The correct lubricant

Two-day workshop

Written for engineers, they liked it. It is suitable for anybody who is interested. It was presented to artisans several times. It has not been tried online.

Very practical. Includes only as much theory and chemistry as is necessary to understand the essentials.

The first day is intensive, the participants should be warned about it. But it is interactive.

Unlike the textbook, which is designed for easy download, the workshop presentation is fully illustrated. The workshop follows the textbook. It is better if participants have hard copies of the textbook. They need at least the pages 13 and 52.

On those pages, they must draw lines. So they need a pencil, eraser and a ruler, the presenter needs a sharpener.

After each section of the textbook, the participants must answer the questions. They write it down. It is better not to tell them that the answers are in the book and online. They should work from the text.

Answering should take about 5 minutes but more time is spent discussing it. Everybody should understand it.

It is not possible to present everything the first day. Also all revisions are done on the second day. The end of the day slide is before Bearings but can be moved depending on the situation.

The second day is designed to help retain the information presented the first day. It is more fun and highly interactive. It starts with the participants answering the questions in Revision No. 1. They write it down.

That way, morning latecomers do not miss anything.

The second day also includes basics of equipment monitoring, e.g. daily checks, oil sampling, laboratory test results, oil cleanliness, water contamination, and related subjects.

To do that, the participants are given homework in the evening of the first day of the workshop:

Each participant is allocated two articles to read from the second book. (You can also use the Word version of the second book for updates, 1.2 Mb.)

The presenter records the allocations on the last page of the second book.

The second day, each participant presents the main points of his article in 6 minutes maximum. One good presentation of an article is enough.

The workshop presenter shows the main points (3.6 Mb) on the screen during the presentations.
If there is a problem, he steps in and presents the article himself.

This part follows the Revision No. 1 and is followed by the rest of the textbook including the other revisions done by the participants and discussed with the presenter.

The workshop ends with a competition

Participants are split into teams of three (preferably) or four. The task is to find where uncle Vic (page 57 of the textbook) went wrong and why.

Half an hour or more is allowed before the competition starts. Participants need to be ready, no hesitation is allowed. The competition goes fast.

During the preparations, the presenter gradually shows more hints on the last slides of the workshop presentation.

Each team has a chance to present one single point, e.g. "The viscosity of ... is too high", NOT the whole answer, and gets +1, 0 or -1. They can present the second part of the answer on their next turn, unless another team does it.

The presenter comments after every answer to make sure that everybody understands.

It is usually a great fun and the workshop ends with a smile.

The presenter shows the participants the solution. Hopefully some participants would be curious enough to return to it and thus refresh their memory.

Some of the comments about the workshop

JN: Very enjoyable and interesting.

Good presenter. He knows his stuff.

Very informative and knowledgeable presenter.

The course content is a bit too much to handle/digest in 2 days. 3 days would be more comfortable.

Too short in relation to time.

The course cosist of the information that is irrelevant and that doesnt apply to me.

André B: I found your workshop most informative and practical. I can apply a wide range of the information you shared.

Shaun dV: Thank you for the course. It was very worthwhile and probably the most informative course I have been on through SAIMechE. I encourage you to keep going and teaching the younger generation as you have a real gifting in teaching.

CJ: Very useful and interesting. Very enjoyable.

BV: Very good course!

Shabalala: This course was very interesting and it was well presented.

Toolsee: Definitely a master of the field, the presenter / Petr Vavruch. Maybe consider other relevant courses!

Naidoo: A very interesting presentation, learnt lots of new info that will assist me in my job.

Sibiya: Good and useful. Sibiya: Good and useful.

Jaco Olivier: This is a bit intense for a “basic course”.

Deena Govender: The presenter was excellent in his presentation and very very knowledgeable. I learnt a lot about lubrication and oil sampling.

Loizos Michaelides: There is far too much content. Mr Vavruch is trying to cram too much into his limited time sessions. He wants to supplement even this with homework and then expects us to inform the others as though we are the lecturers (ploy to ensure we do the reading). I became 'overloaded' with information even though I do all that is asked. This is not a pleasant experience.

Jacques Maree: Very insightful. Mr Vavruch should give more courses! His knowledge seems endless! I heard a rude complaint about too much info and work in the course. It is nonsense. The course is very good. Do not take content out! The second day material is more participant involvement and revision. No new knowledge is gained here aside from sampling procedures, monitoring and contamination. In depth science behind degradation and how contaminants affect oil properties would be better suited.

Johan Nothnagel: Very interesting. My kids laughed at my “homework” :) Very enjoyable.

Jacobus Relihan: Very interesting course, presented very well.

James Arendse: Well done. Thanks.

Too much info for 2 day course. Petr has a lot of knowledge to share. Thanks.

JM: Very insightful. The presenter should give more courses! His knowledge seems endless.

JR: Very interesting course, presented very well.

VS: Excellent course. Very informative and innovating.

MN: The course was very informative about oil analysis and it was helpful and the presenter was very good.

MH: Thank you again to the instructor/trainer with sharing his useful/helpful experience with us.

SP: Very informative course. Presenter is well versed regarding lubrication and monitoring.

VdB: Very good course. Will be able to apply at work.

Everingham: I enjoyed the course. Thanks.

Fabricius: Presenter – excellent - clearly knows this subject.

Bhanjan: Very informative. Corrected a few of misguided ideas that were presented previously.

Raymond Thurtell: Great! The last word

You know what - retired or not, I could still present the workshop, I like doing it.