Was using empty oil buckets to drain hydraulic oil and found this.

[JTWAT]

I peeled the lids off of two empty TSC 303 oil buckets and found this crud in the bottom of both of them. Not using that oil anymore.

 

[Jonas302]

That why cat pails are black (;

 

[Junkyard]

That why cat pails are black (;

And they come with a hairnet! Lol

 

[JTWAT]

And they come with a hairnet! Lol

lol

 

[Old Doug]

I never liked Pennzoil because the yellow jugs were about clear. I dont know if other oils have as much crud as pennz but you can see it in their jugs.

 

[walkerv]

I never liked Pennzoil because the yellow jugs were about clear. I dont know if other oils have as much crud as pennz but you can see it in their jugs.

Our pails of mobile oils have some but not that much gear oil is probably the worst hyd is the best looking

 

[John C.]

Color is not a gradable characteristic of hydraulic oil.

The other thought is they were empty buckets and it isn't mentioned where and how they were stored. Did they have vent holes on the lid? Was there water on the lids that could have drained down? Was the original contents poured out or pumped out. Were the buckets used for waste oil on some other project? Since waste oil was going back into them, why did it matter what was in them at this point?

 

[fast_st]

Color is not a gradable characteristic of hydraulic oil.

The other thought is they were empty buckets and it isn't mentioned where and how they were stored. Did they have vent holes on the lid? Was there water on the lids that could have drained down? Was the original contents poured out or pumped out. Were the buckets used for waste oil on some other project? Since waste oil was going back into them, why did it matter what was in them at this point?

I've seen more than a few white buckets that end up having a small amount of sediment type stuff in the bottom, you can't feel it but you can see it, must be some kind of processing residue. That's why bucket oil is thought to be 'dirty' according to Nige.

 

[Nige]

That's why bucket oil is thought to be 'dirty' according to Nige.

Let me re-phrase that. Almost all new oil IS "dirty" (not though to be) in that it does not meet OEM minimum cleanliness standards of ISO 16/13 or better right out of the box. That is irrespective of the jug size from 1 gallon up to 55 gallon, 250-gallon totes, and bulk.

We came across this just after the Millenium when Contamination Control started to become a buzzword, and the situation has not really changed much since then apart from the fact a lot more people are aware of it. It was surprising at that time how few samples of new oil met OEM standards, or even came close. The manufacturers all indicated they could provide oil that met OEM Cleanliness standards, but at a price - and of course nobody was prepared to pick up the tab for the extra cost. So what most large job sites do is kidney-loop their oils while they're still in the bulk tank to get them to acceptable cleanliness levels before they are dispensed. For example our bulk SAE10W hydraulic oil is generally supplied by the oil company to us at somewhere around ISO 17/14 or 18/15. We kidney-loop it down to at least ISO 14/11 and sometimes to 13/10 or 12/9. From 18/15 to 13/10 is a reduction by a factor of 32 in the amount of particles in the oil. Even 17/14 to 14/11 is a reduction in the particle count by a factor of 8.

 

[JTWAT]

I know of one small synthetic lubricants blender based in Superior Wis. that filters their final lubes to 4 micron before bottling.

 

[Nige]

Any idea what ISO Code they claim for their final product..?

 

[JTWAT]

To my knowledge, no product leaves the plant without going through the filtration process.
I assume you are referring to the ISO cleanliness code.
I have inquired with their Tech Dept. and will report back with their answer.

 

[Nige]

To my knowledge, no product leaves the plant without going through the filtration process.
I assume you are referring to the ISO cleanliness code.
I have inquired with their Tech Dept. and will report back with their answer.

Yes, I was referring to the ISO 4406 Cleanliness Code. IMHO it would be somewhat strange if a supplier that was making a sales pitch on the basis of an improved filtration process that resulted in better cleanliness of their product not to include this information in their documentation.

 

[walkerv]

Here is a good picture of our 80w90 gear oil pails , mind you this is service pro brand so i think you would call it a 3rd party oil

 

[fast_st]

Looks like its been through 3 or more differentials, yep, you can be the 3td party to use it.

 

[JTWAT]

Nige, it wasn't a sales pitch about the cleanliness of the oil. I happened to be on a tour of the plant and saw the filters and was told by a engineer that all products are filtered before packaging.

 

[Nige]

I'm sure it wasn't, but in these days of "competitive advantage" I just thought it was strange that they were not shouting it from the rooftops if they were producing a cleaner product than the rest of the lubricant industry.
Maybe the filters were there to remove what we class as "small children, dogs, & tree branches"..?

 

[Truck Shop]

You think what you see in a 1,5, 55 gallon container is bad, should see the inside of a ten thousand gallon bulk tank that's been in use for 25 years. Mud.

 

[Randy88]

I might be wrong but I've always been told all new oil should be filtered before going into any machine no matter who you buy it from or what oil it is?

Don't think anybody does this onsite while working, not sure anybody does this at all ever, but its what one of my oil suppliers still recommends to this day.

 

[Nige]

You were informed correctly. Most new oil could not be classed as clean, whoever supplies it and whatever size of container it’s delivered in. Most large customers filter their oil. I’ll have to find some photos of our filtration plant.