Particles are extremely destructive to equipment. But in order to remove them, we first need to understand the level of particle contamination. This is where…

Particulates are the enemy of your equipment. Causing abrasive and erosive wear that limits the useful life of equipment, it can also have major detrimental…

There’s a good argument to be made that water is the most common of all lubricant contaminants. This is partially because it is everywhere –…

Water, being a lubricant’s number one contaminant, is in many respects also its number one enemy. There are many negative consequences of water’s interaction with…

Removing water from oil systems is hard. The preference (and most cost effective method) is to prevent ingress in the first place, but where this…

Air is all around us. You may not necessarily think of it as being a contaminant, but air can have many damaging effects on both…

Degradation of lubricants is an essential concept to understand for anyone that is involved in lubrication. Although there is so much more detail to be…

Oxidation is the nemesis of all molecules, but here we will focus on the effects of oxidation on lubricating oils. A natural process that is…

Oxidation as a process affects all oil systems. As one of the primary oil degradation mechanisms, it is important that we understand how to quantify…

Thermal degradation is a high temperature failure mode experienced by the lubricant. In many ways, the signs of thermal degradation are similar to those of…

Electro Static Discharge (also known simply as ESD) is a surprisingly common degradation mechanism for lubricants. However, it is equally mysterious. Manifesting as “lightning in…

Varnish is an interesting term. Experience says that most operators think of varnish as being the baked-on lacquer commonly found in high temperature applications and…