Will, you are correct, there are filters that bypass oil from the bottom of the tube, up through the middle...and there are others that will allow the oil to bypass directly underneath the baseplate at the top of the filter.
I would tend to agree that directly under the baseplate may be partially and slightly more beneficial in some respects, but it costs more to build them that way, which is why that style is typically on premium-priced filters.
However...you are making a fundamental error in your understanding of how the bypass functions in either filter: The oil filter MUST BE FULL OF OIL and the pressure rating must then be exceeded BEFORE the bypass valve can open and go into bypass mode, in both the top bypass as well as the bottom bypass style of filter. The spring plate or spring is still at the bottom of the can, but it makes no difference no matter where it is...pressure builds equally in a closed system.
Without trying to sound too harsh, I would not place a lot of confidence on that video's presenter. He makes several dubious and specious observations about the quality of the filter's components. For instance, he takes care to point out that the Fram filter's anti-drain back valve is hard and brittle and probably would not be effective at it's function. I agree. He then states that this used oil filter has sat under his bench in his workshop for SEVEN YEARS. Of course the components are going to exhibit some severe degradation at that point. And he then shows the hard, fossilized remnants of carbon imbedded in the filter pleats...stating that these could break off of the filter media in by-pass mode and possibly cause a spun bearing or some such catastrophe.
I agree: If anyone was to take a 7-year old USED oil filter and install it on thier vehicle and start driving they have a high likelihood of substantial engine probelms.
Of course, NONE of these filters is designed to be used in that manner, so the point he makes is totally without merit or value in any reasonable situation.
In several instances, instead of competently explaining a somewhat technical point, he instead covers it by saying "blah, blah, blah"...which is hardly informative.
He is the kind of guy who probably has a pretty good level of experience in automotive mechanics and is more interested than most in the functions of different systems...but he fills his opinions with rhetoric and assumptions and then draws false conclusions based on "ratty data".
The point is: On either type of filter, it is not possible for the filter to remain empty or partially filled with oil (rendering it not completely pressurized) and to then also have the bypass valve open up.
Many years ago (in 2005), I was priveleged to be included in a group of consultants to ExxonMobil Corp. The project had many components, but I was involved in only two of them.
One of them was based predominently on my recommendation that Mobil 1 oil be offered in a new "Classic Car" formula. The then-new GF-4 standards for PCMO dictated an extremely lowered amount of ZDDP in current PCMO. This resulted in (as we all know by now) many engines, freshly or recently rebuilt, or just well-taken-care-off older original engines...ending up with wiped cam lobes and galled lifters.
The lowered zinc content in GF-4 just did not provide adequate sacrificial-barrier protection. My suggestion was to have a non-compliance "Classic Car" formula with adequate levels of ZDDP for use in cars not regulated under new-car guidelines. ExxonMobil's stance was that there was too much possibility of average consumers installing non-approved oil in newer vehicles, thus violating government standards.
Thier eventual solution was to develop a "High Mileage" version that was was higher in ZDDP (not as high as I suggested), yet still not so high as to cause issues in modern vehicles.
The other project was funded by one (or maybe more) of the auto manufacturers (they would not divulge who) that were contemplating some type of system that would alert the driver of the vehicle when his oil filter was operating under bypass mode. This would ostensibly encourage the driver to get more frequent oil changes once the frequency of bypass mode operation reached or exceeded a determined level.
This of course was met with several probelms, the foremeost being that the typical consumer has no real idea what that means or why it affects him. And the typical driver ceratinly does not want to take the time and effort to find out why this is beneficial to his engine.
So, it was then proposed to simply add the function to the car's computer programming to further assist in when to light up the generic "service vehcile soon " or "Change oil now" light.
Then, of course...the actual cost of installing the system on OEM vehicles was considered. Typical screw-on can-style filters were immediatly ruled out as not a viable system to impleament such an idea, for obvious reasons.
That left canister-style filters as the only alternative to consider, but the cost vs rewards analysis was still too far out of whack, so they "tabled" the whole project...and that was the end of my involvement!
It is a viable idea, so with the advancement in technology and ever-more restrictive regulations it may well have its day in the sun.
