Lubricant Quality Control Process

Lubrication is a process that occurs in every industry. Lubricant quality control is the most important part of the lubrication system. Armor Lubricants manufactures premium automotive and industrial lubricants using advanced technology. It provides best-in-class lubricant services and trendy lubricants for modern vehicles.

In different applications, lubricants can have varying qualities. Some lubricants require higher temperatures for application, whereas others are designed for particular machines. Temperature changes or humidity levels may also affect a lubricant’s performance. Companies should choose the right lubricant for their specific needs to avoid problems.

Lubrication Quality Control Processes

The lubrication quality control process is the most important part of the lubrication system. It ensures that all parts of the system are working properly and consistently, as well as ensuring that there are no leaks or contamination problems in any area.

A good lubricant quality control process includes:

Check for potential problems before they happen and maintain your equipment regularly to ensure proper lubricant quality control. This will help you identify problems before they compromise the system or cause damage. You might have a failed seal or gasket in one of your bearings if oil leaks from your engine when it hasn’t been used recently. Find out how often certain components should be checked and maintained by an expert.

There are several types of lubrication quality control processes. The most common is the “in-process” inspection process, which includes visual and non-visual inspections to ensure that products meet specifications. This type of inspection is used in all major manufacturing processes including injection molding, extrusion, and die casting.

key components of a lubrication quality control process:

It’s important that all components are working properly and any problems are identified as soon as possible.

An effective lubrication quality control program requires the following steps:

• Define the product requirements for your lubricant system (e.g., minimum viscosity, and chemical stability).
• Find out what equipment you’ll need for this (like lab equipment, test stands, etc.).
• Identify the appropriate testing methods for evaluating each component’s performance under normal and abnormal conditions. Collect samples from each component so they can be properly evaluated. Establish standard operating procedures for sampling and preparing components for testing.

How to Implement a Lubrication Quality Control Process

As part of the lubricant quality control process, quality control is important. Lubricants should be delivered on-site with proper viscosity, base oil, performance characteristics, and contamination cleanliness targets. They should also be inspected before they arrive at the receiving dock.

There are several steps to implementing a lubricant quality control program.

• The first step is to identify the scope of the program, and the second is to determine what type of lubricants you will be testing and how often they will be tested.
• The third is to develop an effective training process for your personnel who will be performing the test procedures.
• There are also some basic guidelines that must be followed to ensure that all tests are performed correctly and consistently.

Conclusion

Armor Lubricants manufactures premium automotive and industrial lubricants using advanced technology. API (American Petroleum Institute) has certified it for ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 standards. Today, the company provides best-in-class lubricant services and trendy lubricants for modern vehicles.

At Armor Lubricants, we offer a full line of lubricants for the lubrication and protection needs of your equipment. Each product is designed to meet specific requirements for temperature range, viscosity, and chemical stability. We also carry a complete line of lubricant additives that are used to enhance the performance characteristics or extend the life of your lubricants.

Color plays a vital role for manufacturers and consumers of lubricants because it is the primary method of identifying a specific product type. Some industrial lubricants have an entire color range, indicating the level of refinement, the type of base stock and the additive package. Monitoring a product's color throughout production can also alert manufacturers to potential contamination or faulty processing.

What Are Color Standards and Why Are They Important?

Multiple test methods exist for measuring the color of lubricant products and maintaining quality control during production. Manufacturers must keep a close eye on color during refinement to catch any defects immediately, minimizing the amount of lost time, materials and labor if an error occurs. One of the most accurate and reliable methods of measuring lubricant color is spectrophotometry.

Since lubricant manufacturing and refining are complex, companies use industry standards to ensure their products meet the necessary color specifications. Some of the primary color scales for analyzing lubricants and other petroleum products include the Saybolt and ASTM D1500 standard test methods. These scales work on a color range from light to dark.

While visual comparison methods and color charts may work for consumers in identifying a specific lubricant type, manufacturers must employ more advanced techniques to ensure better accuracy. Spectrophotometers can measure the exact color of your lubricant and deliver a precise color comparison to any of these scales.

