Sending in a sample of new oil

[DJ54]

We used to send in samples of oil out of our equipment at work, for wear factor purposes. But can they tell me what I have, if I send them a sample of new oil..?? There is a 15 gallon drum full of oil in Dad's shop with no markings on it. I have filled a small oil can out of it, just to see what it was. It appears to be like a straight 30wt. I'm thinking he may have gotten it to change oil in the Onan on his Woodmiser saw mill.

If in fact it is 30wt., it sure would last me a long time changing out the Wheel Horse's & small garden tractor's oils for years..!!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Why not give the oil analysis company a call and ask them, much better than getting a bunch of guesses from TBN users. Different labs might have different capabilities.

 

[bcp]

Lab capabilities differ. The petroleum lab I worked in received labeled samples, then we tested for contamination and/or if it met specifications. We never did identification work.

Bruce

 

[mikehaugen]

If you are just wondering the viscosity, you could get a "viscosity cup" (sorry I can't remember the technical name) and measure it yourself. You would have to do it with the oil at a couple different temperatures and the are different charts available for the time to flow through the cup. Not exact, but you should be able to get it narrowed down to a particular weight.

 

[3930dave]

Blackstone, Finning/CAT, Amsoil are a few options to check with for this type of analysis.

Virgin Oil Analysis - PCMO/HDEO - Bob Is The Oil Guy

Examples of reports are posted at that link, along with other lab options.

Let us know what the verdict is.

Rgds, D.

 

[DJ54]

I found out today a small local shop has a place they send samples for contamination. I may stop in this week, and see where he sends them, and see if they can do a viscosity check for me.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I found out today a small local shop has a place they send samples for contamination. I may stop in this week, and see where he sends them, and see if they can do a viscosity check for me.

I would also ask them to check the grade whether it is straight mineral oil or high detergent type of oil. Many small engines only like straight mineral oil and if after many years of using that, putting in HD oil will usually cause a massive oil consumption problem.

 

[MHarryE]

In general they test only for problems - wear metals, water, anti-freeze, oxidation, soot, and viscosity in cents tokes at 100 degrees C. Many labs will give more detailed analysis for more money. I've had more analysis done opposite of what you are looking for. I knew the additive package of my oil and had our lab test customer's samples to see if it matched or if they were using a non-specified oil.