Question: I have two products on site and I think the machines may have been topped up incorrectly. How can I tell if this has happened?
Answer: since there are only two products on site if you submit samples of both new oils plus the oil in your machinery for analysis to your condition monitoring lab they should be able able to do a comparison for you using a comparison of inorganic additives by ICP or XRF, viscosity and organic differences by FTIR.
If you have the oil reports from this analysis then you can learn how to compare them using the following:
- Viscosity grade chart – confirm if the oil is in grade.
- Oil additives and their functions.
- FTIR analysis interpretation.
If the analysis does identify gross contamination of your system you may find this solution article on changing oils correctly of help.