How Filtration Protects OEMs and their End Users
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When equipment fails prematurely, contamination is often to blame.
For OEMs, premature failures may mean paying out for a costly warranty claim—and, in some cases, exposure to legal liability. Not only do these failures cost the OEM, but they massively inconvenience the end user, and can undermine the manufacturer’s brand reputation.
To reduce the chances of premature failures, every OEM should uphold a high standard of roll-off cleanliness. Fluid filtration is a key aspect of roll-off cleanliness.
How Fluid Contamination Becomes Built-In Contamination
‘Built-in’ contamination refers to contamination that infiltrates a new machine during the assembly and testing process, prior to final delivery to the end user.
Built-in contamination is commonly caused by contaminated components. Metallic fragments lingering after the machining process, or even ambient dust from poor storage and handling practices, can prematurely sideline a machine.
Dirty hydraulic fluid and diesel fuel used to test and fill a new machine can also deliver damaging contamination into the system!
Modern hydraulic and diesel fuel systems have increasingly stringent cleanliness requirements for fluid.
For a modern hydraulic system, the typical standard of cleanliness is an ISO reading of 16/14/11.
Modern Tier IV diesel systems experience higher pressure and contain components with greater sensitivity, so fuel entering the injectors should be less than ISO 12/9/6. That’s 16x more restrictive than the modern hydraulic standard!
You should never assume that your stored fuel or hydraulic fluid is clean, even if it is ‘new!’
‘New’ hydraulic fluid has been found to contain contamination levels as high as 32 times the recommended ISO cleanliness levels for modern systems.
Diesel fuel that has been ‘safely’ stored could be accumulating high levels of water contamination in the background, triggering microbial growth and generating solid contamination within the tank.
If a manufacturer fills the hydraulic and fuel tanks of a machine with contaminated fluid, they are setting the equipment, the end user, and themselves up for failure.
The moment the machine leaves the assembly line with dirty fluid, contaminants begin dealing damage throughout the system.
End users may experience:
OEM consequences may include:
To prevent this fluid-borne contamination, any and all operating fluids should be examined and filtered prior to ever touching a machine. As an extra precaution, the equipment’s systems should be flushed and filtered before final delivery as well.
Filtration Solutions for Roll-Off Cleanliness
Schroeder Industries understands the importance of setting end users up for success through roll-off cleanliness. We offer a variety of filtration solutions and diagnostic tools that ensure your equipment is putting its best foot forward from a cleanliness standpoint when it leaves the assembly line.
Portable Fluid Sampling Systems
Diagnostic tools like the TFC are used for establishing ISO counts for fluids in real-time. With particulate shape and size recognition software, the TFC can even provide clues as to where contaminants may be originating from.
Hand Held Hydraulic Filter Units
Lightweight, hand-held units like the HFS-15 provide the same powerful filtration as a filter cart system with unprecedented mobility. Units with onboard particle counters are available.
Filter Cart Systems
Offline filtrations systems such as Schroeder’s array of filter carts (including the MFS, FS, and AMFS) allow for flexibility and mobility. They can act as kidney loop systems for flushing systems, or provide filtration as fluid is transfered into the system.
Ranging from streamlined-but-reliable basic cart systems to advanced systems with onboard particle counting and recording capabilities, these filter carts ensure the cleanliness of fluid within the equipment and can be customized for your specific needs.
Bulk Diesel Filters
Schroeder’s Fuel Filtration division specializes in coalescing and particulate filtration for diesel fuel.
Products like the BDF, GHCF, and more provide superior filtration at every stage of the fuel supply chain, including during transfer, point of fueling, and kidney loop circulating filtration for bulk storage tanks.
Mobile Diesel Filtration Units
Fuel filtration carts like the BDFC combine our world-class fuel filters with integrated pumps, hoses, and a mobile cart chassis.
These turn-key, complete systems offer increased flexibility and enable easy transitions from application to application around a manufacturing plant or storage facility.
Talk to the Contamination Control Experts
If you want to reinforce your roll-off cleanliness standards, our fluid care experts are ready to help!
Tell us about your operational needs, and we can help find the right solutions for you: