A new innovation in the world of diesel engines is getting its start right here in Sanborn County.
The Diesel Air Filter Cleaner was invented after Shawn Peterson got tired of spending time cleaning air filters with a regular air compressor wand and an idea popped in his head.
That led to hours of trial and error building prototypes and dealing with a language barrier with a Chinese engineer.  Finally, after about a year, and realizing they would have to add moving parts to the design, Peterson and his partner, Al Westendorf, created their first Diesel Air Filter Cleaner.
Their design is currently in the patent pending stage. So now the duo, along with a few employees, are busy promoting and selling the product, traveling around to farm shows, fairs and conventions.
Their sales pitch boasts the cleaner can save five gallons of fuel per hour and can pay for itself in one day. It works on multiple sizes of radial seal filters, is said to work at a completely safe psi to not damage the filter and it can make the filter last longer.
Peterson says about 100 cleaners have been sold so far, following the three days of Dakotafest and they have high hopes for a good showing at the State Fair this weekend. Their factory, currently located in a cleaned out hog shed, can handle a little more demand, but Peterson and Westendorf are hoping to eventually expand their operation.
During the early development stages there came a point the two thought they were dead in the water. They came across a similar product a man in Idaho was attempting to build. This cleaner didn’t yet have a rotating nozzle, therefore didn’t work well. Once Peterson and Westendorf added their nozzle, they immediately contacted a patent lawyer and began the long process of getting the invention under patent.
Peterson says right now all but one part on the filter cleaner are made here in the US, and they are working with a machinist to produce that part.
To learn more, they can be found online at www.dieselairfiltercleaner.com. They will also be at the State Fair in the inventors booth towards the north end of the fairgrounds, near the swine building and right across from Double D Western Wear.