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Thoughts on GoldPlug magnetic oil drain plug?

900 views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  ylwagon 
#1 ·
2004.5 vw passat 1.8 turbo - automatic (~180k miles)

I was thinking about getting a magnetic oil drain plug. Was thinking about getting a goldplug:
https://goldplug.com/shop/ap08/

Anyone have thoughts on whether or not this is a good idea?

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Anyone have thoughts on whether or not this is a good idea?
It says: "Pulls metal particles from your engine." :icon_eek: Do we expect metal particles be in the engine? If that is the case then you have far more serious issue than just collecting them.
These are all innovative commercial tricks to make money. I don't believe it. Cars have run w/o this Magnetic Plugs! for ages and nothing has happened as long as you use proper and enough oil in it.
 
#6 ·
Hard drive magnets are very strong but they may lose their magnetic properties when exposed to heat. All magnets do - it's called the Curie effect - but some formulations are more resistant to heat than others. I don't know how the rare-earth magnets inside a hard drive will be affected by engine temps but it is something to keep in mind. Plus, they are usually quite brittle and nickel plated. If some of that stuff breaks off it could get into the oil stream.
 
#7 ·
Neodymium magnets are often used in disk drives and have one of the lowest Curie temperatures, around 600 degrees F, so I wouldn't worry about the engine oil temperature being a problem.

On that topic, in the 80's I was with a Xerox division that made some large industrial disk drives, which had huge Alnico magnets (~20 lbs). The magnetizing process was impressive, requiring a cabinet full of high-voltage capacitors which would all be switched together by big transistors, suddenly combine their energy to cables supplying the magnetizing tub, where the magnet was. The current was incredibly high for a brief moment, making the thick copper cables actually jump. One day something went wrong, and a bunch of the transistors exploded. Fortunately the cabinet doors kept the flying debris from going all over the building.
 
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