Machinery Lubrication May June 2014 May June 2014 | Page 26

COVER STORY
Maintenance
ISO VG
Code No.

Viscosity
Limits (cSt
@ 40° C)

Viscosity
Limits (SSU @
100° F)

Pour Point °F
(Maximum
ASTM D-97)

Demulsibility
% Water in Oil
(Maximum)

Characteristics
Total mL Free
Water (Minimum)

ASTM D-2711
mL Emulsion
(Maximum)

MC-43

68

61.2-74.8

284-347

-15° F (-26° C)

1

80

2

MC-51

150

135-165

625-764

-10° F (-23° C)

1

80

2

MC-87

220

198-242

917-1121

-10° F (-23° C)

1

80

2

MC-21

320

288-352

1334-1631

0° F (-17.8° C)

1

80

2

MC-93

460

414-506

1918-2344

0° F (-17.8° C)

1

80

4

MC-71

680

612-748

2834-3465

10° F (-12° C)

1

80

4

MC-31

1000

900-1100

4169-5095

20° F (-6.7° C)

1

80

4

Figure 3. Examples of maintenance codes assigned for various lubricant tests

asked when considering the use of
specifications is: “Do we need to
consolidate our products?” According
to the Pareto principle (80/20 rule), 80
percent of the lubricant volume in a
plant should be concentrated in 20
percent of the individual products. Take
a survey of the products and the volume
used of each. If the results do not
conform to the 80/20 rule, your plant
might be a candidate for lubricant
consolidation. In other words, if
relatively equal volumes of many
products are in use, duplication might
exist.

Benefits and Disciplines of
the Specification System
The most obvious benefit of the
specification system is lower prices.
This can be easily seen. What goes
unseen is the high-quality products you
obtain while forcing oil companies to
compete. However, by instituting a
specification system, plant maintenance
people are compelled to learn what
works and why. This may be a challenge
in some plants.
The willingness to perform testing is
critical. You do not need to have an
onsite laboratory, but you must find a
quality offsite lab. While a few tests can
be performed onsite with inexpensive
equipment, most require expensive
equipment and a qualified technician.
A few ways to reduce these costs are
discussed below. These two disciplines

— learning what works and why, and
the willingness to conduct testing — are
essential.

Intangible Benefits
When you have a “system” in place for
purchasing lubricants, vendors tend to
be more careful with your products’
quality. Knowing that you test and
won’t hesitate to complain or have a
bad load pumped out at their expense
will keep everyone honest. Also, those
vendors who live by “sharp” practices
or high costs don’t even bother to
solicit your business. My personal
experience has proven this to me
repeatedly.

Testing
As mentioned previously, it is
recommended to randomly test every
truckload of bulk oil and drum
shipments. The steel company did this
because of the large volumes purchased.
Tests are generally priced individually,
and some are expensive. To lower costs,
the steel company selected a few critical
tests for each load and assumed the
rest were OK. However, this may have
been overkill. You could take a sample,
label it and store it in case of future
problems. As confidence in a vendor
grows, this would be an acceptable
practice.
Remember, buying lubricants by
performance
specifications
puts
lubrication on a professional base.

24| May-June 2014 | www.machinerylubricationindia.com

Vendors would rather deal with people
who understand lubricants and what
makes them work. When the user’s
understanding increases, the vendor
may see the need to increase his or her
own knowledge.
In the last 20 years, various organizations
have devised certification tests to
evaluate vendor and user knowledge in
the lubrication field. This effort has
vastly improved the knowledge of
everyone involved. Now vendors know
that if a problem occurs, they will
receive a rational hearing rather than a
screaming,
emotional
response.
Vendors become more service-oriented
and better problem-solvers instead of
mere order-takers.
At the same time, customers become
better problem solvers when they have
records that show the important
parameters have not changed. They
must probe deeper to see if the problem
might have been caused by something
they did or did not do.
Finally,
by
concentrating
on
performance specifications, total fluid
management (TFM) will take on a
whole new dimension. If you choose to
go this route, no longer will you be at
the complete mercy of the TFM
manager. The knowledge gained
by focusing on the lubricant
specifications will enable you to ask all
the important questions and insist on
critical reports.