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He continues, "Through oil analysis, we can discover that parts are wearing abnormally on a piece of equipment; the contractor is using the wrong types of fluids or mixing fluid types; there are environmental factors at play, such as temperature, water or dirt; or there are abnormal amounts of contaminants, both externally (such as water and dirt) and internally (such as glycol or sulfur from fuel). Oil analysis goes to finding the root causes of problems. So oil analysis helps to avoid larger maintenance problems."

The benefit is reduced equipment downtime. "If you can catch things like coolant leaks or dirt entry early, you can make the repair and get the machine back in service," says Nycz. "There is no permanent damage."

However, the return you realize on oil analysis really depends on what you put into it. It starts with the oil sample. According to Wacaser, a good portion of "bad" samples are the result of improper sampling. "A good share of the time, we take a sample a second time and find there really is no problem," he notes.

This is where an investment in oil sampling ports can pay a huge dividend. "The more devices those machines have to simplify the oil collection, the quality of the samples will go up dramatically," says Wacaser. "Taking a good sample without a sample valve is a pretty good art. It is difficult to do in the dirty environment those machines run in."

Maximizing the value of the results means accurately tracking the history. "The key to oil analysis is trending," says Silveira. "A good oil analysis software program really helps."