Meeting Industry Color Standards for Lubricants

Because many spectrophotometers come in portable designs, they're perfect measuring tools for lubricant evaluation on the production floor or in the lab. Manufacturers can use these instruments throughout all processing stages to ensure their lubricants meet the necessary color requirements and other production criteria before they leave the door. Some spectrophotometers come pre-loaded with the ASTM D1500 and Saybolt scales, permitting quick implementation into your quality control system.

HunterLab offers several devices for reliable and accurate measurement of lubricants and petroleum-based products, including our Vista® spectrophotometer. With its easy-to-use interface, Vista® provides fast and precise measurements without needing a PC or other accessories. It also includes a haze feature to identify particulates, contaminants and other elements affecting product quality.

The function of a lubricant is pretty simple when you think about it.  It’s mostly about reducing the friction between moving parts and surfaces, but lubrication also plays a myriad of other roles, including reducing the wear and tear of equipment, increasing viscosity, protecting against corrosion, reducing contamination by moving foreign particles, and distributing heat. 

Whether you are managing a fleet or servicing machinery in the field, the need for proper lubrication on all of your equipment is crucial to maximize efficiency and limit downtime. This becomes challenging, given the wide array of lubricants available and the number of truck and equipment models. It is imperative to match the proper lubricant with each manufacturer’s specifications.

Lubricants are not one size fits all, so it is important to educate yourself on basic lubrication types and brush up on some tips for selecting the right lubricants for your specific equipment needs. 

Types of Lubricants

There are many varieties and formulations of industrial lubricants that are each designed to meet a variety of applications with specific regulations and standards. 

Oil lubricants, the most commonly used type of lubricant due to its use in most motor vehicles on the roads today, are liquid based and are used to coat the gears inside of gear boxes and transmissions’, lubricate vehicle engines and other machinery components to reduce viscosity to prevent overheating due to too much friction.  Oil lubricants are available in conventional formulas, derived from crude oils with additives, as well as, synthetic and semi-synthetic formulas, which have their advantages but are more costly.

Grease, a semi-solid lubricant that is made up of a mineral or vegetable oil base, thickeners, and additives to enhance performance is highly viscous.  Grease is applied to a surface in a paste like consistency and is rubbed into the surface to coat with a film of lubrication.  Greases are applicable to a variety of machines, operations and conditions, such as cables, plain bearings, rolling-element bearings, linear bearings, ball screws, slideways and seals. Greases are generally applied to mechanisms where oils would not stay put or where lubrication is performed less frequently.

Dry lubricants, despite their solid form, are effective in the reduction of friction.  Unlike oil and grease lubricants which attract dust particles, dry lubricants will not clog or gum up when dust is present. Dry lubricants are useful where conventional lubricants are difficult to apply or retain.

Factors to Consider When Selecting a Lubricant

• Manufacturer’s recommendation: This is a good place to begin, but these recommendations are written for ideal conditions and don’t take into consideration specific application or environmental factors that may influence the performance of the lubrication.
• Temperature: Temperature determines which lubricant base oil type is needed.
• Operating Speed: Whether the operating speed is fixed or variable, as well as, the rate of speed determines the viscosity required.
• Type of Friction: The four types of friction include static, sliding, rolling, and fluid
• Load and the Environmental Conditions: This is important to consider when determining the appropriate additive package of the lubrication.
• Industry Standards

Bear Oil Company: Lubrication Specialists

Selecting the right lubricant can be tricky.  That’s why the lubrication experts at Bear Oil Company are available to assist you in choosing the lubricants that best meet your equipment specifications and will factor in the application and environmental conditions when making recommendations.

In order to boost the performance of your equipment and save yourself from costly downtime and repair expenses due to improper lubrication of your equipment, allow our skilled and knowledgeable staff to be your guide to proper lubrication.

We keep a wide variety of lubricants in stock for pick-up, or we also provide on-site delivery.  Available products include:

• Gasoline and diesel engine oils
• Transmission fluids
• Hydraulic fluids
• Antifreeze
• Turbine oils
• Aviation lubricants
• Industrial lubricants
• Compressor lubricants
• Fire resistant and Nonconductive oils
• Dry film lubricants
• Metal working fluids
• Corrosion preventatives
• DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid)