I have inhereted an oil program and need some information. I am a vibe guy and have just "dabbled" in oil.

We use ISO 2/5/15 and our targets for cleanliness are 21/18/15. This seems high. This is a coal fired power plant and everything is dirty, but it still seems high. What do you folks use for a target??

Pablo / Paul,

ISO codes 2/5/15 is already obsolete, ISO code now uses 4/6/14, kindly refer to your particle counter as to what calibration does it comply

ISO 4406-86 or ISO 4406-99

First of all, what system is targeted at that ISO level? What viscosity is the oil? Is it a sump, or a circulation system? What is the filter beta rating, and absolute pore size? Do you test before the filter or after the filter? Are there adequate (3-6 micron) breathers attached to the lube tank? Is there water ingression? Water artificially knocks your ISO code up.

As you can see, quite a few things influence your ISO cleanliness code, and equipment requirement. I suggest you don't play with this type of code, but understand the things that would influence the code, and the requirement of the equipment itself. Get some oil basic understanding and possibly certification.

Bearing manufacturers are very good in detailing the codes for optimum design life of your equipment, but keep in mind their tests are done in laboratory conditions.

From James F First of all, what system is targeted at that ISO level? What viscosity is the oil? Is it a sump, or a circulation system? What is the filter beta rating, and absolute pore size? Do you test before the filter or after the filter? Are there adequate (3-6 micron) breathers attached to the lube tank? Is there water ingression? Water artificially knocks your ISO code up.

Like I was saying, this thing was inherited and has at least ten years of "Best Intentions". From what I can see, ALL the point sets are the same and very generic. It doesn’t matter what the application, or what oil is used, the setup is the same. This database looks like it will need some work to be viable. It is a case of “Too many cooks have spoiled the broth”

No, I am not going to start puttering around in places I don’t understand and your suggestions are well taken. Thanks for your input.

Pablo:

Your lubrication vendor can also give you some basic understanding of Lubrication. That is about all a local vendor is good for. They can give good training, but you may need more. Fortunately there are alternatives:

Noria (www.noria.com) is an excellent (non-vendor specific) resource for research, as well. I have had much training by them, and I would recommend them.

Noria has a few classes that would be good: Machinery Lubrication, and depending on your level of oil analysis, the Oil Analysis I and II are good courses as well. If your company cannot afford to send you to an off-site class, I suggest reading up on their website. You might want to look at their Glossary before reading too much, or have it handy when some terms may not be familiar.

When I say lube vendor, I mean a distributor. The parent company Chevron/Texaco, ExxonMobil, or Shell can provide training from the local Lubrication Engineering contact. This is a little better than local distributor training.

I hope you can find local resources.

The above training is after you have developed your program. You have an issue right now. The ISO code is a basic dirt count. It tells you how dirty your oil is. Those contaminants indicated by an ISO count do not tell you if they are ferrographic, or of silicon, dust, or glycol, etc... in other words, it won't tell you what those contents are made of.

A good idea of what you can do to determine the type of contaminant is to run a patch test. This is a very simple test. Place a drop from a well mixed oil sample (to get a good representative sample) on the back of a business card. Get a high powered eyepiece with a light and once it has spread and thinned out, try to discern what type of particles are on the patch. Of course, only the large ones will be seen, but the larger ones are what help to grind bearings to wear them out. So, if you see metal pieces, you have metal to metal grinding or other mechanical failure mode. If you see silicon, then it may be a breather problem.

So, there are things you may want to look into to help you determine why the ISO count is so high. Once you determine the type of contaminant, you can address the issue much easier (better filters, air breathers, etc.). You don't need much training for that!