Many lubricants residing in standby equipment have only a few hours of service life. These few hours may be only from occasional scheduled restarts, typically circulating the oil at low load, sometimes barely warming it to operating temperature. In other cases, standby, laid-up and peak-load equipment may sit for weeks or even months without use.
“What is the fastest way to change the maintenance culture at a plant?”
One of the best examples of courage is the man who asks to hear what he doesn’t want to hear. While it’s human nature to fear or dread bad news, the wisest among us will frequently ask for it. Why? Because winners change what losers want to leave the same.
When a machine is first put into service, there is a period of time known as the “break-in” period. During this time, the machine creates wear debris as components begin their initial motion. While there are differing opinions on break-in times and methods, a few constants remain.
The definition of a contaminant is any foreign “something” that enters a lubricant during formulation, packaging, transport, storage or service. Contaminants compromise the lubricant’s integrity, performance and service life as well as impart harm to the machine. No lubricant is indemnified from their effects or can safely co-exist with contaminants. So too, there are no lubricants or machines that can realistically be defined as contaminant-free.
