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Why Do We Need Lubricant Additives?

Lubricants keep the world turning. Once something moves, a lubricant should be present to reduce friction or wear between the surfaces. But what makes......

Which Degradation Mechanism Is Affected?

My previous article published in Precision Lubrication covered six degradation mechanisms: oxidation, thermal degradation, microdieseling, electrostatic spark discharge, additive depletion, and contamination. Upon further investigation,......

What is varnish or oil degradation?

Varnish is a type of deposit that forms on the surface of equipment in lubrication systems. It is caused by the oxidation of the......

What is Oil Viscosity?

Oil viscosity is the internal friction within an oil that resists its flow. It measures the oil’s resistance to flow and is one of the......

What are the types of Lubricant Additives?

There are many types of lubricant additives, and various formulations exist from different suppliers. In this section, we will cover the most common additives......

What Are Antiwear Additives?

As the name suggests, antiwear additives help to prevent wear in one way or another. However, what makes them unique compared to other additives......

Varnish Badges of Honour

Varnish is widely known as a primary culprit of equipment failure. This sticky enemy effectively finds its way into most of our equipment and......

Used Oil Analysis Tips

“When should an oil sample really be taken?” In used oil analysis, oil samples can be taken at any time, but one should always......

Understanding NLGI

Does the NLGI grade matter? Of course it does! That’s why it was invented and classed into different categories for various applications! NLGI stands......

Types Of Antiwear Additives and How They Work

There are many types of antiwear additives, but they typically all fall under the category of polar materials such as fatty oils, acids, and......

Thermal Degradation vs Oxidation

What’s the difference between Thermal Degradation and Oxidation of a lubricant? The two major differences are the contributory factors and the by products that......

The Six Forms of Lubricant Degradation

Oxidation The most common form of degradation is oxidation. While this is the most recurrent form of degradation, the term is often misused to describe......

The Influence of Lubricant Selection on Degradation

Guidelines should always be followed when selecting a lubricant for a particular application. OEMs will have specific criteria ranges for specialty applications that must......

The Difference Between Antiwear and Extreme Pressure Additives

The terms antiwear additives and extreme pressure additives are often used interchangeably, suggesting that they provide the same functions in a lubricant. This is......

That “w”!

What does the “w” stand for in multigrade oils? The “w” stands for winter. Let’s go back a bit. We weren’t always as advanced......

TBN decrease

The TBN has dropped significantly, can I still use the oil? The TBN (Total Base Number) is usually seen in diesel engines. Most modern......

Synthetic vs Mineral

Should I use a synthetic oil in my equipment or just stick to mineral? Check with your OEM first. There are some OEMs that......

Stop production?

I can’t shut down the equipment but I know the oil has degraded significantly. What can I do? Tough decisions!!! There are times when......

Recommended oil – Automotive

What type of oil should I use in my car? Always follow what the OEM recommends! A quick google search can help you find......

PROACT Review

Root Cause Analysis has always been dear to my heart. The procedure involved in finding the root causes and addressing them have intrigued me greatly......

PAOs vs PAGs

Let’s start off with definitions! PAO: Polyalphaolefin PAG: Polyalklene Glycol While both are synthetic oils they are classified under different Groups of Base oils.......

Oxidation

What is Oxidation? One of the major types of oil degradation is Oxidation. But what is it exactly, as applied to a lubricant? Oxidation......

Outdoor Storage

I have no room in the warehouse, can I store the oils outside until I get room? It is never ideal to store lubricants......

Obtaining my MLT I & II certifications

The MLT (Machinery Lubrication Technician) exams are developed by ICML (International Council for Machinery Lubrication) and is seen as the entry level certification for......

My MLE Journey

Some details about the MLE certification journey from online classes to online exam...

Multigrade vs Monograde

Why use multigrade instead of monograde oils? A monograde oil does not provide the same level of protection on start-up as a multigrade oil.......

Mixing viscosities

Can I mix different viscosities of oils to get the viscosity that I want? It can be done but this is not an ideal......

Mixing oils

Can I mix hydraulic oils with engine oils? Oils should never be mixed! Every oil is designed with its application in mind. As such,......

Microdieseling

What is Microdieseling? Microdieseling is also called Compressive Heating and is a form of pressure induced thermal degradation. The oil goes through 4 stages......

Measuring Oil Viscosity

The viscosity of oil is one of its most essential characteristics. Thus, it is important to understand how this is measured and quantified. There......

Lubrication Regimes

There are actually 4 types of lubrication regimes that equipment can experience and each component usually experiences at least 3 within their lifetime! As......

Lubrication failures in Industrial plants

When failures occur in industrial plants, the first culprit to be suspected is usually the lubricant. However, should this be the first area that......

