oil cleanliness and improvements

Have you conducted a lube audit to determine where your contamination occurs? When doing this type of project it is important to do base line sampling at all points of potential ingress prior to the actual new oil going into the compartments.

Once you know what the cleanliness of the new and top up oil is then you can work on other strategies to clean the compartments in situ. Things such as not changing oil but putting in place oil cleanliness programs etc.

If you want more specific information let me know.

Regards,

Rodney Fitzpatrick.

Hello

Let me know your e mail and I will send some information

Ruven, ihsil@hotmail.com

Rodney,

would you be able to provide your contact details so i can contact you on the phone to give you an "in-sight" to what i'm after?

Banama,

Sure thing just flick me an email and i will send my details through.

rodney@lubeng.com.au

Regards,

Rodney

quote:

Banama

Banama,
Trying to assess cleanliness in a used engine oil is very difficult and can lead you down the garden path to chasing a phantom benifet. Used engine oils are inherently very dirty, you are better of concentrating on keeping your soot levels down and in knowing what/where your wear particles are coming from. The next thing is to know when when and if you are getting contamination ingress ie dirt and dust etc. Rather than running ISO cleanliness tests I'd suggest you consider filter patch in conjunction with typical spectroscopy to identify the wear/contaminent componants and then you can address the issues with some maintenance strategy.
Regards.....

Banama,

Keeping the contaminants out of the oil involves a number of key areas:-

1. Lubricant storage and handling - eg do the storage tanks have proper desiccant air filters (typically 3 micron absolute) - have they got filtration (6 microns absolute or less) eg circulated Xhrs per day. Also check the beta ratios on the filters and the dirt holding capacity.
2. Workshop - check the hose reels (should be capped) in line filters installed etc
3. CAT equipment - what on board filtration do they have and are they working - perhaps talk to Caterpillar or OEM on improvements to current system. Some filtration systems are ground driven and only work when the truck is in motion and a certain speed - others work continously. Also ensure there are proper filtered breathers.
4. Invest in a off line filtration unit eg kidney loop unit - speak to a reputable filter supplier about this. Most trucks are brought in for off line filtration. (make sure you have different filters for the different oil types)
5. Speak to the oil supplier about the current cleanliness delivery and see if they are able to supply filtered oil (if not then it will have to be done on site).
Check the current cleanliness of delivery out of tanker, storage tank, workshop and equipment. This should give you a whole picture.
Make sure the ISO cleanliness is tested by both APC (automatic lazer particle counter) and filterpatch test. This will give you a feel for the variation in ISO cleanliness results.
I hope this helps.

quote:

Originally posted by Banama:
i'm looking for improvements or ways that i can include or have to improve my oil cleanliness.my heavy equipment mobile fleet department have about 40 CAT785 B/C series trucks, 6 O&K RH200 excavators, 5 CAT375 excavators and 8 D10R track dozers. those machines are using MX15W40, HD50 and HD30 as the lubricating oil. Mobil is the oil supplier to my department.
if you can help me out sourcing ways and improvements i can under take in my department to improve oil cleanliness, thus, improving component life.

Hello Banama

CJC has been very sucessful in extending component life and improving oil quality both on the vehicle and in the bulk oil storage areas. We have many systems operating in the mines of Chile and Austrailia on truck and dozer applications filtering engine lube , hydraulics, brakes, differentials and planetary systems.

Please visit our website at CJC

Or email me at cjccanada@telus.net

as mentioned previously you need to identify the contaminants you have,air bourne particulate,water, wear etc only then can you decide on a course of action.
should you find the problem be wear product check out eclipse magnetics for a cost effective solution

Hi Banama

We have a proven track record in reducing the total cost of ownership of heavy equipment in mining and industry. This is primarily done by breaking the chain of contamination and extending the life of components. All our clients show a positive return on investment i.e. 0 cost to the organistion. If you are interested please contact me for case studies.