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Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 1

2 Editor’s column4 As I See It6 Viewpoint8 The Exponent

24 Hydraulics at Work26 From the Field

28 News and Analysis32 Get to Know ...36 Lubricants and Fluids44 Certification News50 Back Page Basics

22 Product News30 Product Supermarket34 Product Spotlight38 Crossword Puzzler40 Web Preview42 Bookstore

machinerylubrication.comFeatures

Editorial Features Departments

28

36

September - October 2010CONTENTS

26

12 Cover StoryLife on Mars

Lubrication excellence is possible in even the most unforgiving environments. Just askthe maintenance professionals at Alcoa’s alumina refinery in Point Comfort, Texas. ML’sPaul V. Arnold provides all of the details in this in-depth case study. (Pictured on cover:Chris Tindell and Brenda Graham)

Features in Detail4 As I See It

Noria is Recharged and Ready for Growth

Jim Fitch shares with you some of the key elements ofour plans to create a new, recharged Noria Corporation.

6 ViewpointHow to Double Your Lube Team Without Adding Headcount

Through more effective planning and scheduling, we canfind efficiencies in the way we execute lubrication work.

8 The ExponentShaft Alignment has a Bearing on Lubrication Excellence

Trouble looms when a lack of precision alignmentfurther reduces the already thin film of lubricant that sepa-rates your machine surfaces.

24 Hydraulics at WorkThe Pros and Cons of Various Hydraulic Filter Locations

When considering the possible locations for filters in ahydraulic system, the overarching principle must be: first, dono harm.

26 From the FieldProper Headspace Management Starts with the Right Breather Option

If contaminants are not excluded properly, more moni-toring and removal is required. Therefore, excluding shouldbe the first task to conquer.

36 Lubricants and FluidsA Quick and Easy Way to Test Grease Conditions in the Field

An innovative portable grease analysis kit lets youperform condition assessments directly in the field.

44 Certification NewsTo Become World Class, Your Facility Needsa Lubrication Skill Development Program

A comprehensive look at lubrication training, skillsrequirements and certif ication options.

50 Back Page BasicsThe Basics of an Electric MotorRegrease Program

Good maintenance procedures, planning and the use ofthe correct lubricant can increase productivity by reducingbearing troubles and motor failures.

2 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

PAUL V. ARNOLDNORIA CORPORATION

EDITOR

When Lube Systems Fail, WillYou Go Down With the Ship?

E xecute lubrication excellence or face execution? While not asmuch of a rallying cry as John Paul Jones’ “give me liberty or give

me death” speech of 1775, comments made this summer by U.S.naval analyst and author Norman Polmar did garner attention fortheir direct and patriotic nature.

Following the July 1 release of a U.S. Navy report summarizinginvestigations into the mechanical (and subsequently budgetary)failures of the USS San Antonio amphibious transport dock ship –failures determined to be stemming in large part from the craft’sengine oil lubrication system – Polmar called for drastic action.

“In view of the massive and continuing problems with that ship,the Navy would do well to recall to active duty the people whoaccepted the ship and court-martial and execute them in anattempt to encourage others to safeguard taxpayers’ money andpossibly the lives of American sailors,” he said.

“The ship was supposed to cost about $800 million, and nowyou’re saying she’s a billion over cost and you’re still f ixing her,” hecontinued. “That, my friend, is criminal, because those areAmerican dollars and American lives put potentially at risk.”

Polmar’s execution suggestion, while rhetorical, shows thegrowing exasperation we all should have toward unreliable systemsand improper lubricant management.

If you’re not fully aware of the failings of the USS San Antonio(LPD 17), here is a synopsis.

Built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in New Orleans, the684-foot, 25,000-ton vessel was launched on July 12, 2003, andchristened one week later. It had been scheduled to be commis-sioned on July 17, 2002, but was delayed by poor performance atthe Avondale shipyard, which resulted in it being towed from NewOrleans to the Northrop Grumman shipyard at Pascagoula, Miss.,in December 2004 for completion. The ship was unable to moveunder its own power at that time, despite having been christenedmore than a year earlier. The ship arrived in its home port ofNorfolk, Va., on December 18, 2005, and was finally commissionedon January 14, 2006. The ship failed an inspection in 2007, buteventually was assigned to the Persian Gulf. On its maiden voyage,in October 2008, the San Antonio made an emergency stop inBahrain, where a 40-member team spent more than three weeksfixing a critical failure in the engine oil lubrication system.

In June 2009, repairs were made that included replacing approx-imately 80 percent of the external lube oil service piping. Later thatyear, experts found excessive wear to engine bearings, which theyattributed to lube oil contamination that occurred while the ship

was built. When metal shavings were found in the engines lastNovember, the Navy began its formal probe.

Investigators detailed a number of issues that they blamed on theshipbuilder, the team that accepted the vessel, and the San Antoniocrew manning and maintaining it.

“Unacceptable conditions (produced the ship’s significant engi-neering problems),” stated the report. “Inadequate governmentoversight during the construction process failed to prevent or iden-tify as a problem the lack of cleanliness and quality assurance thatresulted in contamination of closed systems. ... Material challengeswith this ship and other ships of this class continue to negativelyimpact fleet operations. Failures in the acquisition process, mainte-nance, training and execution of shipboard programs all share inthe responsibility for these engineering casualties.”

One particularly biting section of the report determined that theship’s crew was slow to discover lube oil contamination.

“Command leadership failed to effectively execute a basic engi-neering program, specif ically the lube oil quality managementprogram, which was determined to be ineffective,” it stated.

News articles pin the additional cost to repair damage caused bythe lube oil system contamination at more than $7.5 million.

“The operational impact is such that repairs may preclude SanAntonio executing her next scheduled deployment,” the report stated.

When lubrication-related maladies lead to mechanical failuresthat drain coffers and impact the mission, everybody goes downwith the ship. As Polmar intimated, heads will (and should) roll.

Don’t wait for a formal and painful investigation to execute lubri-cation excellence.

- Paul V. Arnold, editor-in-chief

The USS San Antonio has had more than its share of lube woes.

http://www.le-inc.com/

4 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

T hirteen years ago, Noria Corporation began its mission to raiseawareness and provide advisory services to users and suppliers

of lubrication products. Much has been accomplished since then,which is a source of considerable pride for the Noria team. It’s beena great ride, but our work is not yet done. Over the past couple ofmonths, we’ve taken necessary time to re-examine our business indetail and refresh our strategies for continued growth for servingour industry in the years ahead. I would like to share some of thekey elements of our plans to create a new, recharged Noria.

Pursuit of Lubrication ExcellenceIn recent years, Noria has ventured out into many of the allied

areas of asset management. We’ve learned much, especially theimportance of collaboration toward attaining common goals. We’vealso learned that much work remains in our area of specialty … lubri-cation and oil analysis. Going forward, Noria has recalibrated itsbusiness objectives to intensify its focus on lubrication and oilanalysis with an eye on the higher goal of overall plant reliability.

Technology-based Deliverables From day one, Noria’s stock-and-trade always has been in the

knowledge and information business. That doesn’t change goingforward. While we will continue to offer conventional services inpublishing, training and consulting, we are rapidly developing tech-nology-based deliverables, as well. One example is our highlysuccessful DVD training series. In order to achieve more efficient and

broader reach to our customers, we will be more actively leveragingthe Internet and other information technologies toward “produc-tizing” our services. In the past couple of years, we’ve invested heavilyin new technology to better serve our expanding client base. Therewill be announcements in this area soon. Stay tuned!

Globalization through Partnerships In recent years, Noria has had considerable success teaming with

partner organizations in various parts of the world who share ourvision and passion for lubrication and oil analysis. Consistent withNoria’s core business model, these franchise relationships will beexpanded considerably to aid in bringing both products and servicesto a greater global community of users and vendor organizations.

Noria’s Rock-solid Team Noria is blessed to be served by a team of exceptionally high-

quality and high-character professionals. In fact, our talent poolruns deep, and not just in the technical areas of our trade. With therecession slowly fading, we are quickly expanding our staff. We areplanning several new hires in publishing, business development andservices over the coming months.

Exciting, Dynamic Times Just as Noria has frequently asked its clients to modernize their

lubrication programs, the time has come for us to reshape our busi-ness as well. These are exciting, dynamic times. Change givesbusiness vitality and helps keep Noria alert to the unmet needs ofour customers. That said, Noria is on track to make 2010 one of thebest years of our history.

About the AuthorJim Fitch has a wealth of “in the trenches” experience in lubrication, oil

analysis, tribology and machinery failure investigations. Over the past twodecades, he has presented hundreds of lectures on these subjects. Jim haspublished more than 200 technical articles, papers and publications. Heserves as a U.S. delegate to the ISO tribology and oil analysis working group.Since 2002, he has been director and board member of the InternationalCouncil for Machinery Lubrication. He is the CEO and a co-founder of NoriaCorporation. Contact Jim at jfitch@noria.com.

JIM FITCHNORIA CORPORATION

AS I SEE IT

Noria is Rechargedand Ready for Growth

https://www.hyprofiltration.com/

6 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

I n teaching courses on how to establish a best-in-class lubrica-tion program, I often talk about value-added tasks: activities

that can signif icantly extend equipment life, increase asset relia-bility or eliminate unwanted downtime. A good example would beusing a filter cart to periodically decontaminate gearboxes. Doneroutinely or in response to elevated particle or water levels, therecan be little doubt that offline filtration has a significant effect ongear and bearing life.

But despite a general acceptance that these value-added taskswork, many companies have yet to implement these types ofprograms to supplement their routine, time-based lubricationpreventive maintenance (PM) routes. The question is why? Surely ifwe believe they have an effect, integrating value-added tasks intothe daily work schedule is a no-brainer?

Whenever I ask, “Why haven’t you developed value-addedtasks?”, I’m often given a few different reasons: • “We don’t have the money to invest in new hardware.”

• “Management won’t support us.”

• “Our equipment is not readily accessible during production.”

But by far the most common response is “we don’t have theresources to get done all that needs to be done just to keep thisplace running. We don’t have time for any new initiatives.”

Having spent time in numerous U.S. manufacturing plants in thepast 18 to 24 months, there can be no doubt that there’s truth tothis statement. Even more so today than ever before, companies aretrying to do more with less, leaving little time for new programs orinitiatives to take hold. So, faced with this reality, which is unlikelyto change in the foreseeable future, we can respond in one of twoways: accept that despite our best intentions or desires nothing willchange, or find a way to make it happen.

