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Oil Analysis Without Particle Counting?
Ron Behnke, Senior Reliability Engineer, General
Mills Operations
If less then 1% of the samples are above alarm limits, I would
be suspicious that something is not right.
I would first verify the alarm limits versus the equipment requirements.
Second - verify that the lube sampling method is pulling representative
samples. Third - review lube changeout practices and timing and
compare to sampling timing to make sure that lube change are not
too frequent, and that sampling is not routinely being done after
a fresh oil change. Finally, verify the lab's capability by sending
duplicate samples to another lab.
If this all checks out, start to lengthen the interval between
sampling until it starts to provide useful feedback. Stopping
cold turkey without verifying the quality of the data is reckless
and will be very difficult to explain after a major equipment
failure due to lubrication issues.
See other responses
to this Readers Challenge.
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