When evaluating diesel engine oil analysis, makeup oil is an important trend to consider. Excessive make-up oil can signal problems with the engine that otherwise may go unnoticed for an unacceptable period of time. It can also mask warning signals in the oil analysis such as abnormal base number depletion, abnormal additive depletion, and abnormal increases or decreases in viscosity. Excessive make-up oil also dilutes high wear metal trends and contamination levels (for example, soot, fuel, dirt and coolant).

Contact your OEM for typical makeup oil rates for your equipment. The concept of trending makeup oil complements other information gathered by reliability and predictive maintenance-focused personnel.

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Effective Contamination Control for Lubrication Professionals

Join Noria's Jim Fitch for Effective Contamination Control training in Raleigh, NC on November 14-16 and learn how to extend machine and lubricant life by up to 10 times.

Book Bits: Pay Attention to Filter Capture Efficiency

From the "How to Select a Motor Oil and Filter for Your Car or Truck":

If you're going to pay a premium to get a high-performance filter, look carefully at the capture efficiency (particle size retention) of the filter. For instance, a filter that has a capture efficiency of 95 percent for particles larger than 10 microns will remove 95 percent of the particles larger than 10 microns on a single pass, and 5 percent of the particles larger than 10 microns will pass through the filter. It is worth noting that this performance property is a particularly large component of the premium price you're paying for good filtration.

More information about "How to Select a Motor Oil and Filter for Your Car or Truck"

Test your knowledge and prepare for ICML lubrication and oil analysis certification.

Question: Name two possible disadvantages of using synthetic lubricants.

Get the answer.

"Is it all right to mix an R&O hydraulic oil with an AW hydraulic oil in a hydraulic application?"

Mixing oils with different additive packages is never recommended. Doing so could compromise the additive performance of both constituents, cause corrosion of component surfaces and lead to increased mechanical wear. And trending of some oil analysis properties will be compromised as well.

In a pinch, if the oils are the same viscosity, you may be able to get away with mixing for a short time. If you must mix the oils or live with an accidental mixture until the next scheduled outage, take the following precautions:

1. Visually inspect for signs of sludging, poor demulsibility and foaming.

2. Increase the frequency of oil analysis to spot abnormal wear, corrosion or lubricant degradation.

3. Flush and change the oil as quickly as possible. A drain leaves 5 to 40 percent of the old oil in the system, therefore a flush will need to be performed.

4. Keep up the frequent inspections and oil analysis to be sure that the oil stabilizes.

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Resources

Used Oil WinLIMS
organizes data by customer, equipment & lubricant. Instrument interfaces, automatic email reporting & web access add efficiency.

INTERNORMEN's UMFC
The new standard for modern fluid management in off-line filtration and flushing systems. Always equipped with particle counter and water sensor
e-mail

Excellence in
Lubricant Analysis
We provide a wide range of testing on oil, grease, fuel and transformer oil. Standard testing results available 24 to 48 hours from receipt of samples.

Harvard Filter Systems
are made with quality material and craftsmanship and designed for years of dependable service. Filter carts can be made to your specification. E-mail

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