FAQ's

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q : Which oil is the best to use?
A : All oil companies produce both cheap and expensive oil, none of them produce bad oil, you simply get what you pay for. Often the only differences are price and service level. If a customer uses a specific supplier then a specific product can be recommended from that supplier's product range. We cannot comment on oil formulations or blending as this is the domain of the oil companies.

Q : Which make of equipment is the best?
A : We cannot recommend one make of equipment over another, but would suggest that the application, environment, cost and service level be considered when making the choice of equipment.

Q : Can WearCheck do failure analysis?
A : WearCheck does not do failure analysis.  WearCheck carries out condition monitoring of equipment relying on trend analysis and regular sampling. The objective of oil analysis is, in fact, to prevent the need for failure analysis from ever occurring. Samples taken at failure, by definition, cannot be representative and it would be unwise and possibly totally wrong to make assumptions based on a failure sample.

Q : Can WearCheck provide information on other customers' results?
A : 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 written permission from that owner.  

Q : How quickly can I get my results?
A : 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 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 within 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.