So, how can we find time to develop and deploy new practices?How can we be more efficient in the way we execute on lubricationPMs, working smarter instead of harder? From my experience, thereare two strategies, both of which offer the potential to free upsignif icant man-hours. The f irst is to eliminate non-value-addedtasks – activities that either don’t contribute any benef it to theorganization or, in many cases, are downright detrimental. Somegood examples are changing oil that does not need to be changed

or greasing bearings too frequently. In many plants, as much as 25to 35 percent of all lubrication tasks might be considered to benon-value added. The key to addressing this is through lube PMoptimization – deciding which tasks need to be done and what istheir optimum frequency. I’ve talked at length about the optimiza-tion of lubrication PMs in previous articles. But there’s another wayin which we can find efficiencies in the way we execute lubricationwork – specif ically, through more effective planning and sched-uling. This is the area on which I want to focus for this article.

The Issues With Conventional Routes When it comes to scheduling lube PMs, many organizations

combine their routine lubrication PMs into routes – a compilationof tasks that are similar in task type, area of the plant or toolsrequired. With this approach, we end up with lube routes that tendto be named things like “electric motor regrease”, “pillow blockbearing regrease”, “oil level inspection and top-off” or “routine oilsampling”. Typically, these routes are scheduled based on taskfrequency. For example, the electric motor regrease route may bescheduled to be done every six months, the inspection and top-offperhaps weekly, greasing of pillow block bearings monthly and oilsampling routes done quarterly. But is this the most efficient wayto execute work? In my opinion, it is not.

To illustrate the potential problems this approach creates,consider the simple example of executing these lubrication PMs ona belt conveyor. Every week, we receive paperwork instructing us towalk down all wet sumps, check the oil level and top-off wherenecessary. Following our work instructions, our diligent lubricationtechnician walks down the conveyor to check the oil level on thegearbox, along with other oil sumps in the same area of the plant.

Having completed the top-off and inspection route, we nowreceive our next work instructions: Perhaps it’s time to greasemotor bearings – a six-month task. Our diligent lube tech nowgrabs the grease gun f illed with our designated electric motorgrease and duly executes the work.

Next, it’s time for our monthly regrease of the head, tail andother conveyor pulley bearings. Returning to the lube room, thetech takes the grease gun with our multi-purpose EP 2 grease and heads back out to the conveyor to grease the bearings,

MARK BARNESNORIA CORPORATION

VIEWPOINT

How to Double YourLube Team WithoutAdding Headcount

passing by the gearbox and motor to grease thehead pulley bearings.

Finally, our lube tech is ready to take oilsamples. Once again, returning to the lube roomto obtain the appropriate sampling parapher-nalia, the tech heads out to the head of theconveyor to sample the gearbox along with otherwet sumps on his sampling routes – a task thatneeds to be executed every three months.Exhausted from a busy day, our lube tech is readyfor a much-deserved night of rest ... before it allstarts again in the morning!

Dynamic Planning Increases Wrench Time

Now, let’s consider the inefficiencies that thistype of lube task planning and scheduling creates.Of the eight-hour workday, how many hours is ourtech actually doing value-added work, as opposedto collecting supplies, paperwork or travelingto/from the job sites?

In the maintenance and reliability field, the timespent doing work as opposed to every other aspect ofplanning, kitting and traveling to the job is called“wrench time”. For many organizations, wrench timebarely exceeds 25 to 30 percent, meaning that out ofan eight-hour day, only two to 2.5 hours of usefulwork is actually getting done. Conversely, world-classcompanies have wrench times in the range of 50 to60 percent. Compared to 25 percent wrench time, awrench time of 50 percent equates to effectivelyhaving twice as many people to do the work required.(This is a concept sometimes referred to as the“hidden staff”.) For most plants, loss of wrench timecomes from paperwork, obtaining supplies andtravel time to/from the job site.

Now, let’s think about the execution of the lubetasks prescribed for our belt conveyor. The actualtime to grease the motor or pillow block bearings,take an oil sample or check the oil level is minis-cule compared to the time to obtain the PMworksheets, gather the required tools and walk tothe lubrication point in question. For all but thesmallest plant, this is always true – the bulk of thetime is not spent executing value-added lubrica-tion tasks but in preparing to execute the tasks.

OK, how can we be more efficient in the waywe plan, schedule and execute work? The answer isactually very simple: Forget about task frequency!That’s not to say that we shouldn’t adhere to theoptimum periodicity for lubrication PMs, butrather we should not consider the frequency incompiling the block of work to be done in anygiven work day or week.

This approach, called “dynamic route plan-ning”, allows for any task that is geographically

related or requires the same or similar tool set tobe executed on the same assignment sheet. Whilethis takes some time to establish, deployingdynamic route management really creates far moreefficiency in kitting and traveling to the job site.

Using this approach for our belt conveyor, wef ind that, one week, the assignment sheet maysimply state: “Check oil level in to the full runningmark. If level is too low, top off using oil XYZ, asnecessary.” But every fourth week, an additionaltask appears: “Regrease the pillow block bearings”.The key here is that the weekly and monthly tasksappear on the same assignment sheet, in thecorrect sequence, so the two tasks can be executedat the same time. This is far more efficient thanwalking back to the lube room between tasks.

Once a quarter, our oils sampling tasks alsoappear, while every six months, a fourth task(grease the electric motor bearings) is included inour dynamic assignment sheet, so this can bedone at the same time as checking the oil level,greasing the pillow block bearings and taking theoil sample.

Time Well Spent Using this simple example, it should be

apparent that dynamic route planning offers avery signif icant advantage over our conventionalapproach of frequency-based lube routes. Insteadof walking to and from the lube room, locatingand gathering different tools, and handling paper-work before executing the work, dynamic routeplanning allows those tasks that logically f ittogether to be done at the same time, no matterwhat their prescribed frequency.

So, next time you look at how you executeroutine time-based PM work, think about wheremost of the time is spent: Is it in actually doingvalued-added work, or are you spending most ofyour days preparing to do work?

As always, this is my opinion, I’m interested tohear yours.

About the AuthorAs a skilled educator and consultant in the areas of oil

analysis and machinery lubrication, Mark Barnes hashelped numerous clients develop effective machinery lubri-cation programs and troubleshoot complex lubricationproblems through precision lubrication and oil analysis. Aschief technical officer of Noria Corporation, Mark and histeam work on projects in the areas of: plant audits and gapanalysis, machinery lubrication and oil analysis programdesign, lube PM rationalization and redesign, lubricantstorage and handling, contamination control systemdesign and lubrication, and mechanical failure investiga-tions. Contact Mark at mbarnes@noria.com.

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com

PUBLISHER Mike Ramsey - mramsey@noria.com

GROUP PUBLISHER Brett O’Kelley - bretto@noria.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Paul V. Arnold - parnold@noria.com

SENIOR EDITORS Jim Fitch - jf itch@noria.com

Mark Barnes - mbarnes@noria.com

TECHNICAL WRITERSJeremy Wright - jwright@noria.com

Stephen Sumerlin - ssumerlin@noria.com

CREATIVE DIRECTORRyan Kiker - rkiker@noria.com

GRAPHIC ARTIST Kam Stinnett - kstinnett@noria.com

ADVERTISING SALESBrett O’Kelley - bretto@noria.com

Phone: 800-597-5460, ext. 112

PRODUCTION MANAGERRhonda Johnson - rjohnson@noria.com

CORRESPONDENCEYou may address articles, case studies,

special requests and other correspondence to:Paul V. Arnold - Editor-in-chief MACHINERY LUBRICATION

Noria CorporationP.O. Box 87 Fort Atkinson, WI 53538

Phone: 920-568-9768 Fax: 920-568-9769 E-mail address: parnold@noria.com

SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject anysubscription. Send subscription orders, change of address and all subscriptionrelated correspondence to: Noria Corporation, P.O. Box 47702, Plymouth, MN55447. 800-869-6882 or Fax: 866-658-6156.

MACHINERY LUBRICATION USPS #021-695 is published bimonthly by NoriaCorporation, 1328 E. 43rd Court, Tulsa, OK 74105. Periodical postage paid atTulsa, OK and additional mailing offices.

Copyright © 2010 Noria Corporation. Noria, Machinery Lubrication and asso-ciated logos are trademarks of Noria Corporation. All rights reserved.Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express writtenpermission of Noria Corporation is prohibited. Machinery Lubrication is anindependently produced publication of Noria Corporation. Noria Corporationreserves the right, with respect to submissions, to revise, republish and authorizeits readers to use the tips and articles submitted for personal and commercialuse. The opinions of those interviewed and those who write articles for thismagazine are not necessarily shared by Noria Corporation.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes and form 3579 to MachineryLubrication, P.O. Box 47702, Plymouth, MN 55447. Canada Post InternationalPublications Mail Product (Canadian Distribution) Publications MailAgreement #40612608. Send returns (Canada) to BleuChip International, P.O.Box 25542, London, Ontario, N6C 6B2.

VOLUME 10 - NUMBER 5

Award Winner, 2008 and 2010

8 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

W hen one thinks of proactive maintenance for mechanicalsystems, the big four tasks come to mind – align it, balance

it, fasten it down and lubricate it. We often think of these as inde-pendent contributors to reliability or unreliability, depending uponthe precision with which they’re managed and controlled. In truth,they’re highly interactive. Let’s explore the relationship betweenshaft alignment and lubrication. One of our more basic concepts inlubrication is Stribeck’s curve and equation. Stribeck’s equationstates that the dynamic f ilm thickness provided by the lubricantincreases as viscosity and speed increase, and decreases if there isan increase in load. Design engineers utilize their understanding ofthis relationship to design equipment, and specify the requiredlubricant viscosity at operating temperature and identify when fric-tion modif iers, such as anti-wear or anti-scuff additives, arerequired. It’s all pretty important stuff.

So, what does this have to with the relationship between compo-nent life and load? In the case of a rolling element bearing, the lifeof the bearing is related to load according to the following generalequation, where LR refers to the rated load and LA refers to theactual load. Figure 1 (at right) graphically illustrates this relation-ship in visual terms.

