Lube-Tips

Pre-filter New Oil

Adding new oil to a system is a very common practice that can also yield high concentrations of contamination. The industry has no guidelines for new oil cleanliness, which means that it may end up at your facility much dirtier than the oil in your machines. Pre-filtering your new oil before it enters your system is an efficient way of minimizing the particle contamination and reducing the damage those particles will cause. Even opening the system fill port to add new oil is a cause for concern in many plant environments. Adapter manifolds are available that maintain a closed system, even when filtering the oil, for topping up the fluid or draining the tank.

Avoiding Thermal Degradation

Lubricants can thermally degrade for a variety of reasons and causes. Unlike oxidation, thermal failure can occur in new lubricants with healthy additive packages. However, many of the symptoms of oxidation are also symptoms of thermal degradation. One of the most common causes of thermal failure in hydraulic fluids and some lubricating oils relates to aeration, i.e., entrained air bubbles. These bubbles can become rapidly compressed in hydraulic pumps and in the squeeze zones of bearings. This results in extremely high localized temperatures. Hot surface carbonization is another form of thermal failure. When an oil thermally degrades, problems associated with sludge, varnish, deposits, viscosity change and additive decomposition will often occur.

Properly Maintaining Totes

Totes or jumbos are highly susceptible to the entry of dirt or water if not properly maintained. These containers typically contain 400 to 500 gallons of oil or 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of grease and are often used to deliver bulk lubricants to maintenance shops. Most are top-fill units with either a compression ring or break-over hatch with a neoprene or cork sealing gasket and top-mounted air breathers. The seals can become cracked, broken or misaligned, and the air breathers can be easily broken or vibrate loose during transportation and handling. The integrity of the seals and air breathers should be routinely inspected to prevent dust, sand, water and other contaminants from entering the tote during transportation and use.