All modern lubricants contain additives that inhibit breakdown. As these are depleted sludge is formed thus causing the following affects on the lubrication systems:
- Increases friction, heat, and wear
- Reduces clearances and/or plugs passageway
- Accelerates acid build up promoting corrosion
- Shortens component life
- Enables catastrophic failure
Instant Lubricant Diagnostics™ is a patented fluid testing and evaluation process that utilizes Radial Planar Chromatography (RPC) to analyze the condition of in-service fluids and lubricants.
A drop of a sample fluid is placed on the unique filter paper. As the test specimen percolates through the filter paper, bands and/or zones of different colors, densities even unwanted wear metals and debris form a chromatogram.
Changes in the appearance of the zones or bands are a clear indication that something in the lubricant has changed. A closer look at the zones, their unique formation, and debris fields contained therein reveal high particle counts that can be correlated to International Standard Organization (ISO) laboratory code.
The chromatograms pictured on the Instant Lubrcant Diagnostics chart are correlated to laboratory analysis by SGS Herguth Laboratories and provide a measure of a fluid’s:
- Additive package
- Dispersant properties
- Total sludge or debris content
The Instant Lubricant Diagnostics™ chart below shows how the sample fluids appear at various stages of depletion when compared to laboratory analysis. For scientific field analysis of a fluid simply compare the sample chromatogram to the diagnostics chart to evaluate the fluids condition as GOOD, CHANGE or OVERDUE.