A Tenuous RelationshipIn his book “Machinery Vibration: Alignment”, noted author

and expert on precision alignment Victor Wowk illustrates the rela-tionship between misalignment and loss of machine life. Thisrelationship is illustrated graphically in Figure 2. Of course, someequipment is more or less tolerant to misalignment depending onbearing type and coupling type. Likewise, the effects of misalign-ment are magnified as a function of speed.

For journal bearing applications, researchers found that 0.8degree of axial misalignment doubled the effective load andreduced the hydrodynamic lubricating f ilm thickness by 75percent! This, of course, increases the risk of a bearing wipe andscoring, in the event that abrasive particles are imbedded into thesurface of the soft bearing material and are protruding above thebearing’s surface.

Whether it’s rolling element bearings, journal bearings, gearteeth or other mechanical equipment, misalignment reduces theeffective clearance in our machines. In many instances, thiscompletely eliminates the lubricating oil f ilm, resulting in surface-to-surface contact and wear. In some instances, it causestwo-body abrasion, where the asperities on one or both of themachine’s contacting surfaces abrade one another. This is partic-ularly true when one of the surfaces is a harder material and theother surface is softer (e.g. a worm gear). If the contacting

Bearing Life =3

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16,667RPM

DREW TROYER

THE EXPONENT

Shaft Alignment has a Bearing on Lubrication Excellence

Figure 1. The Relationship Between Bearing Load and Bearing Life

Figure 2. Failure to Achieve Precision AlignmentSignificantly Reduces Equipment Life

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http://royal-purple-industrial.com/

THE EXPONENT

10 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

surfaces are both steel and the loads are suff icient, the loss of alubricating f ilm due to misalignment produces adhesive wear.Such wear occurs when two tough asperities contact under agreat deal of load. If neither asperity will yield, the metal literallywelds together to form a cold juncture, or adhesion. The subse-quent separation of the surfaces causes a ripping effect (Figure3). Adhesion can very quickly and substantially deform amachine’s surface. Extreme-pressure or anti-scuff additivesprotect the machine against adhesive wear, but if the contactingforce caused by misalignment is too great, the additive simplyisn’t enough to protect the machine.

Fatigue and AbrasionEven if the f ilm isn’t completely lost due to misalignment, its

thickness is reduced, bringing two other wear mechanisms into play– contact fatigue and three-body abrasion. Contact fatigue occursin the rolling contacts of gear teeth at the pitch line, rolling elementbearings, cam-follower contacts, etc. Rolling contact lubrication ischaracterized by extremely high concentration on load because theforce is being transformed across such a small area.

A common cause of failure in rolling contacts occurs when clear-ance-sized particles get into the lubrication f ilm and serve tolocalize the load transfer – say at the pitch line of a gear tooth wherethe load is conveyed from one gear to the next. The resulting loadoften exceeds the fatigue limit of the metal, which results in dentingand contact-fatigue-induced pitting. Likewise, if misalignmentreduces the thickness of the lubricating oil f ilm in sliding contacts,the risk of particle and non-particle-induced abrasion likewiseincreases. Particle-induced abrasive wear, which is sometimescalled three-body abrasion, is arguably the most common wearmechanism that leads to machine failure.

No Small ProblemNature provides us with more small particles than large parti-

cles. For example, in a typical lubricant or hydraulic f luid sample,there are approximately 3.5 times as many particles greater than6 microns in size as there are particles greater than 10 microns.Likewise, there are about 3.5 times as many particles greaterthan 4 microns as there are particles greater than 6 microns. So,if misalignment decreases the f ilm thickness from 10 microns to4 microns in thickness, you can expect to increase the number of contact fatigue and three-body abrasive contacts by a factorof 12. Making matters worse, for a given material hardness,particles get “tougher” the smaller they become. Toughnessrelates to the friability, or crushability, of the particle. In thebattle of the lubricant f ilm, if the particle is tougher, either

because of material hardness or size, the machine will take thebrunt of the damage.

Opportunities are Knocking When a lack of precision alignment further reduces the already

thin film of lubricant that separates your machine surfaces, thereare simply more opportunities to produce adhesive, abrasive andcontact fatigue wear. So be sure precision alignment is on your to-do list for achieving lubrication excellence!

References

1) Wowk, Victor, “Machinery Vibration: Alignment”. McGraw HillProfessional Engineering Series.

2) Vijayaraghavan, D., and Brewe, D.E., “The Effect of Misalignment onPerformance of Planetary Gear Journal Bearings”. NASA ResearchPublication.

About the AuthorDrew Troyer is a seasoned and certif ied reliability engineer and MBA.

A noted author and thought leader with 20 years of “in the trenches”experience, he’s f igured out how to put you on the fast track and executea reliability strategy that produces results. Senior-level and non-technicalmanagers gain an understanding about how a framework of reliabilitymanagement can positively influence the business. Reliability engineersand technical managers learn how to present their initiatives and accom-plishments in economic terms that are familiar and important to seniormanagers, the investment community and company shareholders. Troyeris a co-founder of Noria and is now the president of Sigma ReliabilitySolutions. Contact Drew at drew.troyer@sigma-reliability.com.

Figure 3. The Adhesive Wear Process

Figure 4. Relationship Between Film Thickness and RelativeParticle Contacts for a Typical Distribution of Particles

Load Material Transfer orParticle Formation

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to protect the machine.

http://www.atselectrolube.com/

12 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

Life on Mars Lubrication Excellence is Possible in Even the Most Unforgiving Environments. Just ask the Maintenance Pros at Alcoa’s Alumina Refinery in Point Comfort, Texas.

COVER STORY

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 13

R ed. It’s the first thing that you notice. A reddish-brown, clay-toned hue colors thelandscape at Alcoa’s alumina refinery complex in Point Comfort, Texas.

The surreal tinting comes courtesy of bauxite, the raw material from which alumina isextracted and refined. Dug out of the freighter ships docked in the adjacent harbor, thematerial is conveyed through the plant grounds along transport belts and deposited inhill-sized piles until it is ready to be dispatched to process areas.

“Bauxite leaves its mark on our work environment,” remarks Derrick “Gillie” Hall, theengineering, maintenance and powerhouse manager at this site, which is located 125miles southwest of Houston on the Gulf Coast. “It’s just the nature of the business.”

Senior staff reliability engineer Brenda Graham takes it a step further.“We are processing dirt,” she says, emphasizing that f inal word. “We take bauxite,

which is from the ground, and crush it up. The f inal product, alumina, is a very f inepowder. It’s hard and abrasive. So maintaining assets, just from a longevity standpoint, isdifficult and challenging.”

Crushed bauxite. Alumina powder. Humidity. Add to that caustic steam from chemicalprocesses, accessory process precipitant and residual salts from the Gulf of Mexico.

“Alumina plants, by the nature of the business, given all of the conditions of theprocess, are very hard on equipment,” says plant manager Allen Ness.

You would think that achieving reliability and lubrication excellence in an environmentsuch as this would be about as likely as safely putting a man on Mars.

Well, as referenced earlier, welcome to life on the red planet.“People in this business that do maintenance well are the ones that are successful in

producing alumina,” says Ness. “If you don’t get maintenance right, it will come downaround you and you can’t keep up.”

You will continue in a reactive mode. This Alcoa facility has worked hard to shift from reactive to proactive. Over the past

five years, it has pursued lubrication excellence as part of an overall predictive mainte-nance strategy. In-depth projects related to lubricant storage and dispensing, oil samplingand analysis, and training and certif ication have helped position it as a leader among thecorporation’s nine global alumina refineries.

GroundedPrior to 2005, when members of the maintenance organization saw red, it wasn’t just

the bauxite; it also was the emergency lights flashing in their heads. Vibration analysis andinfrared thermography – tools beneficial to predict and prevent failures – were available

BY PAUL V. ARNOLD“

COVER STORY

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and utilized for years. However, theinherent industry challenges matched witha traditional maintenance strategy andold-school lubrication practices created afirefighting habit that was tough to break.

“This plant has really come a long wayin my seven years here as far as reliabilityis concerned, particularly with predictivemaintenance,” says Hall. “I can go backto the days when we struggled to even dovibration work because we couldn’tcollect the data. We didn’t have thediscipline to keep up with data collectionand analysis. We would pull the guys offof routes to go fight fires. That was thefocus, not on PdM. I am happy to saythat we have come extremely far.”

From a lubrication perspective, theteam has evolved from the days when:• Oil was primarily stored and

dispensed outside, where it wasexposed to the elements.

• Undetected varnish and sludge inbearing lubricants had a tendency tocause failures in critical equipmentsuch as turbine generators.

• Lubrication training wasn’t formal,and practices (good and bad) werecollected and dispersed throughtribal knowledge.

• Lubrication wasn’t seen as an impor-tant or respectable position.

For that last point, Hall says thatmaintenance workers who focused onlubrication were given the somewhat-denigratory moniker of “oiler” or“greaser”. Not surprisingly, this wasn’t ahighly sought-after position within theorganization.

“When a lube guy retired, it was,‘Who wants to do lubrication?’ Nobodywould raise a hand,” says PdM techni-cian Fred Balboa, a 33-year veteran atthe plant. “The lowest guy on the totempole was given a bucket and told to goafter it. We did that for years.”

We Have LiftoffGroundbreaking change began to occur

after site maintenance leaders exploredwork taking place on foreign soil.

Alcoa: Defined and RefinedCompany: Alcoa is the world’s leading producer ofprimary aluminum, fabricated aluminum andalumina. It employs approximately 59,000 people in31 countries. The company had 2009 sales exceeding$18.7 billion, placing it 127th on the 2010 Fortune500 list. It also holds a spot on Fortune’s World’sMost Admired Companies list. Plant: Alcoa Point Comfort Operations, located inPoint Comfort, Texas (125 miles southwest ofHouston on the Gulf Coast). The site opened in1948, and today features six production units. Itcurrently runs 24/7/365 with two main shifts – 7a.m. to 7 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Size: Approximately 3,000 acres. Plant employment: The Point Comfort site employsaround 550 workers, including nearly 180 in plantmaintenance roles. The maintenance staff includesapproximately 100 crafts personnel/millwrights, 50electrical workers and 30 in supervisory roles. Hourlyworkers are represented by United Steelworkersunion Local 4370. Products: Since 1959, the site has produced alumina,the compound from which aluminum is made, andships it to Alcoa’s global network of smelters. Theplant has the capacity to produce 6,300 tons ofalumina per day.

