A1. Irrespective of who owns the machine, who supplied the oil, who maintains the equipment, or who the OEM is, the results belong to the person who paid for the sample bottle and these results will not be divulged to a third party without the written permission from the owner.

A2. WearCheck endeavours to process all samples within 24 working hours of receipt of the sample at the Pinetown laboratory. Due to operational difficulties it is not possible to guarantee that this will happen 100% of the time. However, at least 90% of all samples are processed within 24 hours and at least 99% are processed with 48 hours.

Samples with missing information, or samples whose origin cannot be clearly identified, may take a bit longer as the data processing department may need to query certain details. Also, samples that appear to have severe problems may be sent back to the laboratory so that extra tests can be carried out.  These are usually the samples that do not make the 24 hour turnaround.

Although WearCheck runs an oil testing laboratory, the actual analysis is carried out in a process that resembles a production line. This takes place in order to ensure a quick turnaround time for the large number of tests that are performed on each sample. However, it does mean that samples received later in the day may not enter the process stream until the next morning.

In the event of an emergency, every effort will be made to process a sample as timeously as possible within the working constraints of the many departments involved.

A3. The definition of normal varies from machine to machine depending on its workload and the environment in which it operates. Oil analysis interpretations are based on trends rather than specific limits.

A4. A diagnostician is only as good as the information supplied to him or her. The better the quality of information the diagnostician has with which to work, the more accurate the diagnosis will be. Feedback on one sample is essential for the diagnoses of the next sample.

A5. Oil analysis is a quick and easy way of finding out how healthy your equipment is. Oil is analysed for many different reasons, but the most important is for keeping your equipment healthy and finding out exactly what is happening inside your equipment.

A7. The sample number is found on the front of the report under current sample diagnosis or on the left hand side below the severity box.

A8. WearCheck only keeps the submission forms for 3 months (the current month plus 2 previous months) before they are sent for recycling

A9.

• Normal - no action required, wear levels, contamination levels and lubricant health are all within acceptable limits.

• Borderline - problems are indicated when there appears to be a deviation in trend or when a defined parameter has just been exceeded. In effect, the report is saying, the readings are not following their normal pattern but there is no firm evidence that a problem exists. The recommended action will be quick and simple to carry out and its primary function will be to determine if any further action needs to take place. No drastic steps need to be taken. Borderline samples can be attended to at the next regular service. In these situations, doing nothing more than taking a check sample may be a perfectly acceptable reaction to a borderline report.

• Urgent - samples indicate that there is a very strong likelihood that a problem exists. Again, the report will only recommend some confirmatory check to be carried. With urgent samples these checks will usually be greater in number and may require more time and effort to carry them out in order to supply more information about the condition of the component. Urgent samples should be attended to as soon as it is convenient to do so.

• Critical - samples definitely indicate that a problem exists and that it is quite severe in nature. These problems, ideally, should be attended to immediately. It is important to note, that even at this point, it would be extremely unusual for a strip-down to be recommended. The first action that should take place following the receipt of a critical report is to read what the diagnosis says.

The important things to remember are that oil analysis is not an exact science and the vast majority of reports are either normal or precautionary (borderline); in fact, less than 10% of all samples are urgent or critical. The other things to remember are: read the report and do not over-react.