2
|
July - August 2018
|
www.machinerylubrication.com
O il Analysis
AS I SEE IT
Jim Fitch
|
Noria Corporation
Ghost Riders That
Haunt Your Oil
T he def i n it ion of
a c ont a m i n a nt i s
any foreign "some-
t hing" t hat enters
a lubricant during formulation,
packaging, transport, storage or
ser vice. Conta minants compro-
mise t he lubric a nt's integrit y,
per for m a nc e a nd ser v ic e l i fe
a s well a s impart harm to the
machine. No lubricant is indem-
nif ied from their effects or can
safely co-exist with contaminants.
So too, there are no lubricants or
machines that can realistically be
defined as contaminant-free.
The hazards brought on by
va rious t y pes of conta mina nts
have been covered extensively in
the pages of Machinery Lubrication
magazine. We've shown how the
damage can progress slowly or attack
suddenly and destructively. Either
way, contaminants are a serious
lubricant disease that merit vigilant
attention by lubricant analysts and
reliability professionals.
S ol id c ont a m i n a nt s (a l s o
known as particles) come in wide-
ranging sizes, shapes, hardness and
Beware of those invisible particles not reported
by most oil analysis labs
"ese
contaminants,
which go
unnoticed by
maintenance
staff and
unmeasured
and unreported
by oil analysis
labs, need to
be exposed and
understood."