Vote for Esco's Magnetic Oil Monitors for 2019 Solution Award
MOM Benefits:
Identify lubrication issues early to prevent downtime and costly equipment failures.
Easy-to-install and minimal training required; start tracking changes in oil condition immediately.
Low cost to implement and high return on protecting machine longevity.
Learn more about the MOM product here. Voting ends March 26, 2019 and The Solution Awards Ceremony will take place at The RELIABILITY Conference, May 7th in Seattle, WA. You can learn about all the product submissions for each of the categories and vote here. Don't forget to vote for Esco's Magnetic Oil Monitors under the Asset Condition Management category. We appreciate your support!Happy Holidays from Esco Products, Inc.

4 Easy Reliability Improvements for Under $200
1. Monitor Oil Level. Installing a reliable oil sight window, such as a 3-D BullsEye, gives you a fail-proof reading of your oil level. Surprisingly, a huge cause of equipment failure is because there was too little or too much oil in the equipment. Installation will take you about two minutes and checking the oil level is as easy as walking by the machinery. Read here how one plant estimated millions of dollars in savings by installing 3-D BullsEyes on their equipment.
Average 3-D BullsEye Cost: $30
2. Control Contamination. Contamination is the leading cause of machine failure. The smallest amount of debris or water can cause abrasion, erosion, fatigue and corrosive wear on machinery. A quality desiccant breather takes little time to install and prevents contaminates from entering the equipment. As it is spent, the desiccant changes color from blue to pink, alerting operators it is time to change the breathers.
Standard breather Cost: $60
3. Visually Analyze Oil & Discharge Water. Being able to see and analyze equipment's oil and diagnose problems can extend the life of industrial lubricants. An Oil Sight Glass, or Bottom-Sediment & Water Bowl, can be added to the drain valve and allow for immediate oil inspection.
Standard Oil Sight Glass Cost: $70
4. Compare Oil Quality Over Time. Lubricants can quickly change color, temperature and clarity over time. These changes are hard to track how quickly and to what degree the characteristics of the oil has changed if you aren't keeping adequate records and have nothing to provide a comparison. No need for fancy equipment, the use of Magnetic Oil Monitors are tools to help you track and measure a lubricant's temperature, color, and clarity that can give an operator a basis for measuring how quickly their oil is changing and degrading over time.
Oil Monitoring Kit Cost: $20
Total Investment: Around $180.00
Cost Savings: Priceless
It’s not always the most complicated or costly solutions that make the most impact or give the greatest return on your investment. Small, affordable changes to your equipment can not only improve your reliability program, but they can save you more money in the long run. Key Takeaways & Things to Consider:- Start Small. Choose one piece of equipment, critical or not, and see how you can make simple tweaks to improve reliability. A little investment up front to make small changes daily or even monthly, can add up to thousands of dollars and man hours saved over time. Big budget requests for complete reliability overhauls tend to draw attention from upper management and are harder to get approved.
-Rely on the expert. The people who manufacture reliblity products are extremely knowledgeable of how and where to install products, and will often come on site to audit current equipment and procedures and make recommendations. These services areusually offered free of cost with no purchase requirements.
-Keep it simple. Complicated, costly reliability software or products don't always guarantee the best return on investment. No only can these services have a large upfront cost, they can have a lot of unforeseen long-term costs, such as the time it takes to train employees and implement the new program, or cost of repair and replacement of highly technical driven products.
Mom's Old Saying: A Stitch in Time...

Creating & Sustaining Reliability

- Having a Reliability Leader - It’s important to have someone in charge of developing the lubrication practices at your facility. Choosing a leader who is knowledgeable and passionate about reliability is imperative. This person should create procedures and make sure all employees are aware of any changes
- Consolidating Lubricants - Reducing the different types of lubricants being used is a good starting point. You may find that you can cut the number of oils your facility uses in half, simply by evaluating the current recommendations. You may also find that you haven’t been using the best type of lubricant for each application.
- Centralized Storage – Designating an area for lubricant storage is imperative. Making sure everything is properly stored and labeled is the first step. Many failures are attributed to someone adding the wrong type of oil. These failures are easy to avoid if the type of oil is clearly labeled and easy to locate. You want to be certain that everyone knows where to find a lubricant and where to put it back when done with it.
- Documentation - Having written procedures is essential in creating a proper lubrication program. Without documentation, it’s going to be difficult to evaluate your current practices, sustain any improvements, or ensure new employees know how you expect things to be done. There needs to be clear instructions every step of the way. This includes: Receiving & storing new lubricant's; dispensing new lubricants; drawing proper samples for analysis; equipment checklists
- Oil Analysis - Sampling oils is one practice in which I see a lot of confusion. If done properly, this is a great way to catch early problems before they result in critical failures. If done wrong, this can be a complete waste of time and money. There are some important things to consider before implementing oil sampling. a.) Will you make changes based on those results? b.) Do you know how to read the oil analysis reports? c.) Are you testing your oil for the correct things? d.) Are you pulling samples in a proper way to ensure you get accurate representative samples?
Happy Holidays from Esco Products
We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our customers and partners a safe and happy holiday season. We appreciate your business and we look forward to working with you in 2017. Esco Products: Tom, Chris, Tater, Lindsey, Loretta, David, Val, Coy, Mary Lee, David & Koda
Small Business, BIG Advantages
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Lubrication Best Practices Workshop in Houston, TX

The Importance of Establishing an Oil's Shelf Life




- Make sure you pay attention to the length of time a lubricant is allowed to sit before being used. Document the date you received and opened any lubricants.
- Try to cycle inventory to use the oldest material first and purchase lubricants in a quantity that will be used in a timely fashion.
- Improve the storage practices of your lubricants. Moving to indoor storage in a climate controlled area will greatly reduce the degradation of your oils and greases.
- If you must store oils outside, do so in a way that prevents water and dirt from freely collecting and entering the bungs.
Continued Education To learn more about proper storage and handling techniques, take advantage of online resources. The links below are organizations that are dedicated to lubrication fundamentals and best practice: http://www.lubecouncil.org/ - ICML (International Council for Machinery Lubrication) offers training and certifications for a wide range of lubricating topics. www.machinerylubrication.com - Noria’s online publication focusing on current best practice. They also offer training courses relevant to lubrication fundamentals. www.reliabilityweb.com – This online resource offers articles, videos and tips on everything from asset management to condition monitoring.