of filters per shift; we work it out from your own mix of vehicles.
Train enough people to cover your shift pattern, not just one specialist. The pneumatic door and clamp bring trap hazards that operators must understand, and the daily filter and water checks need someone responsible for them. A simple log of each filter’s serial number, vehicle and condition helps you spot vehicles that keep coming back.
Utilities and waste
A large-format machine needs a dedicated electrical supply sized for its heaters and pump, a compressed-air supply and a water supply for filling. Supply and heater figures are still being confirmed for the current model, so we agree them with your electrician before installation rather than from a brochure.
Heavy-duty filters carry more soot, ash and road dirt, so the water filters fill faster and the waste volumes are larger than in a car workshop. The closed loop filters and settles the working water for reuse; when it reaches the end of its useful life, the used water, sediment and spent filter elements go through your approved waste route, and the tank and housings are cleaned before refilling.
- External dimensions
- Awaiting approval
- Electrical supply
- Awaiting approval
- Protective device
- Awaiting approval
- Compressed air
- Awaiting approval
Plant and agricultural machinery
Plant and farm machinery filters raise the same questions as trucks, with a few of their own. The machines work long hours at low speed and under load, which doesn’t always suit regeneration, and they are often a long way from a dealer. Filters come in more varied shapes, so adaptors are the first thing to check.
Plant hire and contractors
Downtime on a hired machine can cost more than the filter. A depot that cleans its own filters can turn machines round between hires and keep cleaned spares for the most common models. Some smaller plant filters may fit the S; check them against its working space. Larger ones need the XL Multi+.
Farms and agricultural dealers
Cleaning demand tends to peak with the season, when machinery can least afford to stand. Plan for a trained person available at those times, and clean filters ahead of the season where you can. Mud and dust on the outside of filters add to the waste the water filters have to catch, so plan for more frequent filter maintenance.
The fleet business case
Start with what blocked filters cost you now: replacement filters, outside cleaning fees, transport, and the days each vehicle stands while it waits. Add the revenue lost when a vehicle misses work, and whether you could clean filters for other operators nearby. Against that sit the machine, staff time and running costs for water, cleaning product, filter elements and power; delivery, installation and on-site training come with the XL Multi+.
The profit calculator works through those figures on your own assumptions. It gives a worked example rather than a promised payback, and we are happy to go through your fleet’s filter history with you.
In-house cleaning won’t suit every fleet. If you see only a few heavy-duty filters a year, an outside service is likely cheaper. Cracked, melted or oil-soaked filters need replacing, and a vehicle that keeps blocking its filter needs its fault found first. We are gathering case studies from heavy-duty users and will publish them once checked.
- Warranty
- 12 months, with an engineer to site where self-help isn’t possible
- Installation
- We deliver the XL Multi+ and install it at your site.
- Training
- On site with your team at installation.
Talk to us about your fleet
Tell us your vehicles, filter sizes and volumes, and we’ll suggest a setup and arrange a demonstration.