[Spridgets] was Aviation engines was Re: New Engine oil change

Pat pelliott at innercite.com
Tue Jan 1 23:19:59 MST 2008


I have an airplane as well as a sprite, So I'm a little bit qualified to
throw my two cents in.   

Oil analysis is used for a variety of applications, Marine, Aviation, fixed
generators (I also have a few cellular sites with 35kw generators), etc.
 The main thing about using Oil analysis is trending over multiple samples. 
You want to lookout for any increases in certain types of materials. 
  For example: If the ppm of copper changes drastically between changes,
you've started to eat a bearing. Or say your aluminum jumps up, if you have
a Lycoming, you've probably started to eat a piston plug.  

I seen a few airplane owners freak out about their first lab report showing
steel and chrome etc. every report will show some metal. 

 every engine is slightly different in how it wears, the trick is watching
it across quite a few samples. Sometimes, It'll give you a heads up to
excessive wear and prevent a catastrophic failure, but not always,.


Cutting oil filters:    I always do it on the plane, look for chunks, or
ferrous material.  Cheap insurance and gives me something to do while the
last of the oil drains.. 


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