cross over fluids and lubricants

[userfriendly]

Consumer products could be described as industrial products, in this case, fluids and lubricants, bottled into consumer sized packages which are typically sold at retail outlets.
Automotive PCMOs and HDMOs are the exception. They are products that are specifically designed for consumer use.
Petroleum companies are likely the most happy filling ships at port, aircraft at air ports, locomotives at rail yards and storage tanks at service stations than motor by the quart.

A cross-over product could be an ISO 22 hydraulic fluid packaged into small containers and marketed as a motorcycle suspension fluid.
As consumers do you think we are being suckered, a victim of our own gullibility?

 

[MolaKule]

I don't think we're victims at all.

Each fluid has a specific base oil and additive pack for each dedicated application.

 

[The_Jeff]

You forgot the tiny, expensive tube of vaseline lip covering vs the tub I keep by the diaper table vs whatever large shovelfuls they find at whatever point in the distillation process.

 

[bvance554]

Uhh... What?

 

[dnewton3]

Are we being suckered? In a word, "no". We get products that perform admirably.

Are we overly sensitive, as BITOGers, to the marketing hype and mythology surruounding lubes and filters? Absolutely.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: used_0il
As consumers do you think we are being suckered, a victim of our own gullibility?


If you buy your 7 second beer at a bar, you will pay less than if you buy it at a restaurant...if you buy the beer in a jug/pitcher, it will be much cheaper per ounce than your 7 second glass...the publican who buys it in a keg pays even less per ounce, and if you buy the keg off him, it will again be cheaper per ounce...you just need to find a way to store it, and work out how long it will last you before it's either gone, or it goes off.

It doesn't necessarily mean that you are being ripped off when you buy a 7 second beer, just the labour and packaging are a larger percentage of the overall cost than the keg.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: used_0il
Automotive PCMOs and HDMOs are the exception. They are products that are specifically designed for consumer use.

Note that you can find these products in container sizes that are decidedly not for consumer use, or even small shop use, and some that aren't even available in containers that would be useful to a consumer. Just looking at my Imperial Oil sell sheet, here are some examples that jump out at me:

Mobilube 85w-140 is only in 20 L pails, 205 L drums, or in 1200 L sizes.

Most of the Delvac series are available in everything from 1 L bottles to drums.

Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w40 (European) is only available in a 208 L drum, as is Mobil Super 3000 0w-20.

 

[userfriendly]

When the same products are sold in bulk, how much are the savings over single or 5 liter packaging?

I imagine that a large GM dealership would buy Dexos by the truck load, and The United States Navy, cross-head Diesel SAE 50 by the boat load.
What would the roll-out cost of a new consumer product, the GTL Penz for example be?
Who pays for the advertising, small packing and shelf stocking that industrial products do not need?
In the Penz's GTL example; RDS, the retailers or the consumers?

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: used_0il
When the same products are sold in bulk, how much are the savings over single or 5 liter packaging?

That depends. Some products, like M1 and Mobil Super, Imperial Oil sells the same price whether it's in a 1 L bottle or a in a 4.4 L x 4 box. Sometimes, even up to the 20 L pail, there is no savings. Other products to have a discount for larger sizes.

In the end, who pays? It's always the customer in the end, be it industrial or "general public" level customers. The cost is always passed on.

 

[dnewton3]

At the 10 year BITOG get-together, IIRC, one of the facts tossed out by some "in the know" from the lube industry was the fact that the BIG money to be made by multi-national oil corporations is in the bulk volume deals and on back towards the crude recovery.

There is not a lot of margin to be made in retail sales, despite opinions to the contrary. By they time the spend cash on small bottles and marketing, there's not a lot leftover. There is certainly enough to make it worthwhile, or they'd not do it at all, but it's not as large as the crude and bulk deals they favor.

 

[Ken2]

Not at all. The lubricant is suitable for the usage, and the packaging is suitable for the user. You are welcome to bring your empty jug to a truck shop and have them pump syn gear oil out of a drum for your relatively tiny pickup truck differential. I've ordered lubes by the tank truck, and by the ten-drum load, and by the case of quarts or single gallon can for my industrial job. It all depended on what I needed and what it was going into.

Would you really want to put, say, Delo 1000 into your Duramax? I've ordered a lot of that for a 2700 hp ALCO engine burning high sulfur marine gas oil.
http://www.chevronmarineproducts.com/docs/Chevron_Delo1000Marine_PDS1_Lo.pdf

I've ordered tank trucks of Chevron Taro Special HT 70...50 wt, 70 TBN cylinder oil. And I've ordered a case of quarts of Chevron Supreme 10w30 for the lifeboat engine. Each was right for the particular job.

 

[userfriendly]

The Delo Marine oil would likely work very well as an automotive camshaft break-in lube, but I'm not sure if there other automotive possibilities.
Marine Delo states good water separation as one of its qualities.
I'll stick to an oil that is designed for flexible operation. Thanks for the suggestion.
Delo 400s, 15W40, SAE 30 and SAE 40 are the three Chevron/Texaco products that I have picked out of their line-up as standouts for three season applications, their 5W40 and 0W30 for winter and severe winter.




Chevron's Delo 10W30 would be another oil I'd like to have around so I could use it as is, or blend it with any of the other Delo 400s to achieve that perfect and elusive grade that always seems to be missing.
The Staunch PAO Fan Club, can do pretty much the same with Mobil 1 and Mobil 1300.
Shell,(RDS)Rotella Fan Club, and there are many on BITOG, can do the same.
If you include all of their world-wide lubricants, the GTLs available now or in the near future, the selection is mind boggling and second to none.
BP, and their world wide brands, are in the same class as the others that I have listed so far. Their corporate culture and mission statement redefined since the gulf incident.
Suncor and their portfolio which includes the Petro-Canada brand are the lubricants that I use the most, because of their quality, price and availability.
ConocoPhillips lubricants do exactly what they say they do. The secret to success is; say what you are going to do, then do it better than anyone else.
I'm not familiar with the Singapore, other Asian, South American or African brands. They are never or rarely mentioned on BITOG, and not likely widely available in North America.