From "Maintenance Planning and Scheduling Handbook"

Lubrication is the most commonly recognized portion of a PM program. Unfortunately, an improper lubrication PM can be more damaging to equipment than having no PM service at all. For instance, many times a technician introduces dirt into a bearing by not wiping a grease fitting beforehand. Although general technician skill should prevent such practice, PM plans can help by including rags for wiping. PM plans can also guard against using oil with any chance of moisture content by specifying new containers where practical.

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QUESTION: What is the term used to define the measure of a fluid’s internal resistance to flow?

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"What are electrostatic separators? Are they different from regular filters?"

Electrostatic separators remove insoluble by-products of thermal and oxidative oil degradation (varnish particles) and submicron hard dirt or wear particles that are too small to be removed by conventional mechanical filters.

Submicron hard particles are usually polar, or attracted to other polar surfaces by nature. Varnish particles are usually polar as a result of the thermal or oxidative process that produced them. As a result, when a polar particle is passed through a high potential (high voltage, no current) electrostatic field, it is attracted to the negative or positive pole in the field, whichever is opposite the particle's charge. It is similar to a magnet being attracted to the opposite pole of another magnet.

There is evidence that these devices work quite well assuming the conditions for their use are good, the devices are sized properly (they operate on a low-flow multipass principle), no water is present (water compromises the electrostatic field by carrying current) and the oil doesn't contain detergents and dispersants that hold the contaminants in suspension.

When conditions are right, electrostatic separators make an excellent addition to an overall contamination control strategy, bringing into balance the focus upon large particles and water with the elimination of varnish particles and silt.

Drew Troyer, Noria Corporation

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