Keeping equipment like funnels clean for use is a challenge in a dirty plant environment. Putting them inside a protective covering like a 1-gallon Ziploc bag provides for an easy barrier to ambient dirt. Throw a clean rag or absorbent towel in the bag to soak up oil left on the funnel. The bags are also handy, for covering components (such as an auto-luber) to protect from ambient dust and washdown water. Just zip most of the closure to secure them. For larger parts, find a larger, clean, clear plastic bag - usually an easy-to-find item. (David Crea, US Salt)

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From the book "Lubricant Additives":

Lubricating oils are susceptible to degradation by oxygen. The oil oxidation process is the major cause of oil thickening. This manifests itself as sludge and varnish formation on engine parts, leading to increased engine wear, poor lubrication and reduced fuel economy. Antioxidants are essential additives incorporated into lubricant formulations to minimize and delay the onset of lubricant oxidative degradation.

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"Sometimes our oil analysis reports show high particle counts on a hydraulic system - as high as ISO 21/18. If wear metals and silicon are low, less than 4 ppm, what are these particles?"

To fully understand the composition of the particles, a spectrographic analysis and a metallurgy assessment of your system components will tell you what the particles are and where they are coming from. At 4 ppm, the amount of wear metals is insignificant.

Retest the system on a proper frequency and trend the rate of change. Significant change in the overall amount of wear metals is cause for concern. If the value of wear metals hovers around the same ppm over each test, then you are probably looking at a product of normal operation. Keep in mind that spectroanalysis can pick up particles only 7 microns and smaller at absolute best. The accuracy can also be off by significant values on some metals.

I suggest you approach your concern with ferrous density and a patch test after a particle count. Set your target cleanliness for particle count. If the tested value is greater than the target value, proceed to a ferrous density test. Set a target for this value as well, maybe 15 percent ferrous. If the value of the ferrous density exceeds 15 percent, proceed to an analytical ferrography. If the value of the ferrous density is less than 15 percent, proceed to a patch test (filtergram). Keep an eye out for high rate of change in any of the tested values and you will be able catch problems before they occur.

It is also a good idea to assess the condition and effectiveness of your breathers and filters to make sure you are keeping contamination out and removing it effectively when it gets in.

Jason Kopschinsky, Noria Corporation

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FEBRUARY 2007

Machinery Lubrication I
20-22 Las Vegas, NV
6-7 Angoulème, France
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20-21 Nancy, France
26-28 Metro Manila, Philippines
27 – March 1 Point Lisas, Trinidad

Machinery Lubrication II
1-2 Casablanca, Morocco
8-9 Angoulème, France
22-23 Nancy, France

Strategic Plant Reliability Management
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Effective Contamination Control
20-22 Madrid, Spain

Machinery Lubrication and Oil Analysis Basics
5 Angoulème, France
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Oil Analysis I
13-15 Daegu, Korea