How To Manage Unintended Consequences During An Oil Change

December 23, 2021

How To Manage Unintended Consequences During An Oil Change Oil changes play an important part in keeping your machines in good working condition. But sometimes during oil change, technicians face unintended consequences. They see problems that never occurred before, you need knowledge and skills to tackle such problems. For instance, after a full-fledged successful lubrication program when you rinse the fluid with a new fluid fill you may see the new fluid become dark soon after the flush. For many, this can be an eye-opener and may come as a shock. Everyone knows the importance of oil cleanliness but many technicians are unaware of how to deal with such problems. You may think that this was due to the new debris within the system or may assume that the new oil was cleaning the system. Whatever the issue was you will have to quickly narrow it down as the new fluid can ruin the whole system. In this blog, we will explain the unintended consequences of oil changes.

New Problems

As this is a new problem for you, just like many other technicians, you may be confused. After experiencing such a problem the first thing you should do is change the filter in order to filter the dark fluid. Changing the filter might clean up the fluid after the chemical flush but keep in mind that it can become a problem of its own. If the filter is not working then you will need to send the pressure elements for analysis in order to find out the composition of the debris. Once you have done a filter analysis you will be able to figure out which elements were the cause of the problem. After detecting the elements you will now need to plan the next step in order to tackle the new problem. Moreover, there is a chance that not all the materials that were detected were the cause of the problem, maybe only a few reacted with the new fluid. So you will have to find out which material reacted against the new fluid.

Electrostatic Filtration

If changing the final filter did not work the next thing you should do is try electrostatic filtration. It has been seen that many industries have used electrostatic filtration and have seen excellent results. But this process is not cost effective and you will need to spend some extra money. Before you start electrostatic filtration it is important that you consider the fluid’s water content. As electrostatic filtration will not work effectively when the water levels are more than 500 ppm. So if the water level is high in the fluid then this process will not give effective results. But if the water level is in the range then you can carry out the electrostatic filtration process. Once you have decided to do electrostatic filtration you will have to decide which type of filtration you need to do. There are two types of electrostatic filtration that are used for industrial lubricants. One is known as a collector type and the other BCA (balanced charge agglomeration). BCA is usually tried on the second unit. As it consists of a mixing chamber and a pre-filter that starts the agglomeration process by charging the particles. In this method, the big agglomerated particles are filtered out in the final filter. You can also use the collector type of electrostatic filtration. The collector’s method takes a few months to show results. If after months you see the oil change color and notice a decrease in the weight of the patch, the electrostatic filtration has worked.

About Micro-Lube

Micro-Lube is one of the most trustworthy industrial lubricant providers in the Edmonton region. We have a complete range of products and offer oil filtration, dispensing, and storage products and solutions. At Micro-Lube, you can find a wide range of lubricants for almost any kind of machine. We help provide you with the best lubricant for your machines and several other products related to filtration, dispensing, chain, conveyor, and more. For more information visit our website or contact us today.
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