The cleanliness, organizationand impressive nature of the

lubrication storage building atthe Alcoa site in Point Comfort

have caused at least onevisitor to refer to it as “The Lube Temple”.

You will find a dedicated pump and dispensingsystem for each lubricant in the storage building.

There’s a place for everything and everything isin its place, including filter carts.

http://www.lubriplate.com

COVER STORY

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In April 2005, Chris Tindell led a group of f ive reliability andengineering leaders who attended Noria Corporation’s LubricationExcellence/Reliability World conference in San Antonio.

“Listening to the technical papers and the case studies (fromcompanies such as DuPont, Eastman Chemical, Rio Tinto andClopay), it was really a culture shock. We started to see what wastruly possible,” says Tindell, a reliability technician. “We came backand said, we really need to do some of these things.”

And in the spring of 2006, Hall took benchmarking tours ofCargill plants.

“‘Gillie’ is very passionate about reliability, predictive mainte-nance, proactive maintenance issues,” says Graham. “I think thatCargill trip stoked his f ire. Seeing Cargill’s reliability culture gothim going.”

The Point Comfort site began implementing ReliabilityExcellence (Rx), an improvement game plan created in 2003 by LifeCycle Engineering and the Ron Moore Group, and being utilized byCargill and several Alcoa facilities.

Audits, done internally and in conjunction with Life CycleEngineering and Noria, created the baseline from which programgrowth would be measured. Through such audits, it was deter-mined that:• Point Comfort needed to fully commit personnel resources to

its predictive maintenance efforts; and,

• Lubrication excellence needed to be a cornerstone of PdM and Rx.

For the first point, the site earmarked a crew of PdM specialistsand classified them as a subset of the overall maintenance work-force. No longer would PdM be just a portion of their job, which inthe past allowed them to be diverted toward any number of tasks.

“Before, we were lucky if we were able to run routes once amonth, sometimes every six months,” says vibration techni-cian/millwright Eliseo Guevara. “Predictive maintenance is our

Lubrication Excellence? It’s All in the Alcoa Family

Alcoa has nine alumina refineries around the world, and all arecompeting for corporate attention, resources and funding. So when aref inery like Point Comfort, Texas, has something good going, itshould probably hold on tight to the template, right? Not so, saysplant leaders.

“We share information with all of the Alcoa locations,” says relia-bility technician Chris Tindell. “Even though we consider ourselvessomewhat of a competitor with the other refineries, they are all partof the Alcoa family. We share best practices with the family.”

Even those best practices for lubrication excellence? “We are leading the lubrication efforts, so we are sharing what we

are doing here,” says plant manager Allen Ness. Information is supplied through various means, including case

studies, conference calls and benchmarking tours.

Oil samples await testing on a cart outside ofthe oil analysis office. The office is located

inside the lubrication storage building.

Predictive maintenance technician Fred Balboaexamines some debris with a microscope in the

oil analysis office.

Engineering, maintenance and powerhouse managerDerrick Hall goes over reports with senior staff

reliability engineer Brenda Graham.

http://www.hydraulicparticlecounter.com/

focus now 100 percent of the time. That makes a difference. Itmakes you feel like the company is more committed to this.”

Adds Graham: “Any time there is a ‘f ire’, they are going to grabwhoever they can, but we want to make sure that we have peoplefocused on their task.”

Today, 10 PdM technicians are devoted to lubrication, threeeach are devoted to vibration analysis and to motor current

analysis, and two each are devoted to infrared thermography andto ultrasonic thickness testing.

“One advantage of this is just the attention to detail,” says elec-trical engineer Ike Anyikam. “When you have this type of focus forpeople, not much gets past them.”

Such focus was particularly important for lubrication. The auditprocess showed that only 60 percent of plant equipment was usingthe correct lubricant. Plenty of honest mistakes were being made.

“We opened up a reservoir and there was this shiny, yellow sheento the top of the oil,” says Tindell. “The auditor said, ‘Hey, is therean extreme-pressure additive in here? You have a brass worm gearin here.’ Sure enough, the EP was actually attacking the worm gear.We thought, ‘It’s a gearbox. Let’s put an EP in here.’ But, it’s notalways the right call.”

Correct, effective lubrication was central in Hall’s overarchingmaintenance vision of “we do the things that matter the most.” Itbecame clear to all: Lubrication matters.

“I am very passionate about lubrication. I have said in manyforums that lubrication is the foundation of any maintenanceprogram,” he says. “If you don’t get that right, then forget aboutdoing vibration, forget about doing motor condition monitoring,forget about doing infrared, forget about doing all of those niceand fancy things. You have to get lubrication right. That’s how thewheels turn. If you stop lubricating something, it will just grind to ahalt. This subject is in my heart and soul.”

Spacious StationThe heart and soul of the Point Comfort site’s lubrication effort

is its lube storage, dispensing and analysis building. This 2,400-

COVER STORY

Members of the lubrication team at the Alcoa alumina refinery in Point Comfort include (from left to right): Joseph Justis,George Orzabel, Chris Tindell, Pat Garrett, Charlie Holtz, Fred Balboa, Kenneth Elee, Justin Burke and Brian Baros.

How This Alcoa Refinery Measures Lubrication Success

How do you measure the success of a program such as lubricationexcellence? Alcoa’s alumina refinery in Point Comfort, Texas, does thatthrough three specific f inancial measures.

Says senior staff reliability engineer Brenda Graham: “One is the costof bearings, because that is something that lubrication def initelyaffects. Another is the cost of lubricants; we wanted to get rid of someof the expensive lubricants, plus we aren’t dumping oil like we used to.The other is the cost of rotating equipment.

“I think last year, we saved more than $800,000 overall, and thisyear, through August, we have saved more than $500,000. We have tojustify the program, so, yeah, these savings are important.”

Engineering technician Chris Tindell offers additional perspective. “Many of our projects have financial targets, and then we measure to

those targets,” he says. “There are certain metrics that we put into placeonce we agree that this is a program that we want to pursue. Then, whatare the financial implications? And, how are we going to measure that?Once we agree on the parameters, we are measured against that. Brenda,being the SPA (single point accountable) for lubrication, is very muchaware of that. There are targets that need to be met.”

18 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

http://www.dexsil.com/

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20 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

square-foot (40 feet by 60 feet), cinder-blockstructure was designed in 2007, developedthroughout 2008 and debuted in January 2009. Itsultra-clean, highly organized state accentuatesf luid conditioning, climate protection andcontamination control. It has led some to remarkthat it’s part NASA, part Taj Mahal.

“One of our visitors dubbed it ‘The LubeTemple’,” says Balboa, who oversees this buildingand its processes.

It makes quite an impression.“We had plant managers from other Alcoa sites in

Point Comfort for a week,” says Graham. “We toldthem we were going to see our lubrication area. Itwas toward the end of the last day they were here. Itwas just another stop. They were tired and talkingabout where they were going to eat that night. Theycame in here and their jaws dropped. They didn’tthink a lube room could look like this.”

It’s so clean inside this building because it’s notthat way outside of it.

Oil barrels are no longer stored outside in satel-lite locations around the complex nor are theyplaced in an antiquated storage shed.

“In the old building, there was dirt everywhere,”says Graham. “The oil wasn’t necessarily f irst-in,f irst-out. You grabbed the f irst thing you found.Somebody from stores would come in and pick itup. It wasn’t anyone associated with lubrication.When we removed some of this stuff, some drumswere a few years old.”

Today, oil barrels are received in the new lubebuilding’s specially protected dock. For eachbarrel, Balboa samples and personally analyzesthe oil to ensure it is of the right quality and spec-ification. The fluid is then transferred to a sparebarrel and a f ilter cart is attached for 16 hours.The oil is resampled afterward to vouch that itmeets the required specifications and ISO cleanli-ness code. Subsequently, the oil goes into afirst-in, f irst-out inventory of barrels or is trans-ferred to a storage and dispensing tote.

Each of the 12 totes in the room’s tower systemhas a dedicated pump and hose system to detercross-contamination.

“The oil is all f iltered and ready to go,” saysTindell. “Oil only leaves this area in a sealed andreusable (S&R) container or in a barrel. We wantbarrels coming out with filter carts. The carts arecolor-coordinated to match the viscosities andadditive packages. If a barrel went out for a newgearbox, it goes out with a filter cart. We filter itinto the gearbox or we send out an empty barrelwith a filter cart, remove the oil from the gearbox

and filter it back in while we are doing work. Thatis our standard.”

S&R containers (also color-coded) areequipped with quick-connects that plug directlyinto the equipment for clean transferral of fluid. Inbetween topoffs, they are stored in a cabinet(along with grease guns, grease tubes and cleaningsupplies) located inside a building close to thepoint of use.

“With these practices, the oil is never exposedto the atmosphere,” says Balboa.

Inside the lube room, cleanliness practices arenot confined to Balboa. Anyone entering the areamust don booties over his or her work shoes toavoid tracking in dirt. And, if you check out a filtercart, you better return it in showroom condition.

“Sometimes a lube tech will try to sneak it back inwithout cleaning it,” says Balboa. “The next time, I’llwatch him and make sure it’s returned the right way.It has to be wiped down ... wheels and all.”

Returned S&R containers go through a specialwashing machine that removes dirt on the exteriorand residual carbons on the interior.

Taking SamplesAs touched on in the previous section, the other

main deliverable of the lubrication area is oilanalysis. Lube technicians regularly draw oilsamples from pumps, gearboxes and other keypieces of equipment. Identification data is writtenin marker on the cap of each sterile glass samplebottle. Filled bottles are delivered to a cart outsidethe lube room’s smallish analysis off ice, whereBalboa and Graham perform a battery of tests.Samples requiring specialized attention areshipped to an outside lab. Balboa forwards thelab results to maintenance leaders and the techs.

Analysis helps to identify trends (increasedlevels of dirt, metals, water, etc.) and anomaliesbefore they can generate mechanical stress, degra-dation and failure.

“When we see a bit of metal, we think, ‘Whatcould be happening here?’” says Graham. “We arespending some focus time troubleshooting thosepieces of equipment because they are so critical andexpensive. Oil analysis puts us ahead of the game.”

The maintenance group also stays ahead bysampling and analyzing oil during the commis-sioning of equipment.

