Monitoring of system cleanliness levels and counting of particulate contaminant are fundamental to achieving hydraulic system reliability as any departure from the specified cleanliness level is often a precursor to future failures. On-line monitoring of cleanliness levels has the advantage of giving data both very quickly and accurately as environmental influences are eliminated. In this way, corrective actions can be promptly implemented. Most on-line instruments are sensitive to system conditions to a greater or lesser extent, but Automatic Particle Counters (APCs) working on light extinction principles are especially sensitive to the presence of optical interfaces caused by such conditions as fluid mixtures, emulsions, free water and air bubbles. These conditions give erroneous data and can result in drawing incorrect conclusions, wasting maintenance time and ultimately, reduced user confidence in cleanliness monitoring. This paper describes such conditions and shows how the correct selection of the analysis technique can result in reliable cleanliness level data.