Lubrication failures in Ammonia plants

Quite often, when lubrication failures occur, the first recommended action is to change the lubricant. However, when the lubricant is changed, the real root......

Lubrication Audit?

Audits usually get people nervous! They are worried about what the auditor may or may not find. When we perform lubrication audits, we’re trying......

Lubricant Deterioration Identifications

What the difference between Shelf Life and Service Life? There’s a major difference between Shelf life and Service life especially when it concerns lubricants!......

ISO 4406 rating

Is the ISO 4406 rating important? Yes, it is very important! The ISO 4406 rating tells us the cleanliness level of our lubricant. It......

ISO 4406

A lot of people get confused when reading the ISO 4406 rating. The rating specifies a range of the number of particles of certain......

Is Oil Analysis the Only Method of Varnish Detection?

Varnish will deposit in layers and adhere to the metal surfaces inside the equipment. As it continues to deposit, the layers will eventually accumulate......

ICML 55 – the revolution in the lubrication sector

What is ICML 55? ICML 55 is revolutionizing the lubrication industry! It is so exciting to be around at this time when it has......

How Do Lubricant Additives Work?

Each additive works differently to produce its function on the base oil and the overall finished lubricant. This section will explore how each of......

How can a lubricant fail?

How can a lubricant fail? This question has caused many sleepless nights and initiated countless discussions within the industrial and even transportation sectors. Before......

Has the Lubricant Failed the Equipment, or Has the Equipment Failed the Lubricant?

Many lubrication engineers are faced with finding the most appropriate lubricant for an application. Therefore, they are tasked with selecting the “right” lubricant; subsequently,......

Grease Thickener Types

Grease Thickener Properties We keep speaking about each grease being different based on their thickener type. However, what are the properties that these thickeners give......

Grease Thickener Temperatures

Understanding Grease Thickener Temperatures The grease thickener has a crucial role in deciding the environment in which a grease should be applied. One of......

Grease compatibility

Are all greases compatible? We recently touched on greases being available in a wide variety based on application but the real question is, “Are......

Grease colours

Is Grease Color important? I’ve almost always heard my customers refer to the grease that they are using by its colour.They would say, “I’m......

FZG Ratings

Q: What does FZG mean and why do gear oils have a rating? FZG stands for “Forschungsstelle für Zahnräder und Getriebebau”, Technische Universität München (Gear......

Food Grade Lubricants

If you’ve ever dealt with food grade lubricants in the past, you would have noticed that not all food grade lubricants are made to......

Flender Specs

Q: Why should I use a Flender spec oil? A lot of users ask about the need to use a Flender approved lubricant for......

Filter rating

Is the filter rating important? Yes! It is very important. Usually, the OEM of the equipment specifies the filter rating (and even the filter......

Factors That Affect Oil Viscosity

Similar to the molasses and water examples above, different factors can affect the viscosity of a liquid. For instance, water can assume other states......

Expired grease?

Are there any signs that my grease has expired? There are a lot of signs to tell if grease has expired! Some of the......

Electrostatic Spark Discharge

What is Electrostatic Spark Discharge? Electrostatic Spark Discharge is real and extremely common for turbine users! Static electricity at a molecular level is generated......

EasyRCA!

Recently, most of our concerns stem around getting stuff done faster but wanting the same quality result. For instance, when loading a web page,......

EALs?

Q: What makes a lubricant Environmentally Friendly? There are many definitions of environmentally friendly. For instance, a lubricant can be environmentally friendly if it......

Conditions that affect lubricants

What conditions affect lubricants? How are your lubricants currently stored? Are you storing lubricants under the correct conditions? These questions have come up a......

Colour Coding

What is the importance of Colour Coding? Quite often when we are correcting or helping companies set up their lubrication storage areas, we get......

Can Lube Oil Varnish be Eliminated? 

Varnish can be likened to cholesterol in the human body. It can build up in our arteries and eventually clog those, causing restrictions in......

Can Lube Oil Varnish be Detected? 

Detecting something is the first step towards formulating a solution to minimize its effects or eliminate it from a system. In the case of......

Base oil viscosity of greases

Importance of Base oil Viscosity in Greases While we’ve focused on the variances in greases due to thickener types, we haven’t touched much on......

Base Oil Groups

Q: How many Groups of Base oils are there? There are 5 groups of base oils as defined by the American Petroleum Institute (API).......

Additives and their properties

Properties of Additives in Lubricants Each lubricant has a varying percentage of additives as not all lubricants are created equally. Lubricants are designed based......

5 Habits of an Extraordinary Reliability Engineer – My review

Peter Horsburgh has essentially captured the 5 Habits of an Extraordinary Reliability Engineer in his book! His style of writing appeals to engineers as he keeps......

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