“We are getting in the practice of taking base-line samples,” says Tindell. “We went tocommission a boiler feed pump, pulled an oilsample before starting it up and picked up ferrousmetal. This is a brand-new, multi-stage, $100,000pump. We found iron and copper. We sent that off

to our external lab, and it confirmed our findings.We opened the pump up and found that theslinger ring had fallen out of its groove duringtransit. It was cocked and rubbing on the internalhousing. We wouldn’t have found that if wehadn’t taken the sample.”

From Red to Well-ReadLubrication, like pumps, may not appear to be

complex, but there are a lot of moving parts underthe surface.

“You would think that it is so simple – we usedto – but there is so much involved,” says Hall. “Alittle thing like lubrication could make the differ-ence between torturing your equipment or not.”

While not rocket science, lubrication and oilanalysis are highly involved, technical anddynamic subjects. Success comes not with a “lowman on the totem pole” approach, but insteadwhen folks with “the right stuff” are given the rightopportunities. That’s why maintenance leadershipat Alcoa’s Point Comfort facility is a firm believerin training and professional certif ication.

“Knowledge is king. Knowledge is power,” saysHall. “As a manager, I believe in training ... a lot. Idon’t believe in asking someone to do somethingthat they are not fully trained to do.”

The site takes full advantage of free educationalsessions from its oil supplier, free Webinars from ahost of industry resources, and hundreds of thou-sands of dollars’ worth of technical training andclasses through its involvement with a local indus-trial consortium.

“The consortium gets money from the State ofTexas; it’s like $2.9 million,” says Tindell. “We canget special classes together, and then the industryand its partners determine who wants to sendhow many people to each one. Some of the Norialubrication classes that we are bringing on site arepart of this. We don’t even have to drive anywhere.The state paid for it. You just have to fill out thepaperwork and involve the training department tohelp organize all of that. It has been fantastic.”

Plant workers come away with skills and muchmore.

“I was at an infrared thermography class lastweek,” says Anyikam. “After receiving this training,I have a new sense of pride and understanding andknowledge of this equipment. When you haveownership and pride in what you are doing, it’snot just coming to work and getting a paycheck. Itgoes deeper than that.”

Maybe that’s why Pat Garrett, a lube tech inthe calcination department, proudly states, “Itold the company to sign me up for everything.”

Mastery of subject matter can lead to certif ica-tion. Most everyone involved with vibrationanalysis and infrared thermography on the predic-tive maintenance team holds a professionaldesignation. Through August, f ive employees(Graham, Tindell, Carmel Camacho, HectorVenecia and Wayne Pilliner) held at least one certi-f ication through the International Council forMachinery Lubrication (for program details, visitwww.lubecouncil.org).

Those numbers, especially for ICML certif ica-tion, will undoubtedly increase this fall and into2011. Noria will supply extensive lubricationtraining to lube techs and maintenance coordina-tors. Attendees will take ICML’s MachineLubrication Technician Level I exam at thecompletion of the course. This is all part ofGraham’s goal to eventually get all of the techscertif ied as a MLT Level I.

“I’m prepping them for that test,” she says. “It’s adifficult course. It’s a difficult exam. I don’t want toscare anybody, but I want them to be prepared. I givethem questions whenever I can to educate them inadvance. That way, they are aware of the level ofexpertise that they need to attain.”

Whether the students pass the exam or not, theprocess is worthwhile.

“You may not pass a certif ication exam. Thesetests are tough. But you always learn from it,” saysTindell, who along with Pilliner also is a Certif iedMaintenance & Reliability Professional throughthe Society for Maintenance & ReliabilityProfessionals (www.smrp.org). “Ideally, we allwould like to pass, but that doesn’t alwayshappen. No matter what class you go to, you stillwill gain information. You will come away withsomething that you can apply.”

What’s Your Destination?Lubrication excellence is possible in even the

most unforgiving of environments. Alcoa’salumina refinery is southern Texas proves that out.

Getting there isn’t exactly easy. (Some will tellyou a trip to Mars is a better proposition.) Therewill be challenges. There will be mountains toclimb. Whether they are made of bauxite or not,the prize lies on the other side in better-performing equipment, higher yields, less stressand increased profits.

“Lubrication – it’s a matter of discipline,” saysplant manager Ness. “How well you do the funda-mentals is how well you perform. We are gettingbetter and better at the fundamentals, and that isimportant as we go forward.”

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 21

22 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

PRODUCT NEWS

Electric Lubrication PumpGraco introduced its newest lubrication pump, the G3 Electric

Pump. With its f lexible design,including adjustable pump elementsand an ability to work with bothinjector-based and series progressivesystems, G3 is a rugged, cost-effectivepump made to serve multiple marketsand applications. The pump featuresthree control choices, which meansadded flexibility for easy lube systemsetup, operation and trou-bleshooting. The G3 extendsmachinery life, reduces operatingcosts and increases productivity.

Graco Inc.www.graco.com 800-533-9655

Oil Conditioning UnitThe SKF Oil Conditioning Unit optimizes lubrication perform-

ance by serving as a low-pressure pump f iltration unit thatcirculates the oil in a system. The unit removes contaminantsfrom the oil supply and can enable the desired temperature rangeto be maintained consistently. The product connects directly to

sumps, bearing housings, gear-boxes, compressors and

other machines. It ideallysuits applications in indus-tries ranging from pulp

and paper to mining andmineral processing.

SKF www.skfusa.com

800-440-4753

Temperature-indicating LabelsBrady’s temperature-indicating labels provide a permanent record of

temperature levels for a piece of equipment. The labels are placeddirectly onto the equipment; when the equipmentreaches a certain temperature, the white area of thelabel turns irreversibly black. This color changeprovides clear evidence of the highest temperatureattained for that piece of equipment. These tempera-ture-indicating labels are commonly used on pieces ofequipment that move or rotate.

Brady Corporation www.bradyid.com/templabels

888-250-3082

Hydraulic Pressure SensorThe AST4000 pressure sensor features special configurations for the hydraulic

industry. Through the usage of a three-digit option code, the AST4000 seriescan be modified to withstand a variety of mechanical, electricaland environmental challenges in hydraulic pressure meas-urement applications. The AST4000 uses AST’sKrystal Bond Technology, where the pressureport is constructed from a single piece ofstainless steel. This one-piecedesign is ideal for hydraulicpressure applications.

American SensorTechnologies Inc. www.astsensors.com 973-448-1901

Synthetic Gear OilGearbox reliability is critical for wind turbine reliability, and Shell Omala HD

320 synthetic gear oil providesexcellent protection againstcommon failure modes, includingmicropitting and bearing wear.Offering excellent low-temperaturefluidity and long oil life, Shell OmalaHD 320 provides benefits for thesediff icult-to-maintain gearboxes.Shell offers additional wind turbineproducts, including Shell Tellus Arctic32 hydraulic fluid for extreme climatesand Shell Rhodina BBZ blade bearinglubricant.

Shell Lubricantswww.shell.com 713-241-6161

600-gram Desiccant BreatherBaltimore Innovations launched a low-cost range of desiccant breathers,beginning with a standard 600-gram unit. This initial offering will be

joined by other breather sizes over the next 18 months.These breathers are used to protect

against moisture contaminationof fuel and oil in storage tanks.Baltimore breather products

are 100 percent clear-sidedfor easy reading. The silicagel changes from orange togreen when the breather

needs replacing.

Baltimore Innovations Ltd.www.baltimoreinnovations.co.uk

sales@baltimoreinnovations.co.uk

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 23

Open Cup Flash Point TesterThe Petrotest CLA 5 Cleveland open cup flash point

and fire point analyzer automatically tests both liquidand highly viscous liquid and solid samples accordingto the ASTM D92 and ISO 2592 standards. Thebenchtop instrument comes ready for testing,with automatic test routines, user-definableprograms and self-testing/servicing routines,as well as a rapid search program when fast resultsare required. It features the latest electronics,including a 5.7-inch color graphics display and Pmovejog wheel control.

AMETEK-Petrolab Company www.petrolab.com 918-459-7170

Drum Lifter and RotatorAn advanced automated control package that can achieve supe-

rior productivity and safety is available for Morse Tilt-To-Load DrumRotators. A new video demonstrates this automated drum lifting,rotating for operator-set time, and return of drum to an uprightposition at floor level for easy handling. A safety interlock automat-ically shuts down the rotator if thegate is opened. Tumble steel,plastic or fiber drums from29 to 37 inches (74 to94 centimeters) highand from 18 to 23.5inches (46 to 60 cm)in diameter.

MorseManufacturing Company www.morsemfgco.com 315-437-8475

Ultrasound Inspection ToolThe Ultraprobe 15,000 Touch gives inspection pros the ability

to use iPhone-like Touch Screen technology to analyze conditionswith a wide range of on-board features, including: a spectralanalyzer; the ability to take equipment temperature with aninfrared thermometer; photograph test points with an on-boardcamera; select from multiple datascreens including dB,temperature and spec-tral analysis; pinpointlocations with a laserpointer; store data,sounds and images;generate reports; and much more.

UE Systems Inc. www.uesystems.com 800-223-1325

ASTM-recognized ViscometersCambridge offers a full line of laboratory and process viscometers.

These viscometers feature the same oscillating piston technology thatallows for continuous viscosity readings, andcomplies with ASTM D 7483-08 and correlates toASTM D 445. Employing electromagnetic coils tomove the piston, and temperature probes inthe measurement chamber, they are accurateto plus-or-minus 1.0 percent and repeatableto 0.8 percent to help prevent correlationerrors between the lab and production.

Cambridge Viscosity Inc.www.cambridgeviscosity.com781-393-6500

Emergency Spill KitsUse Oil Eater emergency spill kits to contain and clean up hazardous spills

as required by OSHA and the EPA. The kits include a five-gallon pail of OilEater cleaner/degreaser for cleaning surfaces after absorption of a spill. They

are available in both 65-gallon and 95-gallonoverpacks, which can handle the corre-sponding volume of liquid. Each kitcontains a supply of absorbent pads,pillows, universal snakes, booms,protective gloves, oil-resistant disposalbags and an emergency response guide.

