00:00:00:10 – 00:00:26:11
Bryan Furnace
Today we dive even deeper into the world of oil testing. Why is cleanliness so essential? And why is contaminations such a bad thing? Here to tell us more Shelley with Chevron. And she’s going to break it all down for us.
Shelley, thank you so much for being back on the dirt. It’s good to see you again.
00:00:30:02 – 00:00:32:12
Shelly Eckert
It’s nice to see you, too. Thank you for having me.
00:00:32:13 – 00:00:54:01
Bryan Furnace
Absolutely. Any time. So my first question is we’re talking about oil sampling again. And for a lot of smaller contractors in particular, I think there’s this kind of mysticism behind why we have to be so clean. Why do we need to be clean and precise when we take these oil samples? It is just a little bit of contamination really going to mess it up that bad?
00:00:54:03 – 00:01:13:06
Shelly Eckert
Yeah. Yes, it must be. My great example is the fact that when you take an oil sample in a dirty environment, right, if you take the cap and you place it upwards, dirt particles can get onto that inside top of the cap, right. And then when you put the cap back on the bottle, that dirt will get into the sample.
00:01:13:06 – 00:01:29:07
Shelly Eckert
And the lab can and will detect it. Best practice is to take the bottle cap off, put it down without putting it upwards. Right. Or hold it in your hand while your sample and put it back on as quickly as possible.
00:01:29:09 – 00:01:40:13
Bryan Furnace
So we’re not even talking like sprinkling some dirt across the lid. We’re literally talking the dust particles in the air just from you. Being in a dusty environment are enough to change that sample.
00:01:40:15 – 00:01:41:11
Shelly Eckert
That’s correct.
00:01:41:13 – 00:01:43:18
Bryan Furnace
Wow. That’s an incredible level of detail.
00:01:43:23 – 00:02:01:16
Shelly Eckert
Well, what the lab is measuring is particles that are smaller than a human hair. That’s why it dirt shows up and it’s not aggressive. You’ll get a report back saying silica is an elevated level, right. Because that’s what silk it is. Is dirt no abrasive wear reported. Review. Sample technique.
00:02:01:18 – 00:02:08:21
Bryan Furnace
Gotcha. So the lab will actually give you a little slap on the wrist, telling you that you need to do a better job.
00:02:08:23 – 00:02:10:11
Shelly Eckert
Typically. Right.
00:02:10:13 – 00:02:26:20
Bryan Furnace
My next question has to do with labeling and record keeping. I also think there’s a good portion of people that kind of go well, if I slap a red label on the skid steer and a blue label on the excavator, that’s good enough. And the label kind of take care of the rest. Is that reality or what does it look like on my end?
00:02:26:20 – 00:02:28:05
Bryan Furnace
What do I need to do?
00:02:28:07 – 00:02:53:14
Shelly Eckert
Well, you have to communicate with the laboratory. So the paperwork, whether that’s a form or a label, you have to give them the information in order to properly diagnose the sample. Like, for example, the engine making model, the hours on the engine, the hours on the oil, the date taken. And definitely, obviously the unit itself. And you have to be consistent with that unit in every time.
00:02:53:18 – 00:03:19:21
Shelly Eckert
Otherwise it’ll separate your sample history. When it comes to making sure that you provide the engine making model. There are different limits of what the diagnostician looks at and where tolerances by OEM. Right. And then on top of that, if there is more hours than typical or less hours than typical, that also changes the perspective of how critical and abnormality is.
00:03:19:23 – 00:03:47:01
Bryan Furnace
Interesting. And I’m assuming if you get those those unit numbers incorrect and you separate the history that’s going on. We’ve talked in the past that trend analysis is one of the most critical aspects of this whole process, because that’s allowing us to track what’s going on with that machine. And what you’re saying is, if my labeling is incorrect or improper now, it’s my fault that we no longer have that trend analysis for my particular piece of equipment.
00:03:47:03 – 00:04:06:17
Shelly Eckert
That’s correct. That’s correct. So if you’re not, filling out the paperwork correctly, if we call it garbage in, garbage out, and then you’re going to be wasting money, then it’s going to the lab. That lab can’t truly do justice to your diagnostics interpretation, right? Yeah. So that’s part of it.
00:04:06:19 – 00:04:27:21
Bryan Furnace
So this is where I play the the small excavating contractor role. And I say, Shelly, this sounds like it takes way too much time to pull this really official clean sample. And then I got to do all this record…
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