Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 09:50:25 -0800
Reply-To: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Anyone tried "LubriCheck" yet??
In-Reply-To: <25A8B37F-6749-4C49-B641-C450662FFB25@gmail.com>
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I checked the "Bob the Oil Guy" forum for "Oilyzer" and found a thread from
2010. Apparently they had problems getting it to market back then. One
caveat is if there is fuel dilution it reads bad oil as good. Here is a
comment from "Oilyzerman" himself:
"The Oilyzer product uses the same physics for sensing the TBN of oil as
many of the oil sensors used by automotive manufacturers. Although GM uses
predictive statistics to assess the next oil change (often surpassing 15K
mile oil replacements for newer vehicles), other manufacturers use
capacitive sensing for detecting the oil acidity level, typically based on
the TBN (Total Base Number)of the oil under test. As oil becomes more acidic
due to friction, temperature, pressure, suspended contaminants etc, the TBN
value changes, and is a very reliable indicator of oil quality. Optical or
Photoelectric sensing has been used in the past to gauge the viscosity and
opacity of oil, but has been proven to be unreliable and is not a technology
used in the "Oilyzer" product. The combined capacitive and resistive aspects
of measuring oil health or quality determines acidity, viscosity and
contaminants (metal particulates, soot, dirt, coolant, water) with the
exception of gasoline.
The Oilyzer is able to capture most of the information regarding the "TBN"
of oil when compared to a high end spectroscopy, flash and chemical based
tests. It is a scientific and technologically reliable indicator when
measured against subjective human based test methods (based on the color of
oil or driving mileages.
There is a plethora of scientific information on the web and in scientific
journals or on SAE.org supporting the premise for reducing the number of
unnecessary oil changes (replacements) and to extend driving distances based
on TBN and other factors related to scientific measurement rather than by
subjective means.
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/UsedOil/OilChange/
http://www.nordicgroup.us/oil.htm
http://money.blogs.time.com/2009/09/08/the-3000-mile-oil-change-myth/
www.sae.org keywords engine "oil dielectric longevity"
The Oilyzer tests oil the same way a person is able to determine their
health by a blood test. It targets the four main variables for general oil
testing;
1. Total mileage of the engine.
2. User driving habits (stop start versus long haul driving).
3. Environment the vehicle is typically driven (ambient temps, humidity,
etc).
4. Engine condition (poor, fair, good).
Auto manufacturers already have many vehicles on US roads today, with oil
sensors on board, surpassing 15K miles between oil changes without any oil
or engine modifications warranting such mileage extensions (see GM technical
forum). The 3000 mile myth stems from the post WWII era, and it is easy to
understand that oil and engine science and technology has advanced to
accommodate superior performance and longevity of oil and an owner's vehicle
since that era."
I wouldn't need this for my Vanagon since I go by time, not miles, but it
could be useful on my other cars.
Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Paul Rogers
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2014 9:02 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Anyone tried "LubriCheck" yet??
Is it legit or is it fool of it? Pun is intended I have spell check enabled
Sent from my Pad where I keep my iPad
> On Jan 23, 2014, at 2:43 PM, Jeff Schwaia <vw.doka@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> It's not new, just a name change, update, and re-release of an older
> product: Oilyzer
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jeff
