Managing your fluid analysis program is simple. At least it should be. If you struggle to ensure your fluid analysis program meets your maintenance goals, check out these seven steps. I guarantee, it will make a world of a difference.
Set attainable program goals
Take a moment to set your goals. Then, review your current maintenance practices and strategies to determine if they will help you accomplish your goals.
Identify the resources you need to sufficiently run the program
Resources play an important role in program success. Another factor is the size of your program. This will impact the personnel and resources needed to reach your goals.
Build the appropriate equipment lists
Equipment list information should be sent to your laboratory before samples are submitted for processing.
Determine sampling intervals
Although an equipment manufacturer’s recommendations provide a good starting point for developing preventive maintenance practices, sampling intervals should be based on various factors.
Take an active role in minimizing sample turnaround time
Don’t compromise the value of your fluid analysis results and the laboratory’s maintenance recommendations with unnecessary delays in turnaround time.
Report key results to management
When reviewing your most critical information, consider what management needs to know most – and share the results with them. The size of your operation and your goals and resources will dictate the best and most efficient metrics to share with management.
Select a laboratory that will help you every step of the way
To realize the true value that an effective fluid analysis program can have on your overall business performance, you need to select the right partner.
To learn more, read this article about what makes a successful fluid analysis program or contact us a custservice@eoilreports.com.
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Flashback to 1988 when “Rain Man” first appeared on the silver screen and Ronald Reagan was serving his last full year as president. I was serving in the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany in an air defense unit. At that time, I held the rank of sergeant with a military occupation specialty (MOS) of 63Y20, Track Vehicle Mechanic.
The two images below are forms DA 1045, the official form used if you wanted to suggest any changes to the Department of the Army. I filled out and submitted these forms in March of 1988 with a suggestion that the army change their maintenance practice on M163A1 and M163A2 Vulcan Air Defense Guns.
The M163 series included 20mm Gatling Cannons mounted on the very popular M113 series armored personnel carriers. The maintenance practice at the time was to replace the oil and filters in the engine, transmission and all gear boxes on a 90 day interval, without consideration for hours on the oil. This time based interval of 90 days seemed to be a potential waste of lubricants, filters, labor and the added burden of waste disposal.
My suggestion was simple, rely on oil analysis results to determine the proper oil drain interval. We were already using the Army Oil Analysis Program (AOAP) to monitor the condition of components, why not use it to monitor the condition of the oil?
Since I submitted those reports, the industry has proceeded to evolve and, for many, using oil analysis to optimize drain intervals is now a common practice. Advances in technology have made handwritten reports, such as these, a thing of the past. I can only imagine how much easier my job would have been had I access to all of the tools available today.
If you’re interested in learning more about my experiences or how to optimize drain intervals by using oil analysis, feel free to email me at rclark@polarislabs.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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The New Year is here and we can’t keep a lid on our excitement. As our holiday gift to you, we are providing a new sampling jar to our customers. While the bottle itself is not bigger, it is certainly better.
Keeping your concerns in mind, we’ve selected a bottle that is better equipped for sampling. Whether you have issues with leaks or are concerned about sample bottle cleanliness, this bottle is made for you.
What makes this bottle better?
If you have any questions about this change, contact us at custserv@eoilreports.com. In the meantime, keep an eye out for the new bottles!
One more thing…
Happy New Year from POLARIS Laboratories®!
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At the root of every successful fluid analysis program is a program champion committed to success. From creating a project plan to assembling a sampling team, there are a number of actions maintenance professionals can take to maximize the value sampling provides.
A global leader in providing temperature control, temporary power generation and compressed air systems already had a robust maintenance program, but they decided to explore fluid analysis as a way to reduce downtime and costs.
With the leadership of their program champion, they developed into a reliability program saving between $750,000 to $2 million each year using fluid analysis. By documenting their process and program success, the team proved their value to their leadership team ten times over.
The success of a fluid analysis program is usually measured by the amount of money or number of assets saved. However, program success can also be measured through an organization’s compliance.
A global lubricant manufacturer partnered with POLARIS Laboratories® to provide oil analysis to their customers with the goal of ensuring product quality. Determined to prove their commitment to their customer’s success, the manufacturer hired business consultants to help showcase the value of their product and extend drain intervals using oil analysis. Providing this free service helped the company build long-term relationships with their customers based on mutual trust.
Are you seeing dark spots on your scanned sample paperwork? Was your sample not run because there was not enough fluid? These are both signs your sample may have leaked in transit. Lucky for you, there are a few simple actions you can take to both prevent samples from leaking and improve your testing experience.
The following questions can help you determine the cause of your sample leaks and help you make improvements.
Are you checking to see if your bottle cap is secure before sending?
When samples are filled with a hot fluid and the lid is secured, the bottle will expand from the heat. Once it has cooled, your cap may no longer be tightly secure. Before you place your sample in the mailer, check to see if each lid is tightly closed. This will help prevent both damaged paperwork and fluid loss.
Are you submitting your samples online via HORIZON®?
If you are using a paper copy of the sample submission form to submit your sample, a leaky bottle can spill on the paper, resulting in hard to read paperwork and processing errors. Using online or mobile sample submission can help you avoid this issue and ensure your sample information is readable by the POLARIS Laboratories® team.
Are you only submitting paper forms?
