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Avoiding the Pitfalls of Viscosity-starved Machines
Industry rides on a film of oil. The oil’s viscosity bears the load and defines the extent of clearance achieved between working surfaces. Sometimes that clearance is thick and bountiful, and other times it is deflated or extinct. Without viscosity, most machines would rapidly self-destruct with mechanical friction and wear. Read More
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Don’t Ignore Viscosity Index When Selecting a Lubricant
Too often the viscosity index (VI) is disregarded as a lubricant selection parameter. One reason is simply because it is poorly understood. Read More
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How Water Causes Bearing Failure
By Jim FitchMachinery Lubrication Magazine It takes only a small amount of water (less than 500 ppm) to substantially shorten the service life of rolling element bearings. There is a vast amount of research that supports this. Being a career-long crusader of clean and dry oil, I will certainly not argue the contrary. In fact,… Read More
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Five Essential Lube Oil Properties Not Routinely Reported by Your Oil Lab
You may be surprised to learn that there are no less than five lubrication performance properties that are missing from nearly all in-service oil analysis reports. These are not esoteric properties that are of limited value or interest to those in charge of machine reliability. Instead, they represent the core foundation of a lubricant’s formulation… Read More