Machinery Lubrication May June 2011 - Welcome to ECN Digital ...

LUBE TIPS
The “Lube-Tips” section of Machinery Lubrication magazine
features innovative ideas submitted by our readers. Additional
tips can be found in our Lube-Tips e-mail newsletter. If you have a
tip to share, e-mail it to us at editor@noria.com. To sign up for the
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click on the “Newsletters” link at the top.
Regreasing During
Operation
When adding grease to bearings
through grease fittings or other ports, it is
usually best to add grease while machinery
is in operation if safety permits. Depending
on the application, this allows excessive
grease, with the aid of the moving bearing
elements, to be pushed out of the bearing
track to an adjacent cavity, vent port or
other exit pathway.
Use Self-Closing Oil Dispensing Valves
Consider using self-closing valves as the dispensing valves on oil
drums that are stored in a horizontal position. A self-closing valve
will eliminate the possibility of the dispensing valve being left
partially open and draining the entire contents of the drum on the
ground or containment pad.
Engine Failure
Statistics
According to Caterpillar,
catching a problem before
failure results in repair costs of
5 - 25 percent of the engine
value. Catching a problem
after failure causes repairs of
more than 65 percent of the
engine value.
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Readers Supply Super Solutions
and Sound Suggestions
Selecting the Right Piping
When retrofitting gearboxes for service and filtering, consider
using stainless steel piping instead of black iron piping. After a
rather short period of time, the inside of the black piping begins
crusting and flaking off into the gear oil giving false testing
results. This is more predominant in high humidity and frequent
wash-down areas.
Purge Grease Fittings
Before Installing
Purge all new grease fittings with a grease gun before they are
installed on your machine. Use the same type of grease that will be
used later for regreasing. This practice
will remove any dust, burrs or other
debris that has collected inside
the grease fitting. It will also
reduce the risk of crosscontamination
between
different grease products.
Field Test for
Monitoring Lubricants
When changing oil or lubricants in large equipment that has a
long run time between changes, retain a small sample in a clear
container to have for baseline comparisons. A color change may
not be noticeable unless a side-by-side comparison can be made.
Also, there may be slight changes from batch to batch or from
different suppliers.
34 May - June 2011 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication