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Industrial Oil Flushing: Tips for Success

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Do you operate industrial equipment with fluid systems? Regular system flushing is one of the most critical maintenance processes designed to enhance the performance of your equipment. Typically, fluid systems accumulate dirt and other contaminants over time that could impact your equipment's optimal function. Moreover, residue from oil contaminants can cause equipment and system damage with time. Therefore, it's imperative to flush your fluid systems regularly to keep them free of contaminants. Flushing typically entails draining the original oil in the system, flushing it with a liquid (oil, caustic, solvent, detergent, blends, etc.), rinsing it and refilling it with new oil. However, you must get a few things right to make the most of your industrial oil flushing exercise. Here's what you need to know.

Know Your Equipment

Understanding your equipment is the first step to getting the fullest advantage of your industrial oil flushing process. Generally, the health or state of your equipment can guide you to the proper oil flushing technique. For instance, simple flushes may work for new and properly maintained equipment. In addition, if you have recently flushed your system and plan to do it again as part of your scheduled maintenance, you may not need aggressive flushing. However, if you have fairly aged equipment that haven't been flushed over a considerable period, you may want to consider power flushing and other more aggressive techniques. For instance, a simple flush may not do the trick for stubborn residue on the walls of your hydraulic equipment. For this reason, you may need to consider chemical flushing to loosen up the contaminants and allow for proper flushing. Therefore, understand what you are up against to select the right flushing technique.

Be Wary of Your System's Coolers

System coolers can become dirt traps during flushing. Therefore, you must be careful if your system has a cooler because it can potentially hold dirt and other contaminants, impeding oil flow and resulting in delays. Therefore, if you have coolers, consider cleaning them separately or flushing them as separate circuits to keep them from holding dirt during the flush.

Document The Process

Documenting your flushing process is also crucial. That's because your records will help you understand your current and future flushing needs. For instance, when verifying the effectiveness of the flush, your records may come in handy in determining whether the type of oil used could have introduced certain particles in your system. Therefore, keep logs of the flow, pressure, temperature, filters, oils used, activities involved, etc., during the flush.

Regular flushes are critical. While a single flush may do the trick for the moment, contaminants always build up. Therefore, flush your equipment more frequently to keep them contaminant-free all the time. Reach out to a local oil flushing service to learn more.


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