Kafko International Ltd.www.oileater.com

800-354-9061

Low Ash Gas Engine OilChevron HDAX 7200 Low Ash Gas Engine Oil SAE 40 is designed for large

stationary gas engines in gas compression, processing or co-generation appli-cations that operate in extreme environments. HDAX 7200 Low Ash isparticularly suited for lean-burn and stoichiometric four-stroke engines oper-ating under high-load, high-temperature conditions as well as selectedtwo-stroke gas engines requiring good low-temperature startability. This oil isformulated with Group II basestocks and uses a premium additive package.

Chevron Products Company www.chevronlubricants.com

800-582-3835

24 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

G iven that the primary objective of filtration is to extend machinelife by removing contaminants from the oil, it is a paradox for the

filters in a hydraulic system to be located where they reduce the servicelife of the components they were installed to protect.

So when considering the possible locations for f ilters in ahydraulic system, the overarching principle must be: f irst, do noharm. In other words, “the cure must not be worse than the disease”.

With this in mind, let us consider the pros and cons of thevarious hydraulic filter locations:

Pressure filtration: Locating filtering media in the pressure lineprovides maximum protection for components located immediatelydownstream. Filtration rates of 2 microns or less are possible, dueto the pressure available to force fluid through the media. But filtereff iciency can be reduced by the presence of high flow velocitiesand pressure and flow transients, which can disturb trapped parti-cles. The major disadvantage of pressure f iltration is economic.Because the housings and elements (high-collapse type) must bedesigned to withstand peak system pressure, pressure filtration hasthe highest initial and ongoing cost.

Return filtration: The rationale for locating filtering media in thereturn line is this – if the reservoir and the fluid it contains start outclean, and all air entering the reservoir and returning f luid isadequately filtered, then fluid cleanliness will be maintained. Theother advantage of the return line as a filter location is that suffi-cient pressure is available to force f luid through f ine media(typically 10 microns), but pressure is not high enough to compli-cate f ilter or housing design. This, combined with relatively lowflow velocity, means that a high degree of f iltering efficiency can beachieved at an economical cost. For these reasons, return filtrationis a feature of most hydraulic systems. The main disadvantage ofreturn line f iltration is that the back pressure created by theelement can adversely affect the operation of and/or damage somecomponents.

Off-line filtration: Off-line filtration enables continuous, multi-pass f iltration at a controlled f low velocity and pressure drop,which results in high f iltering eff iciency. Filtration rates of 2microns or less are possible, and polymeric (water-absorbent)filters and heat exchangers can be included in the circuit for totalfluid conditioning. The main disadvantage of off-line filtration is itshigh initial cost, although this usually can be justif ied on a life-of-machine cost basis.

Suction filtration: From a filtration perspective, the pump intakeis an ideal location for filtering media. Filter efficiency is increasedby the absence of both high f luid velocity, which can disturbtrapped particles, and high pressure drop across the element,which can force migration of particles through the media. Theseadvantages are outweighed by the restriction the element creates inthe intake line and the negative effect this can have on pump life.

Battling Vacuum-induced Forces A restriction at the pump inlet can cause cavitation erosion and

mechanical damage. And while cavitation erosion contaminates thehydraulic fluid and damages critical surfaces, the effect of vacuum-induced forces has a more detrimental impact on pump life.

The creation of a vacuum in the pumping chambers of an axialpump puts the piston ball and slipper-pad socket in tension. Thisjoint is not designed to withstand excessive tensile force; and as aconsequence, the slipper becomes detached from the piston(Figure 1). This can occur either instantaneously, if the vacuum-induced tensile force is significant enough, or over many hours ofservice as the ball joint is repetitively put in tension during inlet.

The piston retaining plate, the primary function of which is to keepthe piston slippers in contact with the swash plate, must resist theforces that act to separate the piston from its slipper. This vacuum-induced load accelerates wear between the slipper and retaining plateand can cause the retaining plate to buckle. This allows the slipper tolose contact with the swash plate during inlet, and it is thenhammered back onto the swash plate when pressurized fluid acts onthe end of the piston during outlet. The impact damages the pistonslippers and swash plate, leading rapidly to catastrophic failure.

In bent axis pump designs, the piston is better able to withstandvacuum-induced tensile forces. Piston construction is generallymore rugged, and the piston ball usually is held in its shaft socketby a bolted retaining plate. However, tensile failure of the pistonstem and/or buckling of the retaining plate still can occur underhigh vacuum conditions.

BRENDAN CASEY

HYDRAULICS AT WORK

The Pros and Cons of VariousHydraulic Filter Locations

Figure 1. The Effect of Tensile Forces Acting on Axial Piston Design

Vacuum Case pressure

puts the piston-ball and slipper-pad socket in tension

In vane pump designs, the vanes must extend from theirretracted position in the rotor during inlet. As this happens, fluidfrom the pump inlet f ills the void in the rotor created by theextending vane. If excessive vacuum exists at the pump inlet, it willact at the base of the vane. This causes the vanes to lose contactwith the cam ring during inlet; they are then hammered back ontothe cam ring as pressurized fluid acts on the base of the vane duringoutlet. The impact damages the vane tips and cam ring, leadingrapidly to catastrophic failure.

Gear pumps are mechanically the least susceptible to vacuum-induced forces. Despite this fact, research has shown that arestricted intake can reduce the service life of an external gear pumpby at least 50 percent1.

The Facts on Suction Strainers Pump inlet or suction f ilters usually take the form of a 150-

micron (100-mesh) strainer, which is screwed onto the pump intakepenetration inside the reservoir. In the 10 years I’ve activelycampaigned against their use (for reasons outlined earlier in thiscolumn), I’m sure I’ve heard all of the counter-arguments. Mostarguments for the use of suction strainers are premised on baddesign, bad maintenance or a combination of both.

The argument that suction strainers are needed to protect thepump from debris which enters the reservoir as a result of poormaintenance practices is a popular one. Nuts, bolts, tools andsimilar debris pose minimal threat to the pump in a properlydesigned reservoir, where the pump intake is located a minimum of

4 inches off the bottom. Of course, the proper solution is toprevent contaminants from entering the reservoir in the first place.

A similar argument asserts that suction strainers are needed toprevent cross-contamination where two or more pumps share acommon inlet manifold. Here again, if suction strainers are necessaryin this situation, then it is only due to bad design; the manifold mustbe below the pumps’ intakes. If properly designed, there should be ahead of oil above the inlet manifold, and the inlet manifold should beabove the pumps’ intakes. For cross-contamination to occur in thisarrangement, debris would have to travel uphill – against gravity anda positive head of oil. That would be highly unlikely.

But even in situations where a suction strainer is mandated, forwhatever reason, the problem is: The cure can be worse than thedisease.

Reference:1. Ingvast, H., “Diagnosing Tyrone Gear Pump Failures”, The Third

Scandinavian International Conference on Fluid Power, Vol. 2, 1993,pages 535-546.

About the AuthorBrendan Casey has more than 20 years experience in the maintenance,

repair and overhaul of mobile and industrial hydraulic equipment. For more information on reducing the operating cost and increasing the uptime of your hydraulic equipment, visit his Web site,www.HydraulicSupermarket.com.

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 25

26 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

U sing the correct breathers for proper head-space management is a decision that is

sometimes taken lightly in industrial facilities.There are many instances when makeshiftbreathers are used to provide air f iltration for veryexpensive and critical equipment, or no breather isemployed at all. This mind-set that a “breather is abreather” will inevitably lead to costly failures anddowntime in the future.

To create and manage a world-class lubricationprogram, you must consider all factors that influ-ence the performance and life of a lubricant. Usingthe correct breather to exclude contaminants is oneof these influencing factors. The breathing of equip-ment is vital to its performance. It allows for thecontraction and expansion of the headspace toprohibit the f luids inside from pressurizing thesystem, which could lead to leaky seals, inadequatelevel readings and other negative side effects.

Proper headspace management keeps equipmentlubricant clean and maintained, which keeps that equipment runningsmoothly. Three major factors influence the quality and cleanliness ofa lubricant: monitoring, removing and excluding. Monitoring usestechnologies such as oil analysis to monitor the ingression and gener-ation rate of contaminants. Removing uses technologies such asoffline filtration (static or mobile) to remove digested or generatedcontaminants. Excluding uses technologies such as contaminationcontrol with proper breathers and hardware to help make the systemcompletely closed to external contaminants.

Of these factors, only one of them contributes to the other two,excluding. If contaminants are not excluded properly, more moni-toring and removal is required. Therefore, excluding should be thefirst task to conquer.

Expansion Chambers, Desiccants and Hybrids

There are three primary types of excluding devices on themarket:

Expansion chambers allow for expansion and contraction of theheadspace without breathing or exhausting to the atmosphere.

Desiccant breathers use desiccating material todraw moisture from the inhaled or exhaled air.

Hybrid breathers, a combination of an expansionchamber and desiccant canister, can allow smallexpansion and contraction of the headspacewithout fully “opening” the desiccant media to theatmosphere.

Expansion chambers do an excellent job atexcluding, but they are not so great at conditioningthe already trapped air. Basically, expansion cham-bers allow the headspace to expand and contractwithout having to inhale or exhale atmospheric air.This simple concept allows for exceptional contami-nant exclusion, but does not do anything tocondition or remove moisture or airborne particu-lates from the headspace. To alleviate this problem,simply install a non-breathing/venting desiccantcanister alongside the expansion chamber or in aseparate auxiliary breather port. While the expan-sion chamber compensates for headspace

contraction and expansion, using a separate non-breathing/ventingdesiccant canister allows the headspace to be filtered of moisturesince desiccant material is hygroscopic.

Desiccant breathers are great for excluding particulatecontaminants and moisture. A desiccant breather works byinhaling or exhaling air through a desiccating media, whichattracts and absorbs moisture, helping to keep the headspace dry.Since these breathers are “always open”, their life expectancy canbe very short. This always-open principle allows air to movethrough the media upon headspace expansion and contraction,and is constantly absorbing moisture from the surrounding envi-ronment, whether the machine is running or not. Depending onhow humid or wet the surrounding environment is, desiccantbreathers may last only a few days.

