Oil weight check

550Doug · Oct 12, 2009

I have some good looking oil that was given to me and I'd like to know its weight. Can I weigh one cup of new 80-90 oil, then one cup of 10W oil and then weigh one cup of the mystery oil to determine a good approximation as to it weight by using a sliding scale between the 80-90 and 10W?
Thanks

buickanddeere · Oct 12, 2009

Somewhere along the way the word viscosity was swapped for the word weight when referring to oil.
If it's a plain mineral oil, using it in drives which require extreme pressure additives. Or requiring friction modifiers for wet clutches. The bargain oil is going to cost you $$$ in repairs.
GL-5 in drives with copper based metals will cause corrosion if moisture is present.

rustred · Oct 12, 2009

like what is it ?engine oil, hyd or gear oil? an old woman can look good when dulled up also. send a sample for oil analisyst and they will tell you how good it is.

PeterE · Oct 12, 2009

It doesn't really have anything to do with how much the oil weighs.

You'd have better luck putting samples on an angled board and see how far they run down it. Light oil will go quickly to the bottom. Heavy oil won't get very far. But then you have to test at different temperatures for multi-weight oils.

Sending it to a lab for testing is the only way you'd really know what you've got.

Coloken · Oct 12, 2009

Use a cup with a small hole. Time how long for each to run out. Got to be same amount and same temp. Viscosity meter.

ebbsspeed · Oct 12, 2009

If you heat anything with wood, I'd make a little drip-feed system and burn it up in your stove. If you're sure it's motor oil then you could mix a bit of it at a time with your diesel fuel and murn it up that way. I wouldn't put any unknown oil into a crankcase, transmission, or hydraulic system of any machine I cared about.

RodinNS · Oct 12, 2009

You're playing with fire. Sounds like chain oil to me...

Rod

guido · Oct 12, 2009

Hello 550Doug,
If you have a lot of oil, it certainly would pay to have it analized.That way you know for sure. Oil weight rating referes to its viscosity (FLOW CARACTERISTICS) not weight!.
You can take a long necked Vessel, fill it with oil, use a glass marble or steel ball, and check the time it takes to it bottom. You can compare 2 oils that way. If you're lucky when you test another oil weight, they will be close.
If not ................... you'll be awhile:~).
Don't forget to flush the flask every time you use different oil.
Guido.

Oil weight check

550Doug

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buickanddeere

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rustred

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PeterE

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Coloken

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ebbsspeed

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RodinNS

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guido

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