Product category:
Electrical Services
News Release from: Finning UK | Subject: SOS Fluids Analysis
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 24 February 2006
SOS Fluids Analysis pours oil on
troubled waters
Mark Cook S.O.S Fluids Analysis Manager at Finning, one of the largest providers of fluid analysis services in the world, highlights the benefits and talks us through how to take a sample.
S.O.S Fluids Analysis is one of the fastest, most accurate and reliable ways to find out what is going on inside a machine Mark Cook S.O.S Fluids Analysis Manager at Finning, one of the largest providers of fluid analysis services in the world, highlights the benefits and talks us through how to take a sample
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 24 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Preventative maintenance is a sound idea, but many machine operators tell me that they have a nagging feeling at the back of their mind that they are paying for repairs, which are unnecessary, in the name of keeping their machines operational.
This is probably what puts many off the idea of developing a preventative maintenance culture, which is unfortunate because, at a time when the waste industry is faced with increasingly severe performance and profits targets, it continues to run the gauntlet of potential catastrophic failure which can leave a machine out of production for weeks and even months.
The essence of preventative maintenance is to prevent minor problems from becoming major repairs, which avoids unscheduled downtime, which in turn, can erode margins and ultimately profits.
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The key to a preventative maintenance programme is timing, based upon component replacement cycles and key repair indicators, particularly in the drive train, which is where catastrophic failures occur.
One of the most effective ways of highlighting the need for a repair is by the use of Fluids Analysis or S.O.S.
By carrying out regular Oil and Coolant sampling checks it is possible to monitor all the major truck systems, from engine through to transmission, final drives, differentials and hydraulics.
The benefits of S.O.S are clear.
Firstly, Fluids Analysis can help detect problems early, in order that they can be repaired before they become major failures.
This is critical in developing a culture of repair before failure.
Secondly, S.O.S Fluids Analysis if used to schedule planned maintenance enables machine downtime to be fitted into a machine's workload.
Seasonal busy periods and heavy use periods can be avoided.
S.O.S Fluids Analysis also enables better management of repair and maintenance budgets by offering the ability to predict repairs, downtime and equipment life.
In turn, this can help operators to develop a complete service history for each machine, which will prove invaluable when evaluating performance and planning replacement purchases.
Crucially, it will also result in a higher trade-in or resale price.
S.O.S Fluids Analysis is easy to complete, by either using an oil valve probe or, alternatively, by vacuum extraction when the engine is at normal operating temperature.
In a matter of minutes a sample can be taken from a machine and sent to our laboratory for analysis.
We normally recommend you take a sample from each machine compartment every 250 hours.
In order to take a good oil sample certain basic steps must be followed.
At a minimum the following considerations should be addressed to ensure that the sample is representative.
Firstly, it is important that the sample is well-mixed oil from an engine that has been running for at least 15 minutes.
Secondly, the sample should always be taken with the oil at normal operating temperatures and no external dirt must be allowed to enter the sample.
In terms of the actual sample technique, it is important that when changing oil it is drained when hot.
The sample should never be taken as the oil starts to drain or when the oil is finishing draining.
The optimum time for extracting an oil sample directly into a sample bottle is after the machine has been running for a short period.
Crucially, a sample should never be collected in a container that has been used for sampling oil from another machine.
Any sample of oil taken will immediately signal to our Analysis Diagnosticians whether any excessive wear is occurring within the compartment.
Following careful consideration, we then recommend the necessary action that can be taken before more serious and more costly problems occur.
For the most effective preventative maintenance, it is important to sample regularly to establish wear trends.
A range of problems can be detected by the use of oil sampling.
Silicon in combination with aluminium often signifies potential wear in pistons, rings and liners caused by contamination or dirt in the air induction system filters or turbocharger breathers.
Another example on certain engines is silver in the oil sample, which can signify potential wear in the wrist-pin due to the use of a zinc based oil.
Iron in the oil sample will usually signify potential wear in the liners, pistons, crankshafts, valves or gear train which can be caused by a variety of issues, including abnormal operating temperatures, dirt or a restricted air induction system.
For such a relatively easy procedure, the benefits of S.O.S Fluids Analysis are clear.
In fact our advice, to gain maximum protection against machine failure, is that fluid sampling should also be undertaken on coolant systems and fuel sampling on the fuel systems of any machine.
The risk of catastrophic failure is too high a price to pay due to a lack of basic sampling techniques to diagnose minor problems, which could easily escalate into major issues.
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