SOCIETY OFAUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, INC. TwoPennsylvania Plaza,NewYork,N.Y.10001 OilAnalysisApplications to Off-Highway Equipment JackPoley Analysts, Inc. NationalCombined Farm,Construction &Industrial Machinery andPowerplant MeetingsMilwaukee, Wis. September 9-12,1974740658 Downloaded from SAE International by University of British Columbia, Sunday, September 23, 2018Copyright ©Society ofAutomotive Engineers, Inc.1974 Allrightsreserved. Downloaded from SAE International by University of British Columbia, Sunday, September 23, 2018740658 OilAnalysisApplications to Off-Highway Equipment JackPoley Analysts, Inc. OFF-HIGHWAY EQUIPMENT generallyreceivesasmuch abuseasanyothertypeofequipment. Oftenitreceivesa minimalamountofcaretosustainitbecauseofdifficultyin accessability. Oilchanges,repairs,andevenmanypartsre placements aremaderightattheequipment site,inthefield, underfar-from-ideal conditions. Unscheduled downtime isaprohibitive circumstance be causemostoperations aresomewhat interdependent uponone another.Weather,too,oftenplaysavitalroleinproductivity. Equipment availability must,therefore, bemaximized ifprof itableutilization istooccur. Thispaperdiscussestheuseofoilanalysisasamaintenance supporting toolinoff-highway applications. Oilanalysisisan important toolinmaximizing availability, aswellasinreducing maintenance costs.Itforewarns againstimpending problems insufficient time,sothatlessermaintenance canbeaccom plishedpriortotheneedformajorrepairs.Itsgreatfeatureas amaintenance toolisthatequipment isstillabletobekeptin servicewhiletheanalysisanddiagnosisofthesamplearebeing made. INITIAL EQUIPMENT INFORMATION Beforeaprogramisbegun,anequipment listshouldbefur nishedwhichliststheequipment bycompartment andserial numberorotherstandardidentification. Themanufacturerofthecompartment shouldbelistedaswellasthecompart mentmodelnumber(asopposedtothemanufacturer ofthe entiremachine,whichcouldbedifferent). Thetypeofoper ationinwhichtheequipment isinvolvedisalsoimportant. Environment, terrain,andwhethertheequipment ismobileor stationary areallsignificant considerations. Thetype(s)andgradeoflubricantusedshouldalsobe noted,andanewsamplesubmitted asareferencesource. SAMPLING TAKINGSAMPLE -Samplingistheinitialactionstepinan oilanalysisprogram. Thesamplewillberepresentative ifitis takenwhiletheunitisstillwarmfromoperation, sothatthe oilisashomogeneous aspossible. Avalveinthecirculating systemisaconvenient meansof securingasample.Ifthismethodisnotavailable,samples canbesuction-extracted throughdipsticksoroilfillholes. Suctiongunscanbeused,butareinferiortoindividualone timesampler/containers (Fig.1)duetocross-contamination possibilities fromonesampletothenext. INFORMATION WITHSAMPLE -Itisimportant toprovide basicdatawiththeoilsamplesifproperevaluations aretobe made.Suchdataincludetheunitnumber,timesincelastdrain oftheoil,timeontheunitsinceneworsinceover-hauled, oil consumption betweensamples,andsampledate. ABSTRACT Thispaperdescribeshowacomprehensive oilanalysispro gramisimplemented inoperations involvingoff-highway and similarequipment. Oilsamplesaretakenonaroutinebasis andthoroughly analyzedinalaboratory. Testsaretailoredto theequipment beingsampled,andindividual recordsaremain tainedperunittoallowmonitoring oftrends.Highlyqualifieddataanalystsreviewtestresultsandprovidepracticalmainte nancerecommendations. Theresultisanimprovement inre liability,reduceddowntime, andthedirectionofrepairefforts onlywhenandwherenecessary. Testsignificance andinterpretation arediscussedandex emplarycasehistoriesprovided. Downloaded from SAE International by University of British Columbia, Sunday, September 23, 20182 FEEDBACK -Maintenance performed betweensamples, asidefromroutineoilandfilterchanges,shouldbesubmitted withtheappropriate samples.Thiscompleted theinformation loopandprovidesadditionalinputforevaluatingsampletest data. TESTING SELECTION -Aselectionoftestsisdesignedtoyieldthe wearconditionofthecomponent, thelubeconditionofthe component, abnormaloperatingpara