Why Viscosity Testing Remains Crucial To The Life Of Heavy Equipment

By Author: John Cory
Total Articles: 654
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In order to declare the thickness of machine oil and its ability to flow through the parts it is intended to lubricate and protect, a number of major industries must rely on routine viscosity testing. Any machine that has a piston, a rotor, or a gearbox is going to have its oil sampled and sent off to be analyzed, because the owner of that machine requires as much information as possible about the inner workings of a machine to determine what must be done to properly maintain it.

When a machine is in operation, it has a several moving parts that are rubbing together at generally high speeds, creating a large amount of friction that causes the parts to wear out. In order to reduce the amount of wear that a machine's internal parts experience, oil is used to lubricate each part, greatly reducing the amount of friction they create.

It is imperative that the any lubricants used in a machine are the perfect thickness for that machine, because lubricant that is too thick or too thin can cause several different problems, like not properly reducing friction. By analyzing the viscosity of the oils in a specific machine, ...
... the operator will be able to determine whether or not those oils are providing the right amount of protection for the machine, among other things.

All types of conclusions can be drawn from the information provided as a result of one of these tests, from what oil should be used to what kind of conditions the oil is coming in contact with. A change in viscosity could indicate a number of things, such as dilution caused by other fluids leaking into the oil, changes in temperature, breakdown of the oil, and oil contamination.

Getting a good oil sample and mailing it in to a lab on a regular basis will provide them with critical information that can be used to figure out a lot of what is happening within a particular machine. Anytime they are made aware of a drastic change in viscosity, they know that something about the way the machine operates has changed, and with the other information provided by the oil test, they will have a good idea about what has caused the changed and where they should start looking to get to the root of the problem. Due to the great deal of information it offers us, routine viscosity testing is a large part of preventive maintenance and keeping the gears turning.
Provides you with the right blend of technology through viscosity testing and oil analysis testing. Gather further info from Beverly A. Robidoux machine condition monitoring consultant.