Method of detecting the extent of oil degradation

A method of detecting the extent of degradation of oil, the method comprising the steps of:

• analyzing samples of a machine's oil supply when fresh and when used wherein the compounds within the oil supply are identified using a chemical compound measurement machine where compound changes are recorded as a function of time;
• identifying at least one compound selected from the group consisting of alcohols that decrease by at least 1 area percent per 100 hours of machine operation, ethers that increase by at least 0.2 area percent per 100 hours of operation, and disulfides that increase by at least 0.5 area percent per 100 hours of operation as a degradation marker;
• measuring a dielectric constant using an electrochemical property measurement machine where dielectric constant changes are recorded as a function of time;
• selecting the dielectric constant as an oil degradation indicator when the dielectric constant correlates to the at least one degradation marker given at least a 0.02 dielectric constant increase per 100 hours of machine operation;
• and
• communicating the extent of oil degradation based on the dielectric constant if the degradation markers correlate with the dielectric constant as a function of time.