What Oil Analysis Tells You and Why It Matters

What’s happening inside your equipment isn’t always visible from the outside.

Oil analysis provides valuable information about wear, contamination, and fluid condition by examining an oil sample in service. The results can reveal early signs of developing problems and help your team make more informed maintenance decisions.

As part of Capital Machine’s Preventative Maintenance Program, oil analysis gives you more than maintenance. It gives you information about the condition of your equipment.

Your Partner in Metal Fabrication Excellence

Oil analysis is a diagnostic tool that provides insight into what’s happening inside your equipment.

During each scheduled visit, our technicians collect an oil sample and send it to a laboratory for analysis. The sample can reveal materials and changes that point to developing issues within the machine, including:

Component wear before it becomes a visible problem
Contamination from dirt, coolant, water, fuel, or other sources
Fluid degradation and changes in viscosity
Material from seals, bearings, valves, cylinders, and other components
Give your team better information for service decisions

From Sample to Report

A representative oil sample is collected during the service visit and analyzed for wear metals, contamination, viscosity, and other indicators of fluid condition. The results are then compiled into a report that helps your team understand what the data means and determine the appropriate next steps.

What You Can Find Out With Oil Analysis

Your oil analysis report provides information across several areas that can help reveal how your equipment is performing.

Wear Metals

Iron, copper, chromium, lead, and aluminum in the sample.

Wear Metals

Elevated iron often points to cylinder, gear, or shaft wear. Copper suggests bushing or bearing wear. Chromium can indicate ring or liner wear on chrome-plated components. A single high reading matters less than a rising trend across samples.

Contamination

Dirt, coolant, fuel, and water entering the system.

Contamination

Silicon usually means dirt ingression-often a failed air filter or seal.
Sodium and potassium together point to coolant intrusion. Fuel dilution lowers viscosity and flash point. Water accelerates corrosion and depletes additives fast.

Fluid Condition

Viscosity, TAN, and oxidation of the base fluid.

Fluid Condition

Viscosity outside spec means the fluid can no longer maintain its protective film. TAN (Total Acid Number) measures acid buildup from oxidation - a rising TAN indicates the fluid is degrading and losing protective capacity.

What You Can Find Out With Oil Analysis

Below is a sample oil analysis report showing the types of information available through laboratory testing.

Explore the highlighted areas to see what different readings can tell you about equipment condition, wear, contamination, and fluid performance.

The goal is to turn laboratory data into practical information your team can use to make better maintenance decisions.

Apex Oil Lab · Oil Analysis Report

Unit ID

4654

Model

AccuPress 710010

Machine Type

Hydraulic

Sample ID

1A9C4AC

Sampled

16 Apr 2026

Oil

Hydraulic AW 46

Parameter

Result

Reference

Status

Wear Metals

ASTM D6595-00

Iron (Fe)

1 ppm

Ref ≤ 15

Normal

On a press brake, wear metal mainly comes from the main cylinder rod, gland, and pump gears. At 1 ppm this is baseline — well below the 15 ppm alert level and consistent with normal running clearances.

Copper (Cu)

2 ppm

Ref ≤ 10

Normal

Lead (Pb)

1 ppm

Ref ≤ 5

Normal

Aluminium (Al)

1 ppm

Ref ≤ 5

Normal

Chrome (Cr)

1 ppm

Ref ≤ 3

Normal

Contaminants

ASTM D6595-00

Silicon (Si)

1 ppm

Ref ≤ 10

Normal

Silicon at this level shows the reservoir breather and cylinder rod seals are keeping dirt out. It rarely comes from the fluid itself-watch this number after any hose or seal work on the press.

Sodium (Na)

1 ppm

Ref ≤ 15

Normal

Potassium (K)

1 ppm

Ref ≤ 10

Normal

Fluid Condition

ASTM D445 / ASTM E2412

Viscosity @ 40°C

46.5 cSt

Ref 41.4–50.6

Normal

This press brake runs ISO VC 46 hydraulic fluid, so viscosity should stay close to 46 cSt. Staying inside range keeps the servo valves and proportional controls responding the way they were tuned for.

TAN

0.36 mg KOH/g

Ref ≤ 0.50

Normal

TAN (Total Acid Number) measures the acid buildup that forms as hydraulic fluid oxidizes. A rising TAN indicates fluid degradation and additive depletion -0.36 is still under the 0.50 limit, but track this number sample over sample, not just this one reading.

