How did Lubegard come about? The History of Lubegard®

How did Lubegard come about?

The History of Lubegard®

rb // The concept of “additives” or “supplements” in motor oils, lubricants, and fuels often evokes a slightly negative image in the mind of the consumer — first, because the user is not an expert in petrochemicals nor a specialist in combustion, and has little comprehension of that field’s infinitely complex materials, and second, because advertising would have us believe that nothing works nowadays without the right additives.

As a rule, additives provide a basic product with features that the product lacks for its basic functionality.

As a consequence it used to be that you were not allowed to mix different types of oil (this still applies today to certain components), because the brand-specific additives would interfere with one another, either canceling their effect, or in the worst case scenario even reversing it.

Older readers may still remember what used to happen to an engine that was accustomed only to single viscosity oil — when multiviscosity oil was suddenly used for topping up or an oil change.

All too often, catastrophic engine damage was the result.

Magic formula: the LXE® molecule

Dr. Phillip S. Landis, who developed the Liquid Wax Ester (LXE) Technology was also intimately involved in the development of Mobil1.

LXE Technology optimizes existing brand name products with all of the additives that they already contain: it raises the resistance to both pressure and heat and achieves significantly better heat dissipation. Admittedly, “magic formulas” have existed since the beginning of the age of machine technology and some have even enjoyed some remarkable success...at least in the beginning.

The drawbacks came to light only later, with many products silently disappearing from the market. As of today, thirty years after it first entered the market, no flaw has been found in Lubegard. Certain top vehicle manufacturers even prescribe Lubegard in their repair manuals, and most of the other manufacturers have long given their approval.

The wide-spread problems with automatic transmissions

Lubegard first made history in the US, the birthplace of automatic transmissions for passenger cars, when sperm whale derivatives were no longer available for use in lubricants and hydraulic oils for the engine industry due to the Convention on Endangered Species of 1972. Sperm oil had lent the petroleumbased oils the qualities they lacked in terms of resistance to both pressure and heat. This was not known, of course, to the general public. It is estimated that eight million (!) automatic transmissions were damaged beyond repair in the US in 1975 alone! The cause: overheating.

Like others, Philip Landis therefore directed his efforts at fundamentally optimizing hydraulic oil for automatic transmissions by developing a new component. The heat resistance and heat conductivity of hydraulic oil first had to be improved radically. Landis had already created a motor oil additive from plant extracts called “Lubegard” which exhibited the aforementioned qualities; all that was needed was to adapt his product to hydraulic oils sufficiently to enable a “marriage.” It took another five years, however, before Landis’ genius developed, exhaustively tested, and patented such an additive so that he could bring it onto the market successfully.

Rapeseed instead of jojoba oil

Landis, an experienced petrochemical specialist, focused his research exclusively on oils and waxes of botanical or biological origin, because the spermaceti derivative formerly mixed with lubricants had yielded the desired result. Landis found an ideal substitute in jojoba oil. Unfortunately, it turned out that jojoba oil (which is actually not oil at all, but liquid wax) was in extremely short supply, because the jojoba plant was difficult to cultivate in artificial settings.

It preferred the habitat of the Sonora desert of Mexico, Arizona and California over all industrial farming methods. Moreover, the cosmetic industry had already long displayed an almost overwhelming interest in jojoba oil.

Jojoba oil possesses the rather unique property of neither easily oxidizing nor forming sludge or varnish. But by then Landis had found a synthetic basis for Lubegard that was plentiful, and neither endangered nor burdened by any sort of ethnic (or other) legal restrictions. The reaction process for extracting and esterizing the desired LXE molecule from the carbon chain of simple rapeseed oil is much more complicated; but meets the same quality standard. Moreover, it is biodegradable, which is an extremely important criterion today.

Liquid Wax Ester

Botanical, polar, high-tech monoester LXE® wax
Temperature-resistant up to 300° C (572° F) (currently the most heat resistant lubricating ester on the market)
Increases the heat stability and oxidation stability of every lubricant
Lowers the elevated lubricant temperature (protecting it from overheating)
Up to 50% less component wear
Up to 30% less oxidation
Up to 60% less hard asphalt (dirt buildup)

Conclusion

In all areas of application, Lubegard is not a lubricant substitute. In order to make use of its sensational properties, Lubegard always needs a base oil. Lubegard does not “repair” any mechanical damage, but it can successfully prevent it.

Sole agency for Europe

Importers for the whole range of Lubegard products:

Roten Trading AG
Keltenstrasse 13
CH-2563 Ipsach
Switzerland
Telefone: +41 (0)32 355 38 24
Fax: +41 (0)32 355 38 25
E-Mail: info@rotentrading.ch
Website: www.lubegard.ch

In Switzerland, Lubegard is sold at retail by Derendinger AG and Technomag AG. Additional international retailers will continually be added to www.lubegard.ch.
For a location near you contact www.lubegard.com.