Hybrid breathers (Figure 1) are superior to plain desiccants intheir exclusion of particulates and moisture. They operate on thesame principle as having an expansion chamber plus a desiccantcanister installed, but hybrids get the same results in one compactunit. Hybrids have a bladder inside which acts like an expansionchamber and a separate desiccant media to f ilter out moisturefrom inhaled or exhaled air. The difference here, when compared to

FROM THE FIELD

Proper Headspace Management Starts with the Right Breather OptionSTEPHEN SUMERLIN

NORIA CORPORATION

Figure 1. Example of aHybrid Breather

traditional desiccant breathers, is that hybridsare “normally closed” to the atmosphere.Therefore, their life expectancy is four to six timesthat of a traditional desiccant breather.Depending on the required volume of headspaceexpansion and contraction, the bladder may ormay not need to open the system to the atmos-phere. If the required volume is large, the systemopens to the atmosphere, inhaling or exhaling airwhile at the same time filtering out moisture andparticulates. If the required volume is small, thesystem remains closed and captures moisturefrom the headspace.

Make Educated DecisionsMany times when plant professionals are

deciding on the type of breather to use, it oftendepends on the up-front costs. With disposabledesiccant breathers, the up-front cost is much lessthan a hybrid breather, but the life expectancy of ahybrid breather can be four to six times that of atraditional desiccant, which results in more value forthe investment over a given period of time.

When using a misguided or misinformed selec-tion technique, the end result is usually amakeshift breather or no breather at all, resultingin possible equipment damage. This is whereproper education of breathers and their functionsare crucial to the success of headspace manage-ment. Be sure to read and understand the typesof environments for which certain breathers aredesigned and compare them with your environ-ment to make a well-informed decision.

Choosing the right breather for your applica-tion will provide returns, not just in breather lifebut in equipment life. Remember, proper head-space management starts with having the rightbreather.

About the Author Stephen Sumerlin is a technical consultant with

Noria Corporation, working on Lubrication ProcessDesign Phase II projects for clients. He is a mechanicalengineer and holds dual certif ications (Level IIMachine Lubrication Technician and Level II MachineLubricant Analyst) through the International Councilfor Machinery Lubrication. Contact Stephen atssumerlin@noria.com.

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 27

Would You Like to Contribute?Are you a technical expert? If so, we want to

publish your lubrication article in MachineryLubrication. To submit a technical article, pleasesend it to editor-in-chief Paul V. Arnold via e-mailat parnold@noria.com.

28 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

BY PAUL V. ARNOLD

I ndustrial professionals from around the world attended RELIABLEPLANT 2010, Noria’s annual conference and exhibition, held

August 30-September 2 at the Nashville (Tenn.) Convention Center.Attendees represented companies in 44 states and 21 countries. Thisyear’s event included three co-located trade shows: LubricationExcellence, Reliability World and Lean Manufacturing.

RELIABLE PLANT 2010 marked the 11th year of LubricationExcellence, the sixth year of Reliability World and the fifth year of LeanManufacturing.

The event was sponsored by CITGO Lubricants, Des-CaseCorporation, Emerson Process Management, HYDAC, Hy-ProFiltration, Lubrication Engineers, Schroeder Industries, Shell, SKF andSnap-on Industrial. It was endorsed by the International Council forMachinery Lubrication (ICML) and the University of TennesseeReliability and Maintainability Center.

“In candid interviews with attendees, we received very high marksfor this year’s conference,” said Paul V. Arnold, the editor-in-chief ofNoria Publishing. “Our guests were particularly pleased with thequality of the educational curriculum as well as the idea sharing relatedto plant solutions that occurred in the exhibition hall.”

During the three main days of the conference, August 31-September 2, more than 75 case studies, industry reports andtraining sessions were presented. Mark Swenson, the vice presidentfor manufacturing engineering and vehicle production engineeringat Nissan North America, provided the keynote address on August31. Track keynotes were presented by: Samuel Bethea, the directorof North American maintenance and reliability at Campbell SoupCompany; Aqua Porter, the vice president in charge of strategicprojects and Lean Six Sigma operations at Xerox Corporation; andRobert Hafey, the author of the new book “Lean Safety –Transforming your Safety Culture with Lean Management”.

Lubrication Excellencepresentations were deliv-ered by leaders from:Noria, MillerCoors, Eli Lilly,ArcelorMittal, Energizer,Goodyear, Temple-Inland,Alabama Power Company,Covance, Shell, ICML,Lubrication Engineers,Polaris Laboratories, Schroeder Industries, Hy-Pro Filtration, HendrixEngineering, Ludeca, Pioneer Engineering, Pall Corporation, MRGLabs, Des-Case, CITGO, Reliable Process Solutions, FluitecInternational, IDCON, Wooton-Consulting, Thermal-Lube, Air-TightHubs, Spectro/QinetiQ North America and Lubrication SystemsCompany.

Reliability World presentations were given by leaders from: Alcoa,Anheuser-Busch InBev, Campbell Soup, Frito-Lay, ITT, Wells Dairy,AEDC/ATA, SKF, Periscope Consulting, Infor, PdMA Corporation, SDTNorth America, Emerson Process Management, Laurentide Controls,UE Systems, Lubrication Engineers, UtilX, People and Processes, SigmaReliability Solutions, SageGuides.com, Productivity Inc., ReliableProcess Solutions, Spectro/QinetiQ North America, John Crossan LLCand Manufacturing Solutions International.

Lean track presentations were given by leaders from: Xerox,Raytheon Missile Systems, Sonoco, Syngenta Crop Protection, APS,Sigma Reliability Solutions, Sara Lee, Woodbridge Foam, RBHConsulting, Life Cycle Engineering, Future State Solutions, GembaConsulting North America and the Lean Leadership Academy.

At the expansive exhibition hall, more than 80 suppliers featurednew products and industry solutions.

Workshops from Jim Fitch of Noria (“How to Rate and Select OilFiltration”) and Drew Troyer of Sigma Reliability Solutions (“How toOptimize Preventive Maintenance Plans”) took place on August 30.ICML held testing for its Machine Lubricant Analyst (MLA), MachineLubrication Technician (MLT) and Laboratory Lubricant Analyst (LLA)certifications on August 30 and September 1.

2011 Conference Coming Next SpringNoria’s 2011 conference and exhibition will be held April 19-21

at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio.To learn more about this event as well as additional education andtraining events, visit these Web sites:

http://conference.reliableplant.comwww.noria.comwww.machinerylubrication.com www.reliableplant.com

Noria’s RELIABLE PLANT 2010Conference is Major Success

NEWS AND ANALYSIS

30 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

PRODUCT SUPERMARKETPAID ADVERTISING SECTION

MEMOLUB® Lubrication Systems – Precise,Reliable. Lube up to 12 points with the reusableMEMOLUB®. Available in 3 sizes and 4 poweroptions, MEMOLUB® uses low-cost replaceable lubecartridges with customer-specified grease or oil.

PLI, LLC www.memolub.com 800-635-8170

sales@memolub.com

VIBXPERT II Color Display Fast Vibration Analyzer.Easy-to-use menu driven setups help resolve simple andcomplex machinery issues. Fast data collection, cross-channel, transient analysis, modal/ODS, balancing andmore. OMNITREND software for analysis, reportingand trending.

LUDECA, INC.www.ludeca.com/vibxpert 305-591-8935

Best Practices for Lubricant Storage and Handlingvideo-based training provides procedures you canimplement right away for managing lubricants, fromdelivery to dispensing to filling the machine. Preview atNoria.com.

Noria Corporation www.noria.com800-597-5460

The Easylube RFID Patrol ManagementAutomatic Lubrication System provides precisionbearing lubrication and condition monitoring inone system. Easily calculate and manage greasingquantities and intervals using our software.

Hornche Corporationwww.easylube.com

service@easylube.com

Des-Case Extreme Duty breathers have beendesigned to take contamination control to a wholenew level, standing up to a wide variety of applica-tions in challenging environments. They attack thecause of contamination, keeping dirt and waterwhere it belongs – out of your equipment.

Des-Case Corporationwww.descase.com 615-672-8800

sales@descase.com

Keep your hands free and your lubricant spot-onwith perma® automatic lubricators. Preloaded withpremium LE lubricants, they provide continuous,precise application. The result: reliability, efficiency,safety and savings.

Lubrication Engineers Inc.www.le-inc.com 800-537-7683

Webleads@le-inc.com

REMOVE VARNISH, PARTICLES AND WATER.Three problems, one solution. C.C. JENSEN isfocused on supplying highly efficient and reliableoff line f ilters and f ilter carts. Guaranteedperformance. Contact us today for more informa-tion or to purchase.

C.C. Jensen Inc.www.ccjensen.com 800-221-1430

ccjensen@ccjensen.com

Summit EnviroTech FGPL is a biobased, NSF H1registered food grade spray penetrating lubricant foruse in the food processing industry. It is biodegrad-able, odorless, tasteless and rapidly penetratescorrosion or carbon residue on equipment.

Summit Industrial Products www.klsummit.com 800-749-1375

info@klsummit.com

Krytox® Fluorinated Greases and Oils are chemi-cally inert, insoluble in common solvents.Temperatures range from -103° to 800°F.Compatible with plastics, rubber, ceramics andmetals. Nonflammable, oxygen compatible, no sili-cones or hydrocarbons. H-1/H-2 Food Gradesavailable.

Miller-Stephenson Chemical Company, Inc.www.miller-stephenson.com 203-743-4447

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 31

Harvard’s filter systems are designed and builtwith quality materials and craftsmanship to provideyears of trouble-free service. Filter elements forviscosity ranges from fuels to gear oils (ISO 1000).Customers report clean fluids to ISO 13/12/8 inoperation. Contaminant capacity per element isabout four pounds. The product has demonstratedthe ability to remove one gallon of water from oil.

Harvard Corporationwww.harvardcorp.com 800-523-1327

In addition to particle counting and automatictype of wear classif ication into non-metallic,cutting, fatigue, sliding, f ibers, water dropletsoffering images and trending, the new SpectroLNFQ200 also reports dynamic viscosity.

Spectro Inc.www.SpectroInc.com 978-431-1120

sales@SpectroInc.com

This DVD includes instructive videos andanimations to give viewers a better understandingof electric motor bearings and how to lubricatethem properly.

Noria Corporationwww.noria.com/secure 800-597-5460

Quickly monitor the remaining useful life oflubricants. The RULER provides an easy on-sitemethod for monitoring antioxidants and identi-fying problems like lube oil varnish. Maximizelubricant life with the RULER.

