Which Oil Lab JG or Blackstone?

[wildebill308]

Well this year as I was getting ready to do my annual oil change I had a question come up. (I always do my oil sample and get the results back before draining my oil.)

 I was looking at a forum that was championing Blackstone labs as the go to lab. Well I have been using JG labs. So I decided this was a good chance to find out if you got the same results from both labs. I ordered my sample kit’s. Blackstone will send you sample kits and you pay when they run them. JG you by the kits and just send them in to be run.

 

From Blackstone, the standard analysis costs $28.00 and includes the following: Spectral Exam: Establishes the levels of wear metals, silicon, and additives present in the oil. Also checks for coolant. Viscosity: Determines the grade of oil. Insolubles: Quantifies the percentage of solids present in the oil. Flashpoint: The flashpoint is the temperature at which the vapors from the oil ignite. When the flash is lower than it should be, it shows a contaminant (usually fuel) is present. They will run a TBN (Total Base Number) test for $10.00 more this measures how much of your additive package is still there (useful if you want to extend oil change).

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

From JG I bought the Advanced Oil Analysis Kit, $26.95 The Advanced Kit May be used for engines, transmissions, gear boxes, differentials, or refrigerator truck circulation motors.
Includes all of the tests included in the Basic Oil Analysis Kit plus TBN (Total Base Number) for engine oil samples, TAN (Total Acid Number) for non-engine oil samples and Oxidation/Nitration.

http://www.jglubricantservices.com/

I already had a vacuum pump so when I got the kits in I pulled both at the same time. I sample both the engine and the transmission. Taking a good sample is absolutely necessary to getting usable reports. When you feed in the plastic tube never let it hit the bottom of the pan as you will get a bad sample. I measure the dipstick and mark the tube with tape so I know how far to insert it. Both web sites have instructions on how to sample.

Well I have more than a passing interest as I use to work in an oil lab in the AF and was the one running the samples and interpreting what they meant. I am happy to say the results were good and both were basically the same.

One positive for Blackstone is they show historical averages for what you are testing so the average person can tell how they are doing by comparing there results to the average report.

Bill 

 

[five]

Tom Johnson, owner of JG, was the Transmission Fluids Engineer at Allison until he retired in 2009.  He was instrumental in the R and D of TranSynd.  I've used them to test both engine oil and trans fluid.  If you have a question you can call them...and talk to Tom.