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May - June 2022
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machinerylubrication.com
Factor: A2P
Learn More:
noria.com/ascend/
Factor:
A2P – Lubricant
Analysis Test Slate
Selection
Level:
Platform (P)
Stage:
Condition Monitoring,
Lubricant Analysis and
Troubleshooting
About:
Critical failure modes
should be considered
when selecting tests.
It is best to build
a program that is
proactive.
CONDITION MONITORING, LUBRICANT ANALYSIS AND TROUBLESHOOTING
More about this
ASCEND
™
Factor
If you have been in
the Maintenance/
Reliability space for
any length of time,
you may have heard someone say,
"We need to drain or change the
oil because of the number of parti-
cles that can be seen."
While checking for contam-
inants is a must for any great
inspection program, it is important
to know that the particles doing
the most damage to machine parts
are far too small to be seen with
the naked eye.
Why Small Particles
Matter More
Without a magnifying glass or
microscope, the human eye can
only see particles down to about
40 microns in size. e particles
doing the most damage to our
lubricants are in the 3-10 micron
range, way smaller than what
can be seen on a typical visual
inspection of the lubricant. ese
particles are more concerning
than their larger counterparts
because they are close to the size
of typical film thicknesses, which
can allow them to go through
the load zone, causing damage to
machine parts.
Particle Counting:
Why Smaller Particles
Lead to Big Trouble
Travis Richardson | Noria Corporation