Fluitecwww.fluitec.com 888-557-9575

info@fluitec.com

Simple and cost-effective, LE’s Clear Grease Gunwill make an immediate impact on your reliabilityefforts. No more mistakes or cross-contamination.Be confident in knowing you are using the rightgrease, time after time.

Lubrication Engineers Inc.www.cleargreaseguns.com 800-537-7683

Webleads@le-inc.com

An EP grease for extended, heavy-duty service, LE’sAlmagard Vari-Purpose Lubricant stays put – even insevere conditions. It lengthens intervals, will notharden with age, and extends bearing life by up tothreefold.

Lubrication Engineers Inc.www.le-inc.com 800-537-7683

Webleads@le-inc.com

CONTROL WATER CONTAMINATION. Remove100% free water and 95% dissolved water with C.C.JENSEN Desorbers. Proven, effective and reliable.Suitable for oil systems with small or large volumes.Guaranteed performance. Contact us today forinformation or purchase.

C.C. Jensen Inc.www.ccjensen.com 800-221-1430

ccjensen@ccjensen.com

A new full-color 104-page catalog is available onOil-Rite’s lubrication equipment, featuring PurgeX®

Centralized Lubrication Systems. Complete turnkeysystems are available for immediate delivery, liquidor grease delivery, air or electric motor-operated.The catalog also features an entire line of levelgauges, lubricators, valves, vent plugs and filters.

www.oilrite.com 920-682-6173

Easy Vac Inc. provides the right tool for animportant job! Vampire fluid sampling pumps ...small, hand-operated vacuum pumps accept anysize sampling tube (with an OD of 3/16 inch to5/16 inch) without changing f ittings. “SuperClean” sampling containers, tubing and acces-sories are also available.

Easy Vac Inc.www.easyvac.com 865-691-7510

32 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

Mike Shekhtman, the subject of thisissue’s “Get to Know ...” feature, is theNorth American Region maintenance andreliability manager at Goodyear Tire &Rubber Company. He has worked 2.5 yearsfor Goodyear after spending more than twodecades with f irms in a host of industrialmaintenance and engineering roles(draftsman, design engineer, manufac-turing engineer, plant engineer, projectengineer, reliability engineer and mainte-nance manager). In his current position, heis based at the company’s headquarters inAkron, Ohio. Let’s learn more about Mike.

What types of training have youtaken to get you to your current job?:I have a master’s degree in mechanicalengineering from St. Petersburg StatePolytechnic University in Russia and amaster’s of business administration degreefrom Cleveland State University. Over mycareer, I have attended multiple profes-sional development courses, includingthose on maintenance and reliabilitysubjects.

Do you hold any certifications?: I ama Certif ied Maintenance and ReliabilityProfessional through the Society forMaintenance and Reliability Professionalsand a licensed Professional Engineer.

When did you get your start inmachinery lubrication, and how didit happen?: In my very first assignment inmaintenance management, I was facing avery significant challenge – operating large-scale hydraulic systems that ran onphosphate ester. That f ire-resistant f luid

gave us the needed properties for oursystems, but it was very sensitive chemicallyand required rigorous maintenance. Itscondition directly affected our machines’performance and the consequent produc-tion throughput. That is when I learnedfirst-hand the importance of oil conditionmonitoring and that of moisture andparticulates control programs.

What’s a normal work day like foryou?: I spend a considerable amount oftime in our plants working with engineeringand maintenance associates on improvingthe business of maintenance. Predictiveeffort along with what we call LubricationExcellence is a big part of it. Since we are inthe early stages of implementing systemicprograms, much time is spent reviewinglubricant storage and handling practices,

reviewing the expertise level of lubricationtechnicians, and planning short- and long-term actions to get better. I meet with theplants’ lubricant suppliers and servicecompanies to assure that plant leadershiptakes advantage of all they have to offer.When I am in the office, my days are spentdoing the same but via telephone andonline conferences.

What is the amount and range ofequipment that you help servicethrough lubrication/oil analysistasks?: Our tire manufacturing plants are500,000 square feet or larger. They have avery broad variety of lubrication systems.We have a lot of rotating equipment, suchas large motors and oil-bath gearboxes.There are hydraulic systems and automatedgrease and oil lubricators, and there are agreat number of manually lubricatedmachine components. We are striving todevelop lubrication routes for our machinesand have them in place at some plants. Aregional expectation is that oil samplingand analysis is in place for criticalmachines, and most of the plants currentlyhave that.

What lubrication-related projectsare you currently working on?: I amfacilitating our Lubrication Excellence focuseffort that we started recently. Each plant isexpected to have at least one pilot areawhere there is a well-defined plan to achievelubrication program “perfection”. I amworking with the plants to develop a roadmap for pilot areas, plan timing andresources, and execute as planned.

Goodyear M&R Leader HelpsInstill Lubrication Excellence

GET TO KNOW…

Mike Shekhtman is based atGoodyear’s headquarters in Akron.

What have been some of the biggestlubrication project successes for whichyou have played a part?: I deployed aLubrication Excellence assessment as a part ofour yearly regional engineering audit. A group oflubrication-related items was separated into itsown category in the evaluation that we conductat each tire plant. We combine the knownindustry techniques and best Goodyear practicesto assign weights and scores to the items wediscuss during the audit. It turned out to be aneffective tool to measure the plants’ performancein that category and plan for improvements.

How does your company view machinerylubrication in terms of importance,strategy, etc.?: Goodyear values proper lubri-cation as true proactive maintenance. Althoughthe outcome of a successful program is not easy toquantify, there is very clear evidence of significantplant throughput issues if equipment lubricationis lacking. So in the best spirit of continuousimprovement, we apply the strategy of startingwith well-established basic steps, facilitatingongoing training, and providing strong leadership

and sufficient resources. Executing effectively tothat strategy becomes the next challenge.

What do you see as some of the moreimportant trends taking place in thelubrication and oil analysis field?: I believethere is a high potential for online oil analysis andits combination with other predictive mainte-nance techniques for real-time condition-basedequipment monitoring.

“Get to Know …” features a brief question-and-answer session with a Machinery Lubrication reader.These articles put the spotlight on industry profes-sionals and detail some of the lubrication-relatedprojects they are working on. If you know of an MLreader who deserves to be profiled, e-mail editor-in-chief Paul V. Arnold at parnold@noria.com.

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 33

Hungry For More Information?The Machinery Lubrication Web site is the

home for hundreds of technical articles, columnsand reports related to lubrication research, solutions and best practices. Check outwww.machinerylubrication.com and learn more.

34 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

Bio-based Food-grade FluidsBio-Food Grade Hydraulic Fluids from Renewable Lubricants are

designed for use in hydraulic systems requiring anti-wear, anti-rust,anti-oxidation, anti-foam and demulsifying properties. These prod-ucts – which are NSF H1 and H2 registered and available in ISO 32,46, 68 and 100 grades – inhibit moisture and rust in both fresh andsalt water. Renewable, environmentally non-toxic products are a safealternative to petroleum products for home and industrial use. Theyprotect against wear and corrosion and offer added f ire resistancefor safety. They also are: biodegradable, EPA and ISO 14000compliant, non-ozone depleting, and zinc-free. They are greensustainable and include no heavy metals.

Renewable Lubricants Inc. www.renewablelube.com 330-877-9982

FG Compressor FluidsPetro-Canada has made enhancements to its line of Purity FG

Compressor Fluids. Building on the unique antioxidant chemistry ofPurity FG Compressor Fluids, a leap in the level of oxidative resistance isprovided with the inclusion of new FG additive technology, helping theproduct yield a much higher level of performance. New and improvedPurity FG compressor fluids 32, 46, 68 and 100 meet the highest foodindustry purity standards and fit perfectly in HACCP (Hazard Analysisand Critical Control Point) and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice)industrial plants. All of thesecompressor f luids comply withFDA regulation 21 CFR178.3570(“Lubricants with incidentalfood contact”). They also are H1registered through NSF.

Petro-Canada http://lubricants.petro-canada.ca 888-284-4572

Synthetic Lube Aerosol SpraySyntha-Tech Lubricant w/PTFE is a non-f lammable, zero-VOC,

unique blend of synthetic lubricants that utilizes PTFE, anti-wear andextreme-pressure additives to provideunparalleled lubricating performance.This food-grade synthetic lubricant is NSFH1 registered for use in meat and poultryfacilities. Additionally, its long-lasting f ilmminimizes surface contact, therebyextending lubricating intervals. Syntha-Tech Lubricant w/PTFE penetrates deeplyinto cracks, crevices and joints to lubri-cate and protect all exposed metals. ThePTFE additive minimizes surface contactand friction to reduce wear, extend equip-ment life and maintain peak operatingconditions. This lubricant product with-stands extreme temperature ranges, fromminus-40 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

CRC Industries www.crcindustries.com/ei 800-272-4620

Food-grade Oils and GreasesThe Omnilube family of lubricants from Ultrachem is a complete

line of premium-quality food-grade synthetic oils and greases forincidental food contact that are specially designed for reduced lubri-cation intervals, longer equipment life, less downtime and reducedmaintenance costs. Omnilube lubricants are available forcompressor, hydraulic, chain, gear and multi-purpose applicationsand are well-suited for food, beverage, pharmaceutical and relatedindustries. These products meet all of the requirements of the USDAand FDA H-1 regulations, 21 CFR 178.3570, and conform to therequirements of NSF. They also are approved by the Orthodox Unionfor Kosher use. Omnilube f luids are formulated from the highest-quality polyalphaolef in (PAO), polyalkylene glycol (PAG), ester andmineral base oils, depending on application.

Ultrachem Inc. www.ultracheminc.com 302-325-9880

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 35

36 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

BY PAUL MICHALICKA, SKF

G rease for rolling bearing lubricationprovides a separating film between a

bearing’s rolling elements, raceways andcages to prevent metal-to-metal contactand associated friction. Grease additionallyhelps to inhibit wear, resist corrosion andimpart enhanced sealing protection againstsolid or moisture contaminants. For all ofthese reasons, and because grease is easy toapply and remains retained within abearing’s housing, most bearings in rotatingmachinery (an estimated 80 percent) arelubricated with grease.

Regardless of the application, thecondition of grease and the changes ingrease properties over time can tell manystories when analysis of the lubricant isperformed as part of a predictive mainte-nance strategy. But, traditionally, greaseanalysis has occurred