If you choose to submit your samples with a paper form, instead of HORIZON, it is especially important your bottles are cool and caps are secure. This can protect your paperwork from a leak, ensuring your samples are processed efficiently and accurately. When submitting the paper form, be sure to take advantage of the pocket on the outside of the envelope mailer.
Are you properly packing your paperwork?
The most effective way of avoiding a sample leak is by taking the time to properly pack your samples for transit. Be sure to place your paperwork in the pocket on the outside of your envelope mailer. This will help ensure your paperwork is safe and dry should the sample leak. Double check your work and make sure you are carefully writing all information.
Are you unable to read scanned sample paperwork? Seeing spots?
If you are seeing dark spots on your scanned sample paperwork, your sample is most likely leaking in transit. Check with your maintenance team to verify everyone is following proper procedure when shipping samples. This includes: allowing samples to cool and double checking all sample bottle lids are tightly secured. Submitting samples online or storing your paperwork away from the sample, when placed in the mailer, can also help you prevent damaged paperwork and delayed results.
For more information on sample submission, check out my recent blog post on the Dos and Don’ts of Sample Submission.
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When starting your oil analysis program, deciding which test package to use for your engine can be intimidating. You have to make an important decision between testing the condition of your oil vs. the life of your oil.
Maintenance professionals concerned with the condition of their oil usually go with a basic package that includes the testing required for analysts to detect basic equipment wear and lubricant contamination. The package includes:
In contrast, the advanced package is usually chosen by experienced maintenance professionals who are concerned with extending their drain. The package includes the testing required for our analysts to detect basic equipment wear, lubricant contamination and lubricant life:
The three additional tests performed in advanced packages are used to determine the maximum drain interval. Maintenance teams often have these tests performed because of the high cost of savings that comes with extended drains.
The first test, oxidation, measures the breakdown of a lubricant due to age and operating conditions. It prevents additives from performing properly, promotes the formation of acids and increases viscosity.
Testing for nitration indicates excessive “blow-by” from cylinder walls and/or compression rings. It also indicates the presence of nitric acid, which speeds up oxidation. Nitration is primarily a problem in natural gas engines.
The base number test measures a lubricant’s alkaline reserve or ability to neutralize acid. As the base number depletes, the lubricant’s ability to effectively neutralize acids is diminished. A base number of at least 25% of the new oil’s value is recommended to protect engine parts.
In addition, the advanced package can be tailored to fit the needs of the program, whether the team is more focused on preventive or predictive maintenance.
If you have any questions about which test package best fits your program needs, please feel free to contact our team at getstarted@polarislabs.com.
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An industrial building service company makes sure to regularly test the oil in all of their heavy-duty trucks, including new trucks. Their maintenance staff knows all equipment experiences a period of break-in wear, and removing those particles can extend component life.
However, the first sample results from a 2015 model engine showed 255 ppm of aluminum and 198 ppm of iron. These metals are typical for early life-cycle engine break-in, but our data analyst found those quantities excessive and recommended a maintenance investigation.
There are a wide range of opinions regarding how clean an oil analysis sample bottle needs to be. While it is a fact that most oil testing equipment is sensitive enough to detect the difference between using ISO “Clean” (100 particles greater than 10 microns per milliliter), “Superclean” (10 particles), and “Ultraclean” (1 particle) bottles, the only reason to use a more expensive Superclean or Ultraclean bottle would be if the additional particles would change the maintenance recommendations.
Instead of focusing on the tests and ISO charts, efforts should be put towards figuring out the cleanliness target for each piece of equipment. Any level of cleanliness is attainable, but the particle cleanliness level should be balanced with the maintenance cost of sustaining that cleanliness. Keeping the inside of equipment clean is a long-term investment, and it’s up to you to determine where the right place to invest is.
For example, a hydraulic system sitting in a clean room with light use could easily achieve a 16/14/10 ISO cleanliness rating. Investing time and money to test the oil and then filter the sump as needed could yield significant equipment life extension. In this case, an ISO Superclean bottle might be appropriate to use because an additional 100 particles/milliliter using a “Clean” bottle has the potential to trigger an unnecessary service event.
Alternately, it would take a comparable fortune to maintain a 16/14/10 rating if that same hydraulic system was in a room surrounded by rock crushers. It would be a challenge not to contaminate a -Superclean sample jar simply by opening it in that dusty of a room. In this instance, a Clean sample bottle may be a more appropriate choice depending on your needs for equipment uptime, expected lifecycle, and maintenance costs. If samples need to be collected in locations with high environmental contamination, you might consider an alternative solution, such as relocating the sample point outside the dusty environment.
Some oil analysis users even consider using Ultraclean jars on occasion. While these yield some impressively consistent, valuable results, the need for this level of bottle cleanliness is simply beyond even high-performing maintenance programs. Outside of a research application, few would realize a benefit due to the difficulty in preventing particulate contamination when collecting samples. Aside from being exorbitantly expensive, they are frequently made of glass which can be a hazard.
It’s important to collect oil samples in a clean container, but using Superclean and Ultraclean containers may raise expenses without seeing much gain. The average maintenance program will see the most benefit from using ISO Clean jars if they are running particulate and cleanliness testing based on experience, but if you have questions about the containers you are using contact service@polarislabs.com to help you find the best solution for your program.
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