MAN 1550 CR oil sample...high iron and copper

Not sure of the exact age, but since the 1550 was introduced a dozen of years ago or so, even if the engines would be among the earlier ones, at 4300 hours I would rather think the opposite.
I agree that it's nothing to be concerned about, anyway.
Oil analysis is overrated.

I fully agree that one occasional oil analysis - typically upon purchase - is hardly meaningful unless off the chart.
But also regular oil analysis, which might make more sense theoretically, are in my opinion overrated.
And I'm putting my money where my mouth is, because I never, ever made it on any of my own boats.
My reasoning being, even if some wear indicators would constantly get worse, what would you do in practice?
Did you ever hear of anyone who rebuilt an engine that is working just fine, due to oil analysis alone?

I struggle to follow your logic, because there are scientifically recognised ways to tackle BP or cholesterol problems before you get a heart attack.
But aside from the fact that you can also get it out of the blue, with neither BP nor any other symptoms, I'm not aware of anything you could/should do if those levels of iron and copper would not go down, or possibly even increase over time.

Let me rephrase my previous question which you didn't answer, splitting it in two alternative scenarios for (hopefully) better clarity:

If a rod is bent enough to create perceivable problems like excess vibrations, or if you have any other serious fault reflected in a perceivable engine malfunctioning, you don't need any oil samples to understand that something should be done.

Other than that, let's assume that the oil analysis is somewhat concerning, but the engine is working just fine, all temperatures are OK, it reaches the rated RPM and so forth.
Are you aware of anyone actually pulling such engine out and rebuilding it based on oil analysis alone?
Simple question, where yes or no are the only possible answers.
Me, not only I never heard of that actually happening in 30+ years, but I also never heard any pro engine shop suggesting that.

Folks, I made a simple question, and then I tried rephrasing it because I was in doubt to have been unclear the first time.
I won't make it again, but which part of...
"Did you ever hear of anyone who rebuilt an engine that is working just fine, due to oil analysis alone?"
...is so hard to understand, exactly?

I don't care one iota if you agree with me or not when I said that oil analysis is overrated.
That was clearly just my opinion, and it's as good or bad as any others.
But I can only assume from your replies that not only mine, but also your answer to the question above is NO.
And I don't understand why is it so hard to admit it.

BTW, rebuilds at scheduled intervals have absolutely nothing to see with my previous assumption.
Not until anyone will post a maintenance echelon based also on oil analysis, rather than either hours clocked or fuel burnt.

Happy to hear that our experience is aligned, eventually.
Ref. prevention, I already said upfront in my post #6 that regular oil analysis can make more sense than occasional ones.
The reason why I added "theoretically" (and I called such practice "overrated") is that not only I never heard of any engines rebuilt because of oil analysis, but I'm also not aware of any other major maintenance jobs done, or even just recommended, on that basis alone.

I accept that for instance high sodium, possibly increasing over time, might be a good enough reason to strip coolers and check them, as Capt J mentioned. I just never came across that in real life, and neither heard that happening from any boatyard.
I suspect the reason is that a defective/leaking cooler is more likely to be found upon periodic cleaning and pressure check, rather than because oil samples point in that direction.
That's just a guess though, 'cause as I just said, I never heard of coolers stripped for no other reason than oil samples.

Fair enough, that counts for one occurrence of hearing that in 30+ years.
Every day is a school day, as the old saying goes.

Just curious, didn't you ever open the drain plug and find any of that copper powder attached to it, before dropping the pan?

And for coolers, were they stripped ONLY because of oil analysis, or were they due for cleaning anyhow?