Slick Talk: Powered By Blackstone Laboratories
Every oil has a story, especially oil that comes from engines, transmissions, and industrial machinery. Blackstone Laboratories tests it all, and in Slick Talk, Blackstone Joe brings you an exclusive look behind the curtain of the oil analysis industry.
145: Fill in the Blank
Blackstone Labs aren't the only oil analyzers out there, and sometimes customers come to us with reports from other labs (which we will always accept and add to your file, for free)! In this episode, Joe goes through how we handle those reports, what we can do with the info, and what Blackstone offers that other labs don't.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
144: The Blood Test
Having your blood tested is a lot like having your oil tested. How do we know? Because Blackstone Joe went and did it!
Want to read about Ryan's cholesterol? Click here.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
143: The Unspoken Question
We get asked a lot of questions, but just as often, we don't get asked anything at all. When we receive a sample with little to no information, how do we figure out what the customer might want to know? Blackstone Joe has the answers.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
142: Retrospective - No Time to Change
Is it time to change your oil? We addressed that question back in episode 105: No Time To Change. Blackstone Joe revisits that episode, and examines how our perspective has shifted since then.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producers: Joshua Straley and Arryn Dennard
141: Meet the Analyst with Augustia Robinson
Meet Augustia! Another of our new bright stars, Augustia shares how her love of writing and knack for science brought her into the Blackstone fold. She and Blackstone Joe discuss what it's like to be a new writer, how they find the creativity necessary to crank out report after report, and share a few tidbits of advice for any potential new analysts.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
Guest: Augustia Robinson
140: Coaching Up
Oil analysis is a complicated topic, and no one knows that better than a freshly hired Blackstone writer. Helping new analysts master the nuances of the various engines, industrial applications, fuels, and other samples we see on a daily basis is one of the most important responsibilities senior analysts have. Teaching new writers how to communicate that info is a whole other beast. This episode explores how we at Blackstone go about training the analysts that go on to provide you vital info with every sample.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shouto
139: Meet the Analyst with Chris Tulley
Meet Chris! One of our brightest up-and-coming junior analysts, Chris has also recently taken responsibility for the newsletters we send out quarterly. He joins Blackstone Joe in studio to talk about how his history as a journalist informs his report writing style, and how the writers around him inspire his current work.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
Guest: Chris Tulley
138: Moving from the TBN with Ryan Stark
You might have noticed a change to our gas/diesel engine oil info slips: we no longer include the question, "Would you like a TBN?" President Ryan Stark joins Blackstone Joe in studio to discuss where that change comes from.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
137: Sneak Peek
What's more stressful than buying a used vehicle? Not much, especially when you don't have a lot of info about the vehicle (car, boat, plane, etc.) in question. Fortunately, oil analysis can shed some light.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
136: Redline Rarity
What kind of vehicle, fresh off the assembly line, would see the sort of use that results in frequent redlining? The answer may surprise you!
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
135: Marriage Material
You might be, but your oil isn't! Every system could use an oil change once in a while, and here's why.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
134: What to Expect When You're Extending
What happens when you run longer between oil changes? What changes to the data do we anticipate, and what should stay the same? Blackstone Joe explores that this episode, and also responds to some interesting YouTube comments left for the previous pod.
Correction: We mistakenly refer to this episode as number 135, and the previous one as 134.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
133: They Said, We Said
We take a lot of things into consideration when determining whether to recommend a longer oil interval or not. More than just the quality of the oil can influence our decision. As Blackstone Joe can attest this episode, metal content is among those deciding factors.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
132: Beyond the Report Page
Communication is the name of the game here at Blackstone Labs. Oil analysis is a complicated topic, and it's natural for customers to have questions or misunderstandings about what's expected in an oil report. In this instance, a question regarding a sample's viscosity becomes a valuable teaching moment.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
131: Aftermarket Additives and Analysis
There are plenty of products besides just oil that you can put in your engine. Motor Honey, Lucas Oil Stabilizer, Engine Restore, the list is as packed as the shelves at an auto care center. How they show up in analysis is just as varied. As Blackstone Joe can attest, some make a big splash in analysis, while others are a little more mysterious...
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
130: When to Change?
Answer: It depends!
(But here are some tips to help you find your way.)
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
129: Age is Just a Number
There's an expiration date on just about everything, so what about engine oil? It's not uncommon for us to receive samples that have been in the sump for a few years, and a lot of customers wonder how that calendar time affects the oil. The answers, as always, lie in the data.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
128: Method to the Madness
We have a few guidelines for how to properly sample your oil. Crazy as it seems, there's a reason for that.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
127: Synthetic Intelligence vs. Conventional
With A.I. technology becoming more popular as a source for information and advice, you may be wondering what info it can provide you about your engine and the oil it's running. We were wondering that as well, which is why we decided to ask ChatGPT some of the most common questions we receive.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
126: Oil of Anarchy
Riding hell for leather asks a lot of a motorcycle's engine, but some are up to the challenge. Is yours? There's only one way to find out.
