Oil analysis -- where?
 

Hi,

I'm looking for recommendations on where to send my oil samples for analysis. The market leader in Germany charges me € 62 + VAT which is a lot more than what our friends in the US pay.

Which companies do you use, how much does it cost and how do you ship your samples? I found some US companies that charge around $18 per analysis and ship their sets internationally (around $100) but it doesn't say whether the postage paid envelopes are for international mailing.

Thanks!
Achim

Oil analysis
 

We use a company in the UK. You can contact them at [email protected]
Web: Spectro Oil - Condition Monitoring Excellence

I use Aviation Labs in the USA.

They sell prepaid kits.

A while ago I bought about 50 of these. I managed to sell some but still have more than I can use, so if anybody is interested... about £15 each. I paid quite a lot for the box to be shipped to the UK. At one time they were being sold by a UK outfit (now defunct) for £6.50 :)

A good question.

Wigglyamp, are you an individual or company? I've looked at your supplier's website and there's a "ask for a quote" icon but I would be interested to know what other people are paying before I do that.

Peter, I'm interested in your spare capacity and would like to know more.

Stick.

We're a Part 145 and send samples on behalf of customers - both fixed and rotary. I'm not aware of the costs personally.

Zeere izzz a simple solusssion to zis.... it izzz called eeeeemail :)

I rarely check PMs on here.

Just counted them; have about 10 spare.

Aircraft

Blackstone Labs in USA, I send from UK, very quick about about $38.00

Those are very high prices some people are paying.

Even allowing for airmail to the USA (about £2) the Aviation Labs pricing is way lower.

Oil analysis is a good thing but you really need to do it at every oil change and look at the trends. A single sample will tell you if something is dramatically wrong but not a lot more.

I guess I will go for a US outfit then like Peter. The €73 kit from that German company people around here use looks like a complete rip off.

One of the I-get-you-anything-from-Spruce-just-pay-me-30% shops got this one at reasonable cost: AVIATION OIL ANALYSIS KIT from Aircraft Spruce EU

@peter337: do you still send in samples from every oil change? I'm on a 25h interval (previous owner has been doing that for 20+ years) so it adds up to a lot of parcels.

Yes I do. The long term trend is the most valuable.

25hrs is quite a short interval. What I found is that the metal % (pro-rated per hour, obviously) starts to rise around the 50hr point, so I tend to do the 50hr checks early, say at 35 hrs.

We do every 50 hrs

So would I, normally, but that is OK only if doing nothing but short local flights.

Let's say I am off on a trip to Greece, which is c. 20hrs airborne time. If the oil is at 40hrs, that will push it to 60, and I know from oil analysis experience (having once gone to ~55) that the oil will not be working at all well at 60hrs.

It's OK to do it occassionally, obviously (and it is possible legally on an N-reg) but if one keeps doing it, IMHO the eventual result will be a knackered engine.

I use Shell 15W/50, have done experiments alternating between that and Exxon Elite, and could not see any significant difference.

Metal in the oil
 

I would not go past 50 hours without changing the oil when running Aeroshell W15W50.

The reason for this is that the mineral part of this semi synthetic oil can no longer hold in suspension the lead blow by from the fuel. This results in the lead being sentrifuged out of the oil into the oil gallery's in the crankshaft reducing the diameter of the oil ways.

This is the reason Mobil 1 was withdrawn from the aviation market.

This is not a reason to not use Areoshell W15W50, it is a very good oil but like all things it has it's limitations, I run all four of my aircraft on W15W50 and have had no problems as long as the 50 hour oil change is done within the 50 hours.

I'm on AeroShell 15W50, too. The right oil and its additives is a rather religious topic. What I found interesting is this article from one of the US oil analysis labs: About Aircraft Oils

It basically confirms what Peter said -- doesn't really matter which oil as long as you do not run it past 50h.

The previous owner of my plane (TR182 with O-540 + turbocharger) was on a 25h interval, he said it couldn't harm and that after about 25h, the engine started to consume oil which he thought means that some characteristics must have changed. My airplane oil after 25h looks worse than my car oil after 3 years...

On a side topic: what are the top mail order aviation supply outfits in the UK? I noticed that AeroShell is a lot cheaper in the UK (found transair.co.uk) and shipping doesn't cost much.

AFE
Aeroshell Aviation Oil - afeonline.com, Europe's favourite online
POOLEYS
Pooleys - Aeroshell
FLIGHTSTORE
Aeroshell Piston Oil 15w/50
PILOTWAREHOUSE (one to avoid perhaps)
http://www.pprune.org/professional-p...ml#post6916571

A and C
What are your thoughts on doing more frequent oil changes regularly, say every 25 hours, specifically for lycomings in club aircraft, O-235/-320/-360.
Would that change if the engine was using D80/W80?
Are 5hr extensions to 50/150 checks a bad thing then, is it always better to go early? Accept the check will cost more per hour, but is better for the engine long-term.

Thanks mrmum, at 18 GBP S&H, it's well worth ordering in the UK. 12 bottles of 15W50 cost 66 GBP at Flightstore vs. ca. 95 GBP in Germany. They will get my business next time.

For Lycoming engines, you need either an oil with additives according to Lycoming's service bulletin or a plain oil with an extra bottle of additives. Here's the service bulletin: http://www.lycoming.com/support/publ...fs/SI1014M.pdf

AeroShell 15W50 or W80 complies with Lycoming's SB whereas the plain 100 or 80 would not. W80 is a monograde oil and not suitable for cold temperatures.

I would agree with the not past 50 hours principle but would not get stressed with a couple over, we often do long trips and of course take into account how many hours are left as part of the flight planning and would have no hesitation bringing the change forward for the convenience of having it done prior to the trip.

Ultimately it is a great indicator of potential problems and gives you a trend of wear and tear so worth the effort and relative small cost to get analysed where ever you choose.

Blackstone Labs as I assume others do give pretty good back on the results.

Mrmum
 

I dont think that running over the 50 hour check is a big issue, depending on factors my aircraft get the oil change at anything between 45 & 55 hours but I try to make the oil change as close to 50 as I can.

In club aircraft the checks usually come around quite quickly so I would not change oil on an hourly basis, on aa engine that will only fly a few hours a month I would think about changing the oil at 3 month intervals on W80/100 or is months on W80/100 plus or W15W50.

Isn't a G-reg grounded at 50hrs, unless you apply for the 5hrs extension?