Scheduled Oil Sampling, or S•O•S for short, is a WesTrac service allowing you to see what is going on inside your machine and detect problems before they become serious.
WesTrac’s in-house S•O•S laboratory is staffed by specially Caterpillar trained technicians, experienced in Caterpillar machines and components.
For Caterpillar customers, this offers a major benefit compared to outsourcing from other external suppliers. Our WesTrac specialists know exactly what metallurgical specifications were designed into each part and component.
You can have all fluids tested with results usually available within 48 hours of receipt of the sample. If test results point to a potential problem, carefully outlined recommendations are provided immediately. (Available on-line via Oil Commander).
Caterpillar S•O•S Services include S•O•S oil analysis and S•O•S coolant analysis. The standard tests in the S•O•S oil analysis include wear rate analysis, oil cleanliness analysis, oil condition analysis and detection of fuel, water and glycol. Additional tests may be performed if needed.
Surveys consistently show major benefits for users who regularly use S•O•S Oil Analysis. A 10:1 payback ratio is common when comparing the amount saved on repair costs to the amount invested in S•O•S Services. This figure alone is probably conservative, especially when coupled with reduced downtime, greater productivity, and increased used machine value as the analysis identifies potential problems before they become major failures and cause unplanned downtime.