When I ask mechanics what type of oil they are using in their hydraulic elevators, the typical answer is AW32, which is usually correct, but this answer does not necessarily mean what it once did. The additive packages of AW32 have changes to meet specific needs of different machines and industries. An AW32 picked up at an auto parts or farm store may have different additives than the bulk AW32 that the service company purchases for a mod. Zinc, Phosphorus and Calcium were typically the only additives used in hydraulic elevators. A new... Read more »

“Who Owns the Dirt?” is a silly question, but the answer may determine the life expectancy of the hydraulic elevator equipment. The hydraulic oil is the lifeblood of the hydraulic system; contaminated or dirty oil can be responsible for up to 80% of the failures in an oil system. The symptoms of oil contamination are typically treated as maintenance problems, because only the symptoms are addressed in the maintenance contract. Oil contamination is typically not addressed in the contract. The hydraulic oil in a hydraulic eleva... Read more »

Thurston Elevator Concepts is providing exceptional service to thier customers through offline filtration. Don't dispose of dirty oil; Scrub it with OilScrubber.com. Read more »

Colley Elevator has a great blog of their work in the Chicago Area. Follow this link to see more. http:/​/​colleyelevator.blogspot.com/​2020/​06/​elevator-hydraulic-fluidoil-water.html Read more »

Thank you to everyone at First State Elevator in Delaware info@FirstStateElevator.com for sending us these fantastic results using the OilScrubber 0611-M. Proving once again, that you don't have to replace the hydraulic oil if you can scrub the oil. www.oilscrubber.com Read more »

Thank you to DC Elevator, in Lexington, KY, for sharing some of their successes using the 0611-M from Oil Scrubber.com. This is a great example of the benefits of removing the water, instead of replacing the oil. Great Job DC Elevator! http:/​/​www.oilscrubber.com Read more »

www.oilscrubber.com Michael Johnson Vegetable What is referred to a vegetable oil or vegie oil is an ester. Vegetable oil is sold as biodegradable, which most people assume means it is environmentally friendly, however this is not the case. The EPA regulates vegetable oil the same way that it does petroleum oil. They both have the same environmental impact if spilled and are both regulated under 40 CFR 112. Vegetable oil can cost two to three times as much a petroleum-based oils. Esters are formed by combining a fatty acid(triglyceri... Read more »

Hydrolysis of Vegetable Oils in Elevators Michael Johnson www.oilscrubber.com Vegetable Oil in hydraulic elevators has been met with mixed results, from no problems at all to destruction of the oil and system components. The unique environment and design characteristics of the hydraulic elevator are the causes of this variation in performance. Water or moisture is the natural enemy of the vegetable oils or technically Ester oil. [1]Hydrolysis is the reaction of an ester with water producing an alcohol plus and acid. In the case o... Read more »

Water the is the most common chemical contaminate in the hydraulic elevator system. Hydraulic oil is hygroscopic and capable of absorbing moisture from the machine room. Water can reduce the life of the oil and the hydraulic components by more than 5X. The quality of the oil determines how much water the oil can contain before the contamination becomes visible. Just because the oil does not look contaminated, does not mean that the water is not present and not causing damage to the hydraulic system. Water occurs in 3 phases; dissolved... Read more »

Should the hydraulic oil be replaced? This is a common question, which until now had multiple answers, most of which were based on tradition, instead of data. For example, tradition said to replace the oil if the motor burned up. The thinking was that the burned out motor left acid the oil and that would cause the next motor to burn out as well. The reality for most of those cases may have actually been water. After observing hundreds of oil analysis reports, water is one of the most common chemical contaminates in hydraulic elevators... Read more »

Due to the distance from the reservoir to the seals, the reservoir temperature is not likely to cause the seals to leak directly. However the oil condition, which is directly impacted by the reservoir temperature, can cause the seals to leak. A hydraulic seal that hardens or becomes brittle is more likely the result of friction between the seal and piston rod due to an insufficient oil film. Degraded oil can have an altered viscosity, bulk modulus and viscosity index resulting in adhesion between the piston rod and the seals. Asperitie... Read more »

Welcome to the Oil Scrubber site. We are dedicated to providing intelligent solutions to oil related problems in hydraulic elevators. There are many complicated and expenseive solutions to treat the symptoms of a simple problem, Dirty Oil. We are proud to offer a cost effective solution to fix the root cause, the dirty oil. Contaminated oil is inefficent, wasting energy and reducing the service life of the hydraulic conponents. Replacing the oil alone is not an effective solution due to the residual reactive material remaining in the... Read more »

This white paper written by Michael Johnson discusses oil within hydraulic elevators. Follow this link to learn more. Read more »