by Jim Stark In one of the early years of our business, we were visited by a gentleman from another laboratory. I remember him standing in our lobby emphatically stating that the element silicon – when it appears in the spectrometry of oil – has one source and one source only: abrasive dirt. He was… Read more »

Industrial machinery literally runs on oil, and the successful outcome of manufacturing depends on that oil being maintained properly. Plants that turn a blind eye to oil maintenance do so at great risk. Oil that becomes wet, acidic, or abrasive will turn on its host (machine) and become a liability. Oil maintenance programs, when in… Read more »

The ISO Code is a system for representing particle concentrations in oil. The test is commonly referred to as the particle count. Without the use of the ISO Code, a confusing series of numbers would have to be examined to determine how clean an oil is. In oil laboratories, automatic particle counters determine the ISO… Read more »

The insolubles test measures the total insoluble materials in an oil sample — that is, all solid or liquid materials that are not soluble (won’t mix) in with the oil. We test insolubles using the centrifuge method. A measured volume of oil is mixed with a heated solvent, agitated, and spun at high speed. Insoluble… Read more »

We occasionally get questions about how oil analysis works. You send your oil to us and you get a report back, but what happens in the meantime? Is it magic? Some sort of voodoo? What happens to the oil that allows us to determine what’s in it? At the heart of most oil analysis businesses… Read more »

We use the flashpoint test to determine how much fuel dilution is present in your oil. Technically speaking, the flashpoint is the lowest temperature at which a liquid will generate sufficient vapor to flash (ignite) when exposed to a source of ignition or fire. In other words, at what temperature do the vapors coming off… Read more »

Want to run your oil longer than the owner’s manual says to? Lots of people do. We take many factors into consideration when determining your optimal oil change. Many people think choosing the right oil is important, but in reality, you can run any API-certified oil indefinitely, as long as it’s not contaminated. That’s the… Read more »

Air-cooled aircraft engines are twitchy, heat-sensitive machines that create wide variations in wear depending on the type of aircraft they are installed on, the type of cylinders employed, how they are operated, and the environment they’re flown and stored in. They do not wear differently due to a particular brand of oil. There is a correct grade of… Read more »

We get questions — loads of questions — every single day here at Blackstone Laboratories, and easily the most common question we hear is, “What type of oil should I use?” Because we’re an independent laboratory, we don’t recommend any specific oil brands. We always recommend using an oil grade recommended for your engine by… Read more »

Most of us have only a vague understanding of viscosity. We tend to choose an oil with a viscosity that we believe is correct for our particular engine, but would another viscosity improve or reduce the life of the engine? Can we freely pick and choose a viscosity outside a manufacturer’s recommendations? Technically, viscosity is… Read more »