Andy said that it is absolutely crucial that samples are taken properly.
He said: “The way sampling is done is massively important and it’s the bit that everyone gets wrong.
“I remember an occasion when a bus company was extremely concerned that their vehicles were generating excess soot out of the exhaust.
“We carried out extensive analysis on samples they gave us which confirmed their initial fears and there was a major investigation involving the engine manufacturer, the bus manufacturer and the filter manufacturers.
“I asked the bus company how they had taken their samples and they had no idea.
“It transpired that the samples had been taken after a weekend when the buses had stood idle and were cold. The engineer had opened the sump and taken the first bit of oil that came out. This was the worst-case scenario as
when oil has sat for three days, a lot of particulates will drop out and go to the bottom.
“You need to take a sample either when everything is running/circulating so nothing is dropping out, or as soon as possible after it is switched off.
In the case above, “When it was sampled properly, there was no soot in the oil so whatever had caused the problem, it was nothing to do with soot in the oil.
“It’s when and how you take the sample that is critical. The analysis side is easy but you can get completely the wrong answer if you haven’t sampled it right.” Andy said that the sample taken needs to be representative of the rest of the oil.
Generally, this will be after it has passed through the engine but before it gets to the filter, the filter will remove contaminants.
A vampire pump can be used with a tube which is fed into the correct position.
LINK
www.fuchs.com/uk
Crucially, the same sampling technique must be used every time.
Andy added: “If you haven’t got a strategy of how to take samples and four or five people are doing it differently all the time, you’ll get the scattergun approach. One person is doing it one way, someone else a different way, sometimes in the evening, sometimes in the morning. You end up with a random set of results.
“If you’ve got a process but it’s not right, you can get some consistent results but they are actually wrong.
“Sampling is very much worth doing – and it’s worth doing right.”
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UKLA Metalworking Fluid Product Stewardship Group
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