In-place diagnostic of components based on analyses of used oil samples

(S*O*S program)

Benefits of SOS Services:

• Avoid - S•O•S Services helps you to avoid complete failures. Often an adjustment or replacement of a single part, based on S•O•S Services findings, can prevent a small problem from growing into a major repair.
• Track - S•O•S Services tracks what is going on inside the equipment! It enables you to predict wear-related problems, allowing greater flexibility in repair scheduling and downtime control. S•O•S Services tracks the wear of components, oil performance, and condition.
• Maintain - S•O•S Services shortens repair time. Using the S•O•S Services Report as a guide, troubleshooting time is often reduced, enabling a serviceman to go directly to the core of the problem. Since you, your S•O•S Analyst, and your Parts & Service Rep. are working as a team to manage your equipment maintenance, you can be assured that parts and shop time are readily available.
• Optimize - S•O•S Services enables you to optimize oil change intervals.
• Manage - S•O•S Services manages component life and equipment availability, thus reducing owning and operating costs. Downtime is decreased and productivity and profitability are increased!

S*O*S analyses include 4 constituents:

• wear metals (17 elements including additives)
• oil condition (oxidation, sulfation, nitration, soot, viscosity)
• oilcleanliness (measurement of metal and nonmetal particles in the oil)
• oil contamination (fuel, water, antifreeze/coolant)

Recommended by CATERPILLAR schedule of taking samples and interval of changing oil:

* recommended interval of changing oil can be different depend of type of machine.

The received results are downloading into the program, which ranges trends that show what happened with oil/component based on data of current sample and samples were taken before from this component. Based on analysis of just one sample the results will be partially and could not show the critical processes which are going with component. That is why for proper and correct interpretation of oil condition/component necessary regularly to take the oil samples since the full analysis means tracking of changing chemical and physical oil activities.