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The amount of top-off oil also needs to be carefully tracked. "If you are not measuring your oil makeup, you may not truly understand what the numbers are telling you," says Silveira. Consider the case of an engine using 5 gal. of makeup oil between extended drain intervals. "The actual numbers you are looking at are very skewed. That fresh oil dilutes the value of the numbers. So knowing your oil consumption is important if you are trying to extend out oil drains."

He explains, "If you have a unit that is consuming twice as much as another unit, your TBN and TAN levels will definitely be different because you are refreshing the oil." The added oil will also mask the true contamination level. "Understand that 100 ppm of silicon in an engine that is using more oil is actually a more severe number than in an engine that is not consuming as much oil."

Oil quality is also very important in oil drain optimization. "The use of a synthetic or premium oil will certainly help in extending drains, but they cannot replace good maintenance practices," says Papacek. "Proper storage and handling procedures must be in place and steps should be taken to minimize contamination. If you are using a rusty pail to transport hydraulic fluid from a storage receptacle to your equipment, a premium or synthetic product is going to be just as susceptible to contamination. If fluid storage is unprotected from the elements, water is going to be just as damaging to a premium product as it is to a lesser product."

Silveira adds, "Full synthetic oils do offer some advantages in wear performance, deposit control and cleanliness of the engine. But then you also have to look at the conditions they are operating in. Even synthetic oil will not handle dirt or water. Coolant, fuel and other contaminants — a full synthetic will not protect the engine from these."

Keeping the oil free of contaminants is critical to extending oil drains. "I think over time you will see bypass filters — in other words, extra cleaning devices — on both engines and hydraulics," says Wacaser. "I have two machines right now that are running 1,000-hour engine oil changes. The oil samples prove there is absolutely no detrimental effect to the engines on these two machines running with oil bypass filters. They are actually large loaders in a mining application."