Filtration and condition based maintenance saved engine - Cjc.dk

Schwing boom truck from Nichols Concrete Equipment Co. Inc. April 27 th , 2011
Filtration and condition based maintenance saved engine
By Steffen D. Nyman, Corporate Trainer & Marketing Manager at C.C.JENSEN inc.
Are oil change intervals on your truck a concern of yours
If not, then surely avoiding a major engine failure is!
Nichols Concrete Equipment has a long tradition of pumping concrete, but when times are tough
they do not sit with their hands in their lap and wait – they think smart and focus on maintenance
costs, because they know that sometimes you’ll need to spend a little now in order to create large
savings in the future.
Service Manager Bernd “Ben” Schlichter has vast experience with concrete boom and line pumps
also from working with Schwing prior to joining Nichols Concrete Equipment. Nichols has 18
concrete boom and line pumps at their site in Pelham, AL, and a total of 55 trucks at Nichols’ five
service centers. They all run the same MACK AI ASET engine and transmission, but the rest of the
trucks varies. The largest 7 axle truck has a boom of 61 meters (200 ft).
“The oil systems on the cement trucks are working under severe conditions,” says Ben Schlichter
and continues: “In 2008 we decided to start focusing on our maintenance costs and we took a
closer look at the engine lube oil. Of course we changed the oil as recommended in the manual,
but I believed there was a superior way to take care of the dust, wear particles and soot challenges,
than just changing the oil.”
That was when Axel Wegner of C.C.JENSEN Inc. came into the picture.
C.C.JENSEN has manufactured oil filtration systems for almost 60 years and were most willing to
consult the lube oil problems.
It is a common misunderstanding that oil needs to be changed after a fixed time, miles or hours in
operation. The wise way is “CBM - Condition Based Maintenance” meaning only to change the oil
when an oil analysis says that you need to – and not due to contamination, because you can easily
get the dust, wear particle, water and oil oxidation (varnish) under control by fitting a good quality
offline/kidney loop filter.
Prior to looking at the engine lube oil Ben and Axel worked on hydraulics, installing kidney loop
filters that showed good results keeping particulate and water levels down, which resulted in better
performance and longer component life.
Specific to engine lube it is advisable that an oil change should be based on the oils neutralization
number (TBN/TAN), additive depletion, fuel dilution, soot level, oil viscosity out of specs or if the oil
has been mixed with incompatible oils.
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All of this can be checked in a used oil analysis, which was exactly what Axel Wegner advised Ben
to do on the MACK engine lube oil. Instead of replacing the oil every 300 hours he took an oil
sample and sent it off to a lab capable of checking the above mentioned plus particle counts in ISO
codes.
The CJC offline filter (HDU 15/25 with 12V DC motor driving the gear pump) was mounted on the
frame of the cement truck (see photos). The filter draws oil from the bottom of the engine sump,
through a hollow drain plug, and returns the polished oil back to the engine through the oil filler
tube.
Because the CJC filter took care of the lube oil contaminants, Ben decided to test how long an oil
change could be postponed. He took oil samples every 300 h and when the oil was still up to par, it
remained in the engine. The same engine lube oil was in operation for 1300 h and the properties
were still intact, except for the soot level being high at 900 h (see oil lab reports).
Starting this CBM program Nichols Concrete Equipment confirmed how important oil analysis is
for the reliability of the boom trucks. Ben explains: “The oil sample taken at 900 hours showed an
increase in soot (insoluble’s). The CJC filter was doing its best to keep up, but the soot level in the
oil was abnormally high. We found that this soot problem was caused by an improper valve
adjustment, so we fixed it.”
Ben continues: “Meanwhile on one of our other boom pumps a similar valve problem occurred.
Unfortunately we hadn’t fitted a CJC filter on this engine nor did we do oil analysis, so the valve
maladjustment got so bad that it caused severe engine damage.
Ben continues: “If we had a CJC offline filter on this engine and had been watching the oil analysis,
just like we did on the one with the CJC filter installed we could have avoided this engine failure
costing us $7700 to repair.
“We have learnt that condition based maintenance is the way to go – not only because the engine
lube oil will last much longer, meaning less oil waste, but because it can save us from doing
expensive engine overhauls,” Ben Schlichter finally concludes.
If you would like to lower your maintenance costs and learn more about Condition Based
Maintenance please contact Area Sales Manager, Axel Wegner of C.C.JENSEN Inc.,
email: axel@ccjensen.com or phone: 770-692-6001.
Cost savings for Nichols Concrete Equipment Co. so far:
Savings and costs
Total
Oil savings:
1300 hours would require at least 4 oil changes + spin-on filters
11 gal. of oil at $7.94/gal. per oil change, times 4: $ 349
Savings in spin-on filters
4x2 spin-on filters not necessary: $24.40 x 8: $ 195
Maintenance time saved:
3 hours at $42 per oil change, times 4 $ 504
Oil and filter related savings in total $1048
Savings by avoided engine overhaul $7715
Cost for the CJC HDU engine lube oil filter
10-15% the cost of
the diesel engine
Cost for oil sampling within the 1300h oil life: $30 x 4 $ 120.00
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Think smart – Condition Based Maintenance utilizing CJC offline filters and oil analysis
C.C.JENSEN – Clean Oil – Bright Ideas
C.C.JENSEN INC.
1555 Senoia Rd, Suite A | Tyrone, GA 30290
Office (770) 692-6001 | Fax (770) 692-6006
Web www.ccjensen.com
Photos: Ben Schlichter with Nichols’ boom truck fitted with the CJC filter
The CJC filter polishing the engine oil from the MACK engine
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Photo showing the used CJC insert saturated with diesel engine soot compared to the new insert
Used engine oil analysis results from Insight Services
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