Water

37.6 ppm

Ref ≤ 200

Normal

Water in a press brake’s hydraulic system usually enters through the reservoir breather or a worn cylinder rod seal. At 37.6 ppm this fluid is dry — well clear of the level where it would start accelerating corrosion or depleting additives.

Oxidation By-Products

12.1 Abs/0.1mm

Ref ≤ 15

Normal

Oxidation by-products build up as the base oil breaks down chemically, and TAN typically rises right alongside them. At 12.1 Abs/0.1mm there is still headroom before the limit, but read the two numbers together.

Particle Count

ISO 4406 / MET-MEC-015

ISO Code

17/15/11

Ref ≤ 16/14/11

Watch

17/15/11 means this sample carries more mid-size particles (4-6 μm) than the 16/14/11 target for this press brake's servo- valve circuit. Those valves run tight clearances, so particulate this size can affect precision positioning before it shows up as a mechanical fault.

Particles >4µm

785 part./ml

Ref ≤ 640

Watch

785 particles/mL is running above the 640 target. This channel catches the smallest, earliest contamination - often the first sign filtration is starting to fall behind, before larger particles show up.

Particles >6µm

223 part./ml

Ref ≤ 160

Watch

223 particles/mL is also above target. Combined with the elevated 4 um count, this points to filtration efficiency slipping rather than a single contamination event-check filter condition and change interval.

Particles >14µm

17 part./ml

Ref ≤ 20

Normal

Cutting particles

1.5 part./ml

Ref ≤ 5

Normal

Sliding particles

4.6 part./ml

Ref ≤ 10

Normal

Fatigue particles

7.7 part./ml

Ref ≤ 15

Normal

Cutting, sliding, and fatigue particles describe the shape and origin of wear debris under microscopic analysis. Fatigue particles come from surface spalling - usually bearings or gear teeth under repeated load. All three are normal here, but a rising fatigue count is one of the earliest warnings of a bearing heading toward failure.

Turn Oil Analysis Into Action

Oil analysis isn’t just about what’s happening inside the lab. The real value comes from using that information to make better decisions in the field.

Deburring & Finishing

Typical early-warning window: 4 weeks

Trend data can provide an opportunity to identify developing wear before it becomes a more serious equipment failure.

Condition-Based Service

Longer service intervals when conditions allow

When trend data shows that fluid remains within specification, your team can make maintenance decisions based on condition rather than changing oil simply because it’s on the calendar.

Planned vs. Unplanned Costs

Unplanned repairs can cost significantly more than planned maintenance

Catching an issue early can give your team time to schedule the repair, plan for parts and labor, and avoid the added costs associated with an unexpected failure.

Without Oil Analysis

With Oil Analysis

From Information to Better Maintenance Decisions

Oil analysis has long been used to monitor the condition of critical equipment, including aircraft engines and other high-performance systems.

The principle is simple: understanding what is happening inside a machine gives you more information to make decisions before a failure occurs.

Capital Machine brings that same condition-focused approach to metal fabrication equipment. By combining laboratory oil analysis with on-site inspections and condition reporting, we help you better understand your equipment and plan maintenance with greater confidence.

Oil changes maintain the machine. Oil analysis gives you information about the machine.

Put Your Equipment Data to Work

Oil analysis gives you a clearer picture of what’s happening inside your equipment and helps turn that information into action.

Capital Machine combines oil analysis with scheduled preventative maintenance, multi-point inspections, and condition reporting to help you identify concerns, plan maintenance, and make more informed decisions about your equipment.

What Oil Analysis Tells You and Why It Matters

Your Partner in Metal Fabrication Excellence

What You Can Find Out With Oil Analysis

Wear Metals

Wear Metals

Contamination

Contamination

Fluid Condition

Fluid Condition

Trending

Trending

What You Can Find Out With Oil Analysis

Overall Status: OK — All elements acceptable, suitable for continued use, resample at normal intervals.

Turn Oil Analysis Into Action

Deburring & Finishing

Condition-Based Service

Planned vs. Unplanned Costs

Without Oil Analysis

With Oil Analysis

From Information to Better Maintenance Decisions

Put Your Equipment Data to Work

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