Lube Tips

Up Front
Case Studies, Lessons Learned and Best Practices

We're all ears. In our recent survey, we asked you how we can improve Lube-Tips. You spoke up. Overwhelmingly you said that you want more case studies, lessons learned and to find out what best practices others have implemented with success. Great! We're all over it.

Actually, that's where we need your help. We want to publish your nuggets of wisdom, your brushes with disaster, your invaluable experiences and your cost-saving ideas. Share with us and we'll gladly share with you. $50 that is. We're happy to shell out the cash if your story makes it into Lube-Tips.

Haven't started hacking out an e-mail yet? Here are some ideas to get you past your writer's block:

Any recent "saves" on critical equipment? Perhaps you've successfully implemented something you learned in Lube-Tips or a training course. Maybe you've documented lubrication-related cost-savings or reliability improvements. Take some pictures of your lube storage room and tell us how you've improved it. You've got to be doing something right - share it with other Lube-Tips subscribers.

Spectacular or not, start writing. Just a paragraph or two will do. Feel like writing a novel? Go for it. I look forward to hearing from you.

Mike Ramsey
mramsey@noria.com

Book Bits
Maintaining Hydraulic Fluids
From "The Practical Handbook of Machinery Lubrication":

Keep hydraulic fluids cool. (The bulk oil temperature at the exterior of the reservoir should never exceed 60°C).

Keep hydraulic fluids clean. (There is general agreement among hydraulic experts that 75 - 80 percent of hydraulic failures are caused by fluid contaminated with dirt, wear particles and other foreign material. In today's high-pressure systems, clearances between wear surfaces are very small, making contamination control critical).

Keep hydraulic fluids dry. (Water and condensation content should never exceed a maximum of 1000 ppm, depending on the system design).

Immediately repair fluid leaks. If oil can escape, dirt and dust can re-enter the system. (A fluid leak of one drop per second is equal to 400 gallons in a 12-month period.)

Today's Tip
If electric motors are to be stored for a period of time, the vibrations created by the plant could cause false brinelling of the bearings. False brinelling occurs when the protective film of a lubricant is worn away by vibration and there is metal to metal contact between the edge of the rolling element and the bearing race. To prevent false brinelling, turn the shaft of the stored motor with your fingers a minimum of once a month. The same principle applies to idle machinery. The idle machine needs to be "bumped" to ensure that there is a film of the lubricant between the rolling element and the race. (Tip submitted by Rodger Shaffer, Manufacturing Engineer, Timken Latrobe Steel)

Q & A
H20 Lugging Synthetics

"The "Book Bits" in the April 24 Lube-Tips says 'The saturation level for a synthetic fluid is generally much higher than for a mineral base fluid.' This contradicts everything else I have read, and my experience. PAO synthetic oils have a higher aniline point and will not hold as much water, additive, or practically anything else as a mineral oil."

In general, you are correct - PAO base oils will dissolve very little water and have good water shedding characteristics. However, the issue has some additional considerations. First, other synthetics, such as phosphate ester, polyol ester and di-basic acid ester fluids will dissolve more water than mineral oils or PAOs. The ethylene oxide version of polyglycol synthetics are completely water soluble.

Also, due to the high aniline point of PAO base oils (and many hydrocracked Group III base oils too), the lubricant may be formulated with as much as 20 percent polyol and/or di-basic acid ester or even a mineral oil. In part, these co-basestocks help counteract seal shrinkage caused by the PAO, but it is also required to solubilize the additive package in the oil.

We hear about the great detergency properties of PAO, this is largely due to the presence of the ester component and additives. So, you are quite correct - a pure PAO base oil will shed water and has a very low saturation point. But esters that are commonly used as lubricants or as an additive in the PAO respond very differently.

Drew Troyer, Noria Corporation

Up Front
Reservoir Maintenance Gadgets

If you like gadgets that make your life simpler, you're going to like this. Have you seen these all-in-one "fill-sample-filter" devices that affix to the fill-port of reservoirs?

I like these products because they let you perform a lot of functions from one location. Filling and filtering is made easy with quick-connect coupling attachments. Both desiccant and particle-removing filters can be attached as well as filter indicators. An oil sampling valve makes reservoir sampling easy.

Installation is simple - just replace your standard hydraulic fill-cap with the device and you're set. No drilling or tapping required. They are available from several vendors :

Schematic Approach
JLM Systems
Y2K Fluid Power

Are you already using products like these to simplify reservoir maintenance? Let me know how you like them and if you're using any other attachments on them.

Mike Ramsey
mramsey@noria.com

Book Bits
Lubrication/Relubrication Practices
From "Practicing Oil Analysis 2002 Conference Proceedings". Excerpt taken from the section "Precision Lubrication for the Power Generation Industry":

Odd as it may seem, few organizations have engineered processes for lubricating and re-lubricating machines. This often prompts the question: once the lubricant is properly selected, what is involved to properly lubricate a machine? There is more to it than meets the eye. Greasing bearings, for example, requires calculation of the optimized volume of lubricant to apply and the frequency with which to apply it. Is a grease gun really the best method for greasing that bearing? Or would a single- point applicator, centralized system, or even a mist system do a better job, reduce cost, or eliminate safety risks associated with lubricating a hard-to-reach component? Likewise, should a gearbox be fit with a quick-connect fitting so that oil can be added through a filter cart without opening the system and exposing it to the environment? These and many other questions must be addressed.

Today's Tip
When sampling refrigeration compressor oils, particularly some synthetics such as polyalkylene glycols (PAGs) and polyolesters (POEs), it is of paramount importance that the lubricant is exposed to the air for as little time as possible. This applies particularly in humid environments. The reason for this is that these lubricants are hygroscopic, that is, they absorb uncondensed water vapor directly from humid air. Accurate moisture content reading is vital for the analysis of most refrigerant system lubricants. It is for this reason that the lubricant should be given as little exposure to the atmosphere as possible.

Likewise, it is important that your laboratory take equal care not to expose the oil to the air when it carries out its tests. Ideally the moisture content test should be the first one performed. (Tip submitted by Ashley Mayer, ABB South Africa)

Q & A
Are Your Lubes Risky?
"Is lubricating oil considered a hazardous waste in the United States?"

In the U.S., used lubricating oil has never been listed as hazardous under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The RCRA requires that the generators of used oil waste apply their knowledge or test waste streams in order to determine whether they are hazardous.

Also, used oil filters have never been listed as hazardous waste under federal law. Although in 1992, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided that only non-terne plated filter canisters which have been gravity hot-drained (>12 hours) need not be tested to determine whether they are hazardous. In the future, those filters will automatically be considered non-hazardous. Terne-plated oil filters used in some heavy-duty applications were not included in the exemption because the metal plating contains an alloy of lead and tin.

Ref. FMC Bulletin 94-7R

Jim Fitch, Noria Corporation