Data Interpretation Archives - TestOil

Sources of Vanadium

Mary Messuti — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 16:08:46 +0000

Sources of Vanadium Vanadium is another wear metal commonly found alloyed with other metals. Vanadium may also be found in the coating of parts like valves, rods, rings, and bearings. Typically, increasing levels of vanadium, and possibly chromium, disproportional with iron, indicate coating wear, whereas proportional increases suggest hard steel alloy wear. One form of a harmless increase in vanadium Continue Reading

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Sources of Aluminum

Mary Messuti — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 16:03:58 +0000

Sources of Aluminum While lead is commonly thought to be wear metal, that is not always the case. One example would be an oil sample from an aluminum block engine compared to a steel block engine. The block itself may be a source of wear metals when the sleeves for the pistons are machined directly into the block, as is Continue Reading

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Sources of Lead

Mary Messuti — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 15:54:51 +0000

Sources of Lead Lead is an expected wear metal in any machine using plain bearings, as lead and tin are the most predominant metals used in Babbitt overlay, with lesser amounts of copper, antimony, and/or arsenic. Typically, increasing levels of lead from this layer are not considered actionable, not until metals like copper or nickel from a lower layer begin Continue Reading

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Sources of Barium

Mary Messuti — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 15:50:05 +0000

Sources of Barium Barium was a detergent additive metal found in natural gas engine oils but is no longer allowed in products manufactured in North America due to toxicity concerns Greases, though, continue to use barium in the form of a thickener system. Machines with greased seals or those having undergone recent maintenance may exhibit small increases in barium, depending Continue Reading

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Introduction to Elemental Spectroscopy

Mary Messuti — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 20:57:42 +0000

Introduction to Elemental Spectroscopy Elemental spectroscopy measures in-service fluid samples for wear metals, additives, and contaminants. The method used to perform the measurement is properly termed Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and the results are commonly referred to as ICP or spec results. The measurement is performed by diluting a sample with solvent and injecting it into a Continue Reading

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Sources of Iron

Mary Messuti — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 20:57:16 +0000

Sources of Iron Iron is commonly expected to be found in samples as a wear metal, as it is the foundation element in all forms of steel, which is by far the most prevalent material in lubricated machines. It will often correlate with other metals like chromium, titanium, molybdenum, and vanadium; if the correlation remains proportional as levels increase it Continue Reading

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Sources of Tin

Mary Messuti — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 20:54:20 +0000

Sources of Tin Tin is another wear metal expected in any machine using plain bearings, as lead and tin are the most predominant metals used in Babbitt overlay, with lesser amounts of copper, antimony, and/or arsenic. Typically, increasing levels of tin from this layer are not considered actionable, not until metals like copper or nickel from a lower layer begin Continue Reading

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Sources of Nickel

Mary Messuti — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 20:53:57 +0000

Sources of Nickel Nickel is a wear metal found in some machines using plain bearings, as lead and tin are the most predominant metals used in Babbitt overlay, with lesser amounts of copper, antimony, and/or arsenic. Typically, increasing levels of nickel are from an intermediate layer and therefore considered actionable. Nickel can also increase as wear from some steel parts. Continue Reading

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Sources of Chromium

Mary Messuti — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 20:53:23 +0000

Sources of Chromium Chromium is a wear metal found in the coating of parts like valves, rods, rings, and bearings. Typically, increasing levels of chromium, and possibly nickel, disproportional with iron, indicate coating wear, whereas proportional increases suggest steel alloy wear. One form of proportional chromium and iron increase may arise from non-wearing parts made from stainless steel. Some lube Continue Reading

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Setting Acid Number and Base Number Limits

Mary Messuti — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 20:49:17 +0000

Setting Acid Number and Base Number Limits There is a rule-of-thumb that oil should be condemned at double its new oil Acid Number, or at half of its new oil Base Number. The problem with this rule is that is has too many exceptions to be valid. Rather than identify the valid instances, it is better to understand how to Continue Reading

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