Blackstone labs?

[Gary - K7GLD]

Anyone dealt with Blackstone labs recently? It's been a while since my last oil analysis by them, and I wonder what they are charging - I have a sample to send them, but dunno what to include for payment...

 

[Deezul1]

$17. 00 last time I sent one. Just send it and they will bill you.

 

[RKohn]

Make sure you write TDR member in the notes.

 

[Turboman]

WHAT??!! $17.00??!!

You me for TDR members it $17. 00. I've been paying $18. 50 for a coulpe of years now and I send him 2-3 per month. Gotta call Ryan tomorrow!

 

[DEZLPWR]

Turboman....

You're getting hosed buddy!:-laf :-laf

You better call them up and raise some hell! Did you tell them that you were a TDR member, or were you just expecting them to read your mind?

 

[illflem]

Does Blackstone include TBN in their tests now? They didn't used to. TBN is very important if you want to know how long you can go between changes.

 

[E7mack96]

blackstone does not nclude tbn. Yes they are charging 18. 50 for non - members.



I think that they are gonna try and raise prices for us as well. They keep telling me to prepay for samples and they'll give me the 17. 00 price. I just pay the 17. 00 when the monthly statment comes ( I do lots of analysis)

 

[shendren]

bill, where do you get an oil analysis? i've never had mine tested. where do you send it? how much to send? etc. thanks. scott.

 

[Rammin On]

Scott ... .



Go to their website ... send them an email ... they'll mail you the sampling kit ... . take the sample ... put a check for $17 in the plastic bottle when you return the sample ... it's easy! Blackstone

 

[illflem]

Scott, we have the equipment at work to do oil analysis so I go there. Give http://www.pdma.com/oil.html a try, first two analysis's are free. They're in Tampa. Here's the link for the free tests http://www.pdma.com/sample.htm . They make sound like you need to be an industrial user but that's not the case, they want our business. I've never used them but understand they are top notch and know our engines well. In fact one of their reps was supposed to give a talk at a FL TDR chapter meeting a year or so ago.



IMO an oil analysis without TBN is a waste of money.



Total Base Number (TBN -Estimated value) is a calculated measurement of the oil's alkaline reserve (additive) package of the oil that is capable of neutralizing acidic contaminants, primarily formed by the adsorption of combustion gases and the aging of the oil. Combustion by-products are the source of the strongest acids, therefore, over-extended oil drain intervals, insufficient additive package, or overheating are causes for a low TBN. Typically, when the TBN is below 3, it is an indication that the oil alkaline reserve is nearing depletion and the oil should be scheduled for an oil change.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

"IMO an oil analysis without TBN is a waste of money. "



Actually, TBN numbers are a waste of money IF you don't use extended drain intervals, and have to pay additional to have it included... Use of recommended oil change intervals is HARDLY likely to impact TBN numbers...



BUT, if ya have an outfit ya like that includes the TBN test at the same price as the rest, why not?



Main thing, is to do the analysis fairly regularly, and watch for trends in contaminents and wear metals - and once ya choose an outfit for analysis STICK with them for uniform results - methods of testing and results WILL vary somewhat from one outfit to another!



Jumping from one outfit to another, simply to obtain "free" tests MIGHT be pretty unreliable and worthless as a testing tool due to confusing variations in relative results...

 

[JR2]

Blackstone will do TBN if you pay extra $$ ($10 I think). Look on the back of the little paper in the sample bottle. There is a place to check for TBN and a place to put your CC# for payment. I would not say TBN is necessary unless you are going for extended drain intervals. I change my oil every 5k or so and have never had any problems. Last change I had the TBN checked and they said it was fine and the oil was still in good shape.



JR2

 

[Deezul1]

I have been using the tests from the Cummins shop and it runs about$14 and includes TBN.

 

[TomGolden]

I have been using Blackstone continuously for the last 6 years, with my old Ford 6. 9 diesel and now with Godzilla. About a year ago, they finally began offering TBN as an added feature, for an extra $10! My last sample was still $17 without TBN.



Funny thing was, I have asked for and received a TBN value with my last 4 analyses from Blackstone, and their numbers seem way too high. My TBN numbers ranged from 12. 5 -> 17. 0!!! After checking with a few of the Amsoil dealers/experts on the TDR, they assured me that TBN can't realisitcally ever go much over 12. 0 so I am quite curious as to how Blackstone is determining my TBN numbers. I have been using Amsoil for the last 20K miles, and have never gone more than 10K miles between complete oil & filter changes. I do change the filter at 5K intervals though.



I don't think I will continue paying the extra $10 for a seemingly bogus number though..... But as Gary pointed out, With 45K+ miles of established history of Blackstone analyses on my truck, I am a little leery of changing to another analysis company now.



Tom

 

[illflem]

Originally posted by Gary - KJ6Q





Actually, TBN numbers are a waste of money IF you don't use extended drain intervals, and have to pay additional to have it included...

Not quite true. Extended oil changes don't just mean what most think of, like 10k+ synthetic intervals. Without TBN you will never know whether you should be on a 3k, 7k or longer change interval with any oil. You can get almost one free oil change each time if you spend the $10 or can save damage if you've been going too long. This doesn't mean you have to do a test at every oil change just establish a trend you can work off of. I've stretched out my Delo changes up to 10k by using TBN. Once again, oil analysis without TBN is a waste of money.



I tried Blackstone once and wasn't very impressed, don't quite know why people here recommend them over the hundreds of other labs available except that in an internet search their name comes up first because of the B.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Well. I'll put it another way, I'd be interested to see how many fellas using *recommended* oil change intervals for their trucks have found their TBN numbers to be out of spec - I'm betting pretty close to zip, zero, nada...



Any takers?



As far as Blackstone is concerned - they may be great, they may be lousy - how do you decide, other than perhaps sending oil samples from the SAME oil drain to them and about a dozen different labs, and then comparing results...

 

[DocStressor]

Gary is right in a formal sense. Since the advent of <500 ppm sulfur diesel fuel, it is unlikely that TBN limits would be exceeded before oil would have to be condemned for excess soot, wear metals, or out of spec viscosity. That is, as long as the engine is running well. However, depleted TBN can result from a leaky head gasket or a small persistent antifreeze leak (too slight to be picked up by the test for antifreeze). Glycols are rapidly oxidized to acids which deplete the TBN of the oil prior to forming sludge. So routinely measuring TBN is actually a good idea regardless of how long the oil is kept in an engine. If you generally see a TBN of 9-10 after say 5K miles and suddenly see a drop to 5, you should suspect an engine problem. Taking action at that point could prevent serious damage.

 

[JJW_ND]

IT is all about trends

Those that only plan on doing factory changes would not be looking at wear metal numbers, TBNs or soot levels. To few a miles. You will be testing to watch for abnormal problems like leaky injector, coolant leak, air filteration leak.



Having tested oil in my truck every 6K for almost 200K under almost every service extreme I found 6K to be extrememly conservative. I have yet to have a sample come back the recomended change even with four intervals with 24K miles on the oil.



These trucks burn very clean, the oil is very good, 10K changes with a filter at 5K would probably be safe for all but the 500HP club. This includes winter idling to hotshot hard summertime pulling.



jjw

ND

 

[John]

Not Quite True, Tom

Originally posted by TomGolden

After checking with a few of the Amsoil dealers/experts on the TDR, they assured me that TBN can't realisitcally ever go much over 12. 0 so

I was using Red Line (100% synthetic) 15W-40 Diesel engine oil and it has a TBN of 14 (right out of the container).