The reasons that lubricants age and need to be replaced periodically are well known. It is true that many of the factors that influence lubricant consumption and oil change intervals are not within the realm of control of most users. However, there are far more controllable factors that many user organizations fail to capitalize on in reducing both costs and risks associated with relubrication.

According to one report, the true cost of an oil change can exceed 40 times the cost of the oil itself. In fact, there are many hidden costs and unknown risks that are encountered during relubrication that must be considered.

The post Strategies to Extend Drain Intervals and Reduce Lubricant Consumption appeared first on Tesibis.

The term “short-volume oil change” (SVOC) relates primarily to circulating oil systems. An SVOC occurs when an oil change (either scheduled or condition-based) only involves draining and refilling the oil in the system tank or sump. All or some significant portion of the oil remaining in the oil lines, hoses, bearings, pumps, filters, actuators, valves, heat exchangers, etc., is not changed. In other words, it is a partial oil change.

From a practical standpoint, when oil is drained from machines, there is always some residual amount that, at minimum, occludes to interior surfaces and becomes trapped in low regions, quiescent zones, and other nooks and crannies. For example, after an oil drain, diesel engines typically retain approximately 15 percent of their previous oil. When the engine is refilled with new oil, you end up with an 85-to-15 new-oil-to-used-oil blend.

The main concern with this practice is the influence the used oil has on the health of the blended new oil charge. If the used oil was low in volume and relatively healthy, the performance and life expediency of the new oil blend can be acceptable. Conversely, if the used oil was contaminated and/or heavily degraded from extended use, the performance and life expectancy of the new oil blend can be sharply affected. For instance, it takes less than 5 percent oxidized oil mixed with new oil to reduce the oxidation stability of the new oil by more than 90 percent.

The post Managing the Perils of Short-volume Oil Changes appeared first on Tesibis.