Summary:
1. How much is saving on consumables worth?
3. The first is the initial choice of lubricants
4. Second - service and selection of oil change intervals
5. Third - choosing a reliable supplier of consumables
In one of the previous materials, we talked about ways to maintain the manufacturer's warranty, including the use of original consumables. Today we will continue our discussion of original consumables from Komatsu and the reliability of their suppliers. This time we will discuss the advantages of using consumables recommended by the manufacturer, despite their higher price compared to imitations. Let's start with a specific example.
One of the customers had a problem with the engine of a Komatsu excavator - it knocked. After service specialists arrived, examined the units and took the oil for examination, the following was discovered.
The owner of the excavator is the official distributor of one of the Russian manufacturers of lubricants. He used their products to fuel the engine, transmission and hydraulics of his equipment. However, it turned out that the characteristics of these oils do not meet the requirements of Komatsu equipment. The owner did not take this fact into account, but when planning maintenance, he was guided by oil change intervals from Komatsu. The mechanics did not pay attention to what was happening in the excavator engine and did not notice the accumulated carbon and slag. Specialists from the KOMEK service center discovered a thick layer of oil deposits in the engine sump. The reason was that the oil used did not have the necessary properties to prevent deposits from forming. After replacing it with original Komatsu oil, problems began: the new oil began to dissolve old deposits, which led to clogging of the system. As a result, the engine had to be overhauled, and two turbines had to be replaced - original and non-original.
Looking into the details, you will notice that the story is a complex puzzle. This example raises several pressing issues related to equipment maintenance and demonstrates why original spare parts and adherence to manufacturer recommendations are so important. Let's look at them in more detail.
The problem here is not that the main character in the story did not use Komatsu oil. It is important to note that the operating instructions for the equipment do not indicate specific brands of oils. However, it does provide information on the performance characteristics required for Komatsu units. The oils chosen by the owner of the equipment did not meet these characteristics.
The main meaning for the owner of the excavator from this example is this.
Firstly, no one monitored the condition of the engine. What exactly the mechanics did with it is unknown, but one thing is clear: there are always signs indicating the need to carry out diagnostics, check the filters after changing the oil, and detect sediment in the pan and on the lines. However, this was not done, and therefore the obvious decision was not made: change the oil change interval.
Secondly, the operator did not follow the Komatsu manufacturer's recommendations for changing oils, using non-original materials that required a special approach. If the owner and his specialists had realized the danger of this situation and taken action, reducing oil change intervals (for example, from 500 to 250 engine hours) could have avoided major repairs and premature failure of the turbine.
For this owner of the excavator from the example, this point does not matter, since he was an official representative of a well-known brand and made a mistake only in the tactics of using the equipment.
However, this situation is typical for many owners of industrial equipment. The same thing could happen to the car if a counterfeit consumable was added to the engine and passed off as original. Problems with lubricants, such as water, foreign particles and discrepancies between the declared properties of the oil and reality, can arise if you do not buy consumables from reliable suppliers, but strive to save money. For example, when trying to save money, you can see a significant discount on a well-known brand and buy it in bulk, not taking into account that any product has a minimum price, below which the original cannot cost. As a result of such savings, the units begin to malfunction, which leads to equipment downtime and major repairs, for which the owner has to pay.
The same principles apply to other types of consumables, such as filters.
Three parameters determine the properties of filters during use:
The degree of protection of Komatsu equipment units depends on the size of the filter cell. This is especially critical for engines with a common rail system. The throughput and cell size depend on the filter material:
The material commonly used in Komatsu filters is fiberglass.
The main component of generics is paper.
Throughput can vary on average up to 10 times.
This means that the original filters are better able to capture contaminants and thus protect the hydraulics, fuel system and engine. For example, low-quality fuel is a serious problem for industrial equipment in the northern regions and in the CIS in general. Due to their high permeability, original fiberglass fuel filters protect equipment from impurities in “northern diesel”. In critical situations, they prevent the engine from starting, which prevents damage to expensive units. Unlike filters with paper material, the result of their use is unknown until the moment of installation. They can help technology complete tasks quickly (with some risk), but they can also fail to cope with the task. In this case, instead of continuous operation of the equipment, you have to wait for replacement of components and assemblies for days and sometimes weeks.
The service life and frequency of filter replacement also depend on the material and, surprisingly, on the price of the consumable. The principle is simple: the larger the filter surface with a fine mesh, the more material is used, the larger the filter size and, accordingly, the price. All this together means an increased replacement interval for consumables. That is, the costs for the filters themselves are lower, and the equipment stops less often for replacement. But at the same time, the filters themselves are more expensive.
This is where the danger lies for users. Different filter manufacturers may have different materials, different filter surface areas and other characteristics, but the same connection dimensions and the same threads. In an attempt to save money, users may install a fake filter that has a different life and a different change interval, which is often not taken into account (as is the case with the oil above). A non-original filter can be replaced along with a suitable one, but after half the planned period it may no longer filter correctly, which will lead to failure of pumps and other equipment.
It’s easy to get confused: for example, another manufacturer has a range of filters for various engines that comply with Euro-3 and Euro-4 standards. They all have different characteristics, but their overall dimensions for connection are identical.
Therefore, only unique materials guarantee that the filter fully complies with all the requirements of the manufacturer. There can be no mistakes with them. When replacing with analogues, user errors often occur due to the similarity of threads and dimensions, which leads to a discrepancy in the degree of protection and filter service life.
Let's briefly list the main advantages of original Komatsu filters, which were highlighted by the company's specialists.
Advantages of genuine products:
Pros of genuine products:
Pros of genuine products:
The main benefit of genuine components purchased from an authorized distributor is that they are completely original and will perform as reliably as factory installed parts.
Purchasing original spare parts from unofficial distributors does not guarantee their authenticity and newness. It's like a lottery: no one knows whether a replacement from another manufacturer will work and how long it will last. The risks with fakes increase even more, even if the stated steel grade is the same as the original. Genuine parts, such as those from Komatsu, have undergone ten years of testing under the most severe conditions, resulting in certain performance properties and a long service life. Inexpensive replacements produced by small companies often do not have the same strength and durability as the original parts. Therefore, it is important to choose reliable suppliers and avoid counterfeits.
If you analyze the risks and additional costs, it becomes clear that currently saving on consumables such as oil and filters is not practical. Just compare the savings from replacing consumables with the costs of downtime equipment and payment for the work of service specialists. Then it is no longer so important whether the filter costs 1000 or 4000 rubles - the saved 3000 rubles are not comparable to the costs of unscheduled maintenance.
