FLUID CONTAMINATION

What are Contaminants

It is a well known fact that "over 75% of all system failures can be traced to fluid contamination".
Contaminants are anything that is foreign in your fluid system. The most common particles are metal,fibre,soot,carbon,dust,dirt,paint flakes,varnish,rubber,water and air.
Contamination can reduce power/response output by as much as 20% before a machine operator will even notice!This can lead to shorter service and maintenance intervals, increased cycle times for hydraulics, increased fuel consumption, reduced operator control and can increase operating and maintence costs.
Catching a problem before failure results in repair costs of 5 - 25 percent of component value. Catching after failure causes repair costs of more than 65 percent of the component value.The Steps to Contamination Control
Heat, moisture, air and particles literally rob fluids and lubricants of life. But with rigid contamination control practices, these fluids and lubricants can last indefinitely which, in turn, prolongs the life of the machine’s components and keeps the machine running at the highest level of efficiency. Plus, the costs to begin a proactive contamination control program are quickly absorbed in maintenance cost savings. A basic contamination control program can be implemented in three steps:
1.Establish the target fluid cleanliness levels for each machine fluid system.
2.Select and install additional filtration equipment (or upgrade current filter rating) and contaminant exclusion techniques to achieve target cleanliness levels.
3.Monitor fluid cleanliness at regular intervals to achieve target cleanliness levels.



The 3 microscope pictures below show the difference between dirty and clean oil.

Microscope ISO 23/21 (Highly Contaminated Oil)

Microscope 18/15 (Contaminated Oil)

Microscope 16/13 (New Oil Spec)