What Does Everyone Think Of Blackstone Labs ?

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crazyoildude

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What does everyone think of blackstone for oil samples? Are they accurate? Is there someplace else people like better ?
What is the best way to send a sample? Through the Mail or U.P.S.?
I am leaning toward them because they advertise on B.I.T.O.G.
 
Never any problems with them. Not sure about accuracy, I have no gauge; Results seem to be consistent with other yota results from other labs. I don't fret over a few PPM Good customer service. I mailed a sample, they e-mailed me the results with a note that my CC number wasn't valid any more; seemed no big deal to them.....

-T
 
Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
What does everyone think of blackstone for oil samples?

Simple, cheap, quick, reliable.


Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
Are they accurate?

For what?
wink.gif


If you're looking to get a quick one-time snapshot of your oil that you can use to make a decision, Blackstone is not the best source. Their tests don't pick up the right kind of wear particles for that, so the numbers aren't telling you the right story. Plus, the basic Blackstone UOA doesn't come with a lot of tests, so you're missing out on a lot of important information.

However, Blackstone UOAs are just fine for looking at trends. If you have several consecutive Blackstone UOAs and you see one number steadily climbing or suddenly spiking, that might indicate a problem. In other words, one Blackstone UOA tells you almost nil, but many of them in a row might tell you something.


Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
Is there someplace else people like better ?

Dyson Analysis. Much more expensive, but much more worth the money IMO.
 
Hi,
crazyoildude - Blackstone support "our" BITOG and in turn deserve our support

That said I think they could train their staff better in how to complete the "Comments" part of their Reports
Some statements are quite amateurish IMO!

We should all help them improve their product - I hope my comments assist in that process
 
They're easy to deal with, they respond quickly and are very good to answer specific issues/questions that you present at the time you send the sample. Plus they support this forum.
 
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Yeah, I've seen a few reports with bizarre readings that cannot be right. But to be fair, they are few and far between and I have not seen the same number of reports from other oil analysis companies, their "error" rate might be just as high we just don't see them often so Blackstone sticks out. Err, was that all one sentence? The grammar police are going to hunt me down.

But all in all, I give Blackstone high marks. I use them, I like them, I wish they would give coupons!
 
Rather than list the oil brand and weight on the submission form, why not write in "unknown" and then see what the lab reports look like. I'd be curious to see if they can return reasonable numbers without knowing what they are analyzing.
 
Originally Posted By: modularv8
Rather than list the oil brand and weight on the submission form, why not write in "unknown" and then see what the lab reports look like. I'd be curious to see if they can return reasonable numbers without knowing what they are analyzing.



I wonder this too.

I have seen too many discrepencies to use B-S anymore. I think it was Brad Penn oil that had issues with them and called them out on the Brad Penn website. I take every B-S report I see these days with a grain of salt.
 
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I've had excellent service from them. Very one-on-one and a clear summary always included on the form.
 
When I worked at S.W.R.I. this is the only way motor oil was submitted by oil companies for testing. The sample always had a plain white label with a code number. It was up to the testing division to determine all the physical properties of the unknown then run all the engine tests to compile a report. These other UOA labs are report mills. They analyze large volumes of samples daily (mostly from commercial diesel operators) with a low paid lab tech. Some use recycled eluents that may lead to cross-contamination. Careful attention won't be paid, unless it is marked "unknown".
 
i send the important samples out to more than 1 lab but this is ff for a 2010 hyundai 3.5 v6 i will be sending..I think we are going to be using blackstone from now on they seem to be really nice people.. We currently use another lab at the shop but i think i will be using blacksone from now on... I will post the findings
 
Originally Posted By: modularv8
Rather than list the oil brand and weight on the submission form, why not write in "unknown" and then see what the lab reports look like. I'd be curious to see if they can return reasonable numbers without knowing what they are analyzing.
This is what I've been considering too.....Miles on oil, unknown, oil type, unknown, oil weight, unknown
smile.gif


I would _think_ with all of the samples that these labs get in weekly, they should be able to look at an unknown and pin point what brand, or even what "type" or "weight" of oil it is.

I think B-S primarily uses the "extra" data to give their little summaries/input, which is kind of nice, they seem very helpful in that area, in that they actually "respond" and give input on each oil sample that is sent in......either by suggesting to run the OCI longer, shorter, or checking coolant/oil/water leakage, etc...

Since, especially for a newbie, it would be hard if given just a run-down of "ppm" number, what exactly the numbers stand for.....whether they are good or bad. And that's where B-S seems to stand out too...they have the universal averages included of what the typical engine size/type of the sample "should" have contained.


This all being said, I've heard of Dyson, and Blackstone labs - who else is there out there?

Kind of interested, because I'm coming up to an OCI on my 88 Dodge Aries with MMO in the oil, and kind of curious to see how it looks (car only has a little over 30k on the clock).
 
Alot of folks may not realize that S.W.R.I. does UOA's. They charge $35 and includes the TBN. In case you don't know, S.W.R.I. is a premier research and development institute and is the place where motor oil is tested and certified for meeting industry standards; along with automotive research. I've fooled around (polymer chemist) in their lubricant/engine research labs about 10 yrs ago (state of the art).
 
I had the same sample sent to blackstone and a lab here in Canada. Results were almost identical from both labs. They are a good company to deal with and inexpensive to trend samples in a particular engine.
 
Who is S.W.R.I.?

Never heard of them....?

Are there any other oil analysis labs? Surely there's gotta be others? I recall someone mentioning "Caterpillar" doing oil analysis too....? But never was given a link or point of contact.
 
Southwest Research Institue, where motor oil is tested in engines for meeting industry standards. They also do R&D, Scientific/Engineering research (search SWRI on youtube). Anyway, Mobil, Shell, Ford, GM, Honda, etc collaborates with SWRI on lubricant, engine, and vehicle research. Lubrizol, Infineum, Mobil, whatever will cite SWRI as the source for research, testing, and certification. If you look at the Mobil 1 tests (videos), you will see SWRI there. In the following Mobil 1 video, the man in the white shirt talking about the engine tear-down is from SWRI.

Mobil 1 Taxi Test
 
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