Lifetime engine oil

[Welder Dave]

I wonder if this could be an option for huge mining machine engines? Was watching a show about the world's largest ice breaker, Umiak 1, that carries $125 mil. worth of nickel concentrate every load (30,000 tons) and operates in Canada. It has a 30,000 HP engine that never needs an oil change and is the largest engine in Canada. It holds 30,000 litres of oil that goes into a sump and is then filtered before going into the engine. Oil samples are taken and the oil can be purified if necessary. They go into the crankcase of the engine and wipe up all the sludge left and inspect the insides of the engine. They even look at the paint to determine if the engine had been under stress and also inspect the welds on the crankcase. Cleaning the sludge looks like one of the dirtiest jobs you could ever do. They use bundles of white rags and it's all manual wiping. Found it quite interesting.

 

[chidog]

What brand engine? Big 2 stroke? I think many locomotives do the same. When it comes to large quantities of lube oil that can get costly real quick. I suppose large piston engine power plants do the same as well, as some of those engines are the same large ones that huge ships use.

The main thing to remember is all those types of engines, mostly do not work in dirty dusty conditions, unless of course its a country in a dusty desert area.

And funny of course but I think Briggs & Stratton has a life time lube oil engine.

Did they show checking for bed plate alignment, crankshaft distortion?

 

[cfherrman]

Bypass oil filters can do a lot, just ask those who make them.

 

[chidog]

Bypass oil filters can do a lot, just ask those who make them.

That and massive centrifuges.

 

[CM1995]

Just my $.02, the smaller the engine the more frequent the oil needs to be changed. More oil and more filtration can extend oil changes.

However this ship is an animal all by itself and looks like they have figured out optimum uptime with a maintenance schedule.

 

[Welder Dave]

What brand engine? Big 2 stroke? I think many locomotives do the same. When it comes to large quantities of lube oil that can get costly real quick. I suppose large piston engine power plants do the same as well, as some of those engines are the same large ones that huge ships use.

The main thing to remember is all those types of engines, mostly do not work in dirty dusty conditions, unless of course its a country in a dusty desert area.

And funny of course but I think Briggs & Stratton has a life time lube oil engine.

Did they show checking for bed plate alignment, crankshaft distortion?

Not even close to a locomotive engine. The biggest locomotive had about 6000 HP but were problematic. 4400 HP EMD's were good engines. This is 30,000 HP and you can't go into the crankcase of a locomotive engine. The engine is a MAN B&W-Hitachi.

 

[BluewaterLa]

These engines while enormous are not reaching RPM of smaller engines and deal with a lot less friction and heat by design.
Each cylinder can be shut off for repair or maintenance while the others are still operational.
With the open sump design and several oil pumps dedicated to certain parts of the engine, the oil takes less wear and tear Vs smaller engines gas or diesel.
Done a few engine repairs / rebuilds in large ships, interesting process and not all that difficult the way things are set up. Actually would rather deal with monsters like this than traditional engines we encounter every day. The oil filtration systems on these set ups are severe.

 

[Truck Shop]

Toro lawn mowers are lifetime oil.

 

[Welder Dave]

Toro lawn mowers are lifetime oil.

Yeah, there are some small engines you just add oil as necessary. There's no drain plug. We bought a cheap mower and I didn't realize you just add oil if it's low. I turned it upside and it was quite the mess. There's not really a need to buy an expensive walk behind rotary mower especially if you have small yard. If the blade is sharp makes no difference if it's a $150 mower or a $500 mower. A more expensive mower might have some nice features and last longer but it doesn't cut any better. I worked at a golf course that bought a couple Honda push mowers that were the hardest to push of any mower I've ever used. Best commercial mower was a Jacobsen Commercial 20 with a 2-stroke engine made by Jacobsen. Early models had a 321 (32-1 oil mix). Later used a J501 that might have been specially made for Jacobsen by Tecumseh. They weren't cheap but you couldn't kill them. There was also a self propelled Commercial 21 but I don't think they sold that many due to cost.

