As an equipment owner or manager, the last thing that you want to find in your system is contamination. After all, that means downtime, which ultimately costs you time and money. Contamination always somehow sneaks its way into our systems, which may leave you asking, how does it get in there and what are we supposed to do about it?
Scott Howard
Recent posts by Scott Howard
4 min read
4 Ways Outside Contaminants Enter Your System
By Scott Howard on Thu, Feb. 15, 2018
Topics: contamination oil analysis breathers
5 min read
[Video] Your Lab Reports Are Probably Wrong -- Here's How To Save Them
By Scott Howard on Tue, Aug. 16, 2016
Topics: contamination ISO 16889 ISO 4406 samples video lab
3 min read
[Video] Water Contamination and Removal Methods
By Scott Howard on Mon, Jun. 02, 2014
Do you know what the 3 different types of water contamination are? What about the 4 methods to remove water from your fluid? Watch our short video for a thorough explanation of each.

Topics: hydraulic fluid water vacuum dehydrator coalesce technology headspace dryer video contaminination filter elements
4 min read
[Video] Proper Bottle Sampling Technique
By Scott Howard on Wed, Feb. 05, 2014
Topics: samples reservoir filter cart video
3 min read
Why You Need to Care About Micro-Dieseling
By Scott Howard on Mon, Jan. 27, 2014
Most people are familiar with diesel engines and how they work, which includes a rapid compression of air. When you inject a fuel source, it creates an explosion. Did you know that micro-dieseling is similar? A front-end loader that runs a diesel engine is a macro-level (or big picture) of what it does on the micro (or smaller) level in a hydraulic pump.
Topics: diesel thermal event fuel hydraulic oil contaminination
3 min read
Phosphate Ester Acid Remediation
By Scott Howard on Mon, Jan. 20, 2014
Topics: hydraulic fluid water Phosphate Ester EHC contaminination ICB acid
6 min read
Real Solutions to Bringing Phosphate Ester Under Control
By Scott Howard on Mon, Oct. 14, 2013
If controlling phosphate ester seems about as elusive as lassoing a bucking bronco, then you've come to the right place. Put on your cowboy hat and let's talk about real solutions to getting it under control.
Topics: water Water Contamination Phosphate Ester EHC contaminination acid
4 min read
What is a Vacuum Dehydrator?
By Scott Howard on Mon, Sep. 30, 2013
If the hydraulic, lubricating, compressor or gear oil you use is not made of a water base in
There are three types of water in a typical system: free water
Using 100ppm for an upper water limit for most systems using mineral base oils, this means all free and emulsified water and a significant portion of dissolved water must be removed.
A vacuum dehydrator is one of the very few methods to remove dissolved water from oil. Let's take a look at these three types of water in your system. It will give you a solid foundation for how the vacuum dehydrator works in the end.
Topics: water Water Contamination vacuum dehydrator contaminination VUD
2 min read
Why You Need Proper Filtration in Front of Your Control Valves
By Scott Howard on Mon, Sep. 23, 2013
Proper filtration keeps control valves from becoming faulty and failing.
Most people have at least heard the term control valve, even if they don't know exactly what it does. For those of you caring for hydraulic systems, you likely work intimately with these parts. Did you know that if you're not using proper filtration in front of said control valves that you're likely doing your operation a disservice? (It's true.)