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In This Issue:

• Up Front: Reservoir Maintenance Gadgets

• Book Bits: Lubrication/Relubrication Practices

• Today's Tip: Sampling Refrigeration Compressor Oils
  

• Q & A: Are Your Lubes Risky?
  

Up Front

Reservoir Maintenance Gadgets

If you like gadgets that make your life simpler, you're going to like this. Have you seen these all-in-one "fill-sample-filter" devices that affix to the fill-port of reservoirs?

I like these products because they let you perform a lot of functions from one location. Filling and filtering is made easy with quick-connect coupling attachments. Both desiccant and particle-removing filters can be attached as well as filter indicators. An oil sampling valve makes reservoir sampling easy.

Installation is simple - just replace your standard hydraulic fill-cap with the device and you're set. No drilling or tapping required. They are available from several vendors :

Schematic Approach
JLM Systems
Y2K Fluid Power

Are you already using products like these to simplify reservoir maintenance? Let me know how you like them and if you're using any other attachments on them.

Mike Ramsey
mramsey@noria.com

Book Bits

Lubrication/Relubrication Practices

From "Practicing Oil Analysis 2002 Conference Proceedings". Excerpt taken from the section "Precision Lubrication for the Power Generation Industry":

Odd as it may seem, few organizations have engineered processes for lubricating and relubricating machines. This often prompts the question: once the lubricant is properly selected, what is involved to properly lubricate a machine? There is more to it than meets the eye. Greasing bearings, for example, requires calculation of the optimized volume of lubricant to apply and the frequency with which to apply it. Is a grease gun really the best method for greasing that bearing? Or would a single- point applicator, centralized system, or even a mist system do a better job, reduce cost, or eliminate safety risks associated with lubricating a hard-to-reach component? Likewise, should a gearbox be fit with a quick-connect fitting so that oil can be added through a filter cart without opening the system and exposing it to the environment? These and many other questions must be addressed.

Click here for more information about the "Practicing Oil Analysis 2002 Conference Proceedings".

Today's Tip

• When sampling refrigeration compressor oils, particularly some synthetics such as polyalkylene glycols (PAGs) and polyolesters (POEs), it is of paramount importance that the lubricant is exposed to the air for as little time as possible. This applies particularly in humid environments. The reason for this is that these lubricants are hygroscopic, that is, they absorb uncondensed water vapor directly from humid air. Accurate moisture content reading is vital for the analysis of most refrigerant system lubricants. It is for this reason that the lubricant should be given as little exposure to the atmosphere as possible.

  Likewise, it is important that your laboratory take equal care not to expose the oil to the air when it carries out its tests. Ideally the moisture content test should be the first one performed. (Tip submitted by Ashley Mayer, ABB South Africa)

Each tip published will earn the sender $25. Click here to submit your tip.

Q & A

Are Your Lubes Risky?

"Is lubricating oil considered a hazardous waste in the United States?"

In the U.S., used lubricating oil has never been listed as hazardous under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The RCRA requires that the generators of used oil waste apply their knowledge or test waste streams in order to determine whether they are hazardous.

Also, used oil filters have never been listed as hazardous waste under federal law. Although in 1992, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided that only non-terne plated filter canisters which have been gravity hot-drained (>12 hours) need not be tested to determine whether they are hazardous. In the future, those filters will automatically be considered non-hazardous. Terne-plated oil filters used in some heavy-duty applications were not included in the exemption because the metal plating contains an alloy of lead and tin.

Ref. FMC Bulletin 94-7R

Jim Fitch, Noria Corporation

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