JKMoto's Oil Analysis with Slick Talk's Joe Adams
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
125: Lost in Translation
The world is full of mysteries. A listener reached out to let us know about an interesting discrepancy between Japanese and American manuals for the FA24F engine. To get some answers, there's only one option. We have to go back... to the data.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
124: Dirty Data
We test a lot of petroleum products, so we're used to dealing with gunk. You might call us experts in grime. Whether it's fuel, metal, dirt, or something worse, figuring out what's contaminating your sample - and what that means for the unit it came from - is a critical part of the Blackstone process.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
123: Diesel, Data, and More with Justin Mellinger
What goes into obtaining the data we analyze? No one knows the answer to that better than Justin, the Head of Lab Operations. He joins Blackstone Joe in studio to discuss how samples are tested, including some notable insights regarding diesel fuel.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Guest: Justin Mellinger
Producer: Arryn Dennard
122: The Blackstone Approach
This episode was recorded during Oshkosh week, so what better time break down how we analyze aircraft samples? We always want to provide you with the most useful report we can, and that sometimes involves digging a little deeper. Depending on the context, what looks like a problem could actually be completely normal.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
121: Shifts in the Data
It's common to see some variation from one sample to the next. But when is this fluctuation concerning, and when is it actually normal?
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
120: Forum Fictions
There are a lot of forums out there dedicated to engines and oils, and sometimes our name gets pulled into the discussion. Blackstone Joe is here to set the record straight.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
119: TBNs & TANs Revisited feat. Suzi Herman
Senior Analyst Suzi Herman is back, with a follow-up to her popular "TBN/TAN: Do You Need One?" newsletter. She had a simple question: how does heat affect the TBN/TAN of an oil? The answer wasn’t quite what she or Blackstone Joe expected.
Read Part 1 of Suzi’s TBN/TAN Newsletter here.
Out now! Read Part 2 of Suzi’s TBN/TAN Newsletter here.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Guest: Suzi Herman
Producer: Arryn Dennard
118: Ghosts of Problems Past
What does Matthew McConaughey have in common with your engine? As it turns out, a lot.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
117: The Twenty-Thousand Mile Oil Change
Is synthetic oil still good after twenty thousand miles? Is sludge an issue? A listener had these questions and more about Volkswagen and Audi engines. Blackstone Joe provides some answers.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
116: The More You Know
Knowledge is power, and that’s as true in oil analysis as anywhere. The more information you send in with your sample, the better our analysis will be. A seasoned analyst may be able to arrive at certain conclusions even with little to no context, but as Blackstone Joe attests, the devil is in the details.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
115: The Missing Ingredient
Trusting your gut is a good start to vehicle maintenance, but it can only get you so far. Whether it's a coolant leak you're suspicious of, or there's been a recall that may affect your engine, oil analysis can help you confirm those suspicions or lay them to rest. Blackstone Joe explores how in this episode.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
114: Unit IDs We Love with Brett Jenkins
Blackstone Joe sits down with fellow analyst Brett Jenkins to talk about what unit IDs are, and to share some of their favorites.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Guest: Brett Jenkins
Producer: Arryn Dennard
113: Down Goes the OLM
Oil life monitors. Chances are, your car has one on board to let you know when it’s time to change your oil out. But what if you want to run longer than what the OLM suggests? In this episode, Blackstone Joe explores how his own engine oil looked after months of the monitor reporting zero oil life.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
112: The Wear-Ins and Outs of New Engines
Oil samples from engines that are fresh out of the factory, or from recently rebuilt engines, often contain a lot of wear metal and silicon. But why is that? And why do certain parts seem to produce more metal during the wear-in process than others? These were the questions a customer asked us, and in this episode, Blackstone Joe seeks to provide some answers.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Arryn Dennard
111: Process of Elimination for a Lycoming
Oil analysis is one way to gauge your engine's health. But it isn't the only way. In this episode, Blackstone Joe breaks down what to do when oil analysis can't provide all the answers for a customer with high copper readings in their Lycoming.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Josh Straley
110: Sabotage with Brett Jenkins
Brett Jenkins, senior analyst, hasn't been at Blackstone long, but she's already had a major impact on the world of oil analysis. Blackstone Joe sat down to talk with Brett to talk about the forms of sabotage that oil analysis can and can't spot in testing.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Guest: Brett Jenkins
Producer: Josh Straley
109: Maintaining The Stone with Erik DeMarco
Blackstone Laboratories helps you keep your engines, transmissions, and other equipment running smoothly. But what does it take to keep Blackstone Labs going strong? Blackstone Joe talked with Erik DeMarco aka "The Guy"about the maintenance needs of an oil lab (2:25), how working at Blackstone changed his maintenance routines (21:50), and past test results in a new segment, Explain That Sample (25:50).
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Guest: Erik DeMarco
Producer: Josh Straley
108: This Ain't Your Daddy's ATF
This week Slick Talk is time traveling with a reading of This Ain't Your Daddy's ATF by Ryan Stark where ATF, CVTs, and the idea of "lifetime fluids" are all put under the spotlight.
Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit.
Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169.
Host: Joe Adams
Producer: Josh Straley
107: Lab Updates, Q&A, and Landslide by Jim Stark
To begin the new year, Blackstone Joe has updates on the lab, what we're doing to improve turnaround time, and a Q&A segment regarding sampling technique, and what to do if we send you more than one sample kit.
The main event is a reading of "Landslide," a newsletter from '04 written by the founder of Blackstone Labs, Jim Stark. This is a one-of-a-kind illustration of used oil analysis and why it matters. Not only is this informative but it's a way to introduce you to our late founder, and his approach to explaining the data...
106: Q&A With The Analyst IV
Blackstone Joe is ready to wrap up 2023 with another round of q&a with the analyst. Joe answers questions about changing oil change intervals when switching oil brands, pinpointing aluminum bearing wear in analysis, and why it makes sense to send older oil samples in for testing. Ready to start your oil analysis journey? Get your free test kit. Have a question or shoutout? Leave a message for Blackstone Joe at 614-407-6169. Host: Joe Adams Producer: Joshua Straley