 

[Welder Dave]

These engines while enormous are not reaching RPM of smaller engines and deal with a lot less friction and heat by design.
Each cylinder can be shut off for repair or maintenance while the others are still operational.
With the open sump design and several oil pumps dedicated to certain parts of the engine, the oil takes less wear and tear Vs smaller engines gas or diesel.
Done a few engine repairs / rebuilds in large ships, interesting process and not all that difficult the way things are set up. Actually would rather deal with monsters like this than traditional engines we encounter every day. The oil filtration systems on these set ups are severe.

I'm not sure if these engines could have cylinders disabled like the Wartzilla Sulzer engines in container ships. They turn slow but the piston speed is incredible with such a long stroke.

 

[.RC.]

We bought a property that had a lombardini engine driving a water pump.

This engine was also lifetime oil as when I changed the thick black sludgy substance it only ran for less then an hour afterwards before a catastrophic failure.

 

[chidog]

Not even close to a locomotive engine. The biggest locomotive had about 6000 HP but were problematic. 4400 HP EMD's were good engines. This is 30,000 HP and you can't go into the crankcase of a locomotive engine. The engine is a MAN B&W-Hitachi.

I was talking about the oil not being changed, in a loco engine. Yeah they are small in comparison.
Like about 40,000 pounds some of them. Those big ones some are a few thousand tons or so.

 

[Tyler d4c]

We bought a property that had a lombardini engine driving a water pump.

This engine was also lifetime oil as when I changed the thick black sludgy substance it only ran for less then an hour afterwards before a catastrophic failure.

Ive heard that exact thing happen with a case w20 whatever engine model they where

 

[Truck Shop]

Some nice non detergent delo 30/40 wt.

 

[HarleyHappy]

I have had 2 engines detonate as soon as I showed them some love.
An old Snapper snowblower that I thought you couldn’t kill and a Ford riding lawnmower. Figured I’d take care of them and change the oil. Both of them started up just fine, over revved and put a window in the block.
Lesson learned.
Treat them like crap and they run.
Now, if you take care of it from day one and do regular oil changes and treat it well, never trust it.
Lol

 

[terex herder]

Had a '70 international pickup, same thing. Fresh detergent oil, washes all the sludge off and plugs the oil pickup strainer.

 

[Truck Shop]

washes all the sludge off and plugs the oil pickup strainer.

And once the goo is removed and shaken it sounds like a child's rattle toy, full of bits and
pieces of valve stem seals and particles of plastic cam gear teeth. The goo kept those
pieces glued locked wedged from traveling through pump.

 

[Welder Dave]

I think cleaning the sludge out of the crankcase gets rid of a lot of the contaminates in the oil. Maybe with such a large sump the contaminated oil settles and creates the sludge and that's why cleaning the crankcase gets rid of the a lot of the contaminates. I was amazed the Big Muskie dragline held 45,000 gallons of hydraulic fluid but 30,000 litres of oil in a 30,000 HP engine is still shocking. I wonder how much oil a 109,000 HP container ship engine holds.

 

[Truck Shop]

Unlike now---in the days of yore most typically a six or v-eight was well used by 110,000.
The gray goo in the bottom of oil pan and lifter galley was tetraethyl lead, from the gas.
Sometimes so thick it formed it's own KT Boundary layer. Those cylinder heads relied on
leaded gas as saver of valve seats. When unleaded gas arrived those old cylinder heads
with non hardened seats the valves sank in about 15,000 miles.
*
Diesels all the way up to 2000, average oil change was 15,000 until synthetics pushed it
to 30,000 miles plus, in some cases depending GVW 75,000 miles. Two oil changes in a
year. And it's goo.
*
Those huge engines yes mass oil and very low rpm. apple & orange.

 

[chidog]

TEL ? Cool subject

This is pretty good info. At about the 10:45 ish minute area is the best. I know Pratt & Whitney wanted to lower the amount of tel because of the detrimental effect on valves.