The
Importance of Oil Sampling
Sampling oil correctly and regularly can help highlight potential problems in commercial vehicles before they become serious, said a technical expert from a leading lubricant manufacturer.
Andy Brown, of FUCHS LUBRICANTS, said sampling can help reduce costs by unearthing issues with a vehicle before it breaks down completely, therefore minimising downtime. But Andy warned that oil samples must be taken correctly in order to produce the most accurate results.
FUCHS LUBRICANTS offers the CENT sampling service to its customers, producing clear, precise feedback in the form of graphs and reports along with suggestions for remedial action. The state-of-the-art production
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management tool indicates wear trends, additive levels and sources of contamination.
In 2016, FUCHS carried out around 27,000 sampling reports from across all industry sectors the company is involved in. Many of those reports were for commercial vehicles.
Andy said: “If you examine the condition of the oil through sampling, you can see problems before they escalate and become bigger issues.
“Customers send the sample to us and we look at viscosity, additive levels, wear levels, oxidation, and contaminants such as coolant ingress, dirt ingress and soot levels. All of these things can tell us the condition of the oil and the condition of
the engine, gear box or hydraulic system.
“When samples are taken over a period of time, you can start to trend results and see things like bearing wear, cylinder wear, and coolant contamination. For example, if there is a lot of dirt in the oil maybe the air filter hasn’t been changed, or perhaps they’ve got a split somewhere in the air in-take system.
“It’s a powerful tool because downtime can be so costly. You can spot a problem and replace something for a nominal amount rather than leaving it and having catastrophic problems.
“Commercial vehicles need to be ready to use when you need them otherwise you run the risk of materials arriving late or cancelled journeys.”
LUBE MAGAZINE NO.139 JUNE 2017
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