Oil Condition
With the high cost of operations today, every manufacturing facility is looking for ways to cut costs. Most modern manufacturing facilities make use of some form of high speed machinery that has to be continuously lubricated. If for any reason the conditions of this lubricant deteriorate or it becomes contaminated the resulting damage can be disastrous to your production times. The best way to keep an eye on the conditions of your oil to make sure that it stays within acceptable limits. One of the biggest reasons that the condition of the oil in your machinery deteriorates is due to outside contaminants getting into it. During the course of normal operations you lubricating oil is subjected to exposure to air, water and dirt, all of which will affect its performance. Unless you take the steps necessary to identify these contaminants and remove them you are going to have to deal with the consequences.
The problem with allowing your lubricating oil condition to decline unnoticed is that it will begin to slowly damage your machinery. For a long period of time this damage will probably go unseen, in many cases the damage is not caught until it is too late and you are faced with costly repairs and hours or days of lost production. Depending on the type of equipment it is possible for this type of wear and tear to cause physical injury to the operator or anyone who happens to be in the vicinity when the equipment fails. As high speed machinery runs there is a certain amount of normal wear and tear that occurs due to friction. When you have a testing facility monitor your oil condition they are also going to be looking for evidence of metal particles in the oil. While there may always be a trace amount of metal in your used oil, all moving metal surfaces tend to erode over time, when the number of particles reach a predetermined level it can be an indication of excessive wear.
Knowing about this oil condition can give you time to locate and repair the part or parts that are beginning to show signs of failure and affect repairs long before any permanent damage can occur. Testing the condition of the oil in all of your machinery should be considered a very important part of your routine preventative maintenance program to ensure that your equipment will continue to run effectively and keep production at its peak.
If you are interested in having independent laboratory testing of your oil condition on a periodic or one time basis, Analysts Inc. can help you. They offer top quality testing facilities in the US, Mexico and Japan that can test any type of lubricating oil you use in your facility. Their full spectrum testing will check for contamination and any form of metal infiltration that might indicate wear or failure of the components in your machinery to help you stay on top of your maintenance. High quality oil analysis is designed to help your equipment stay operational for longer periods of time and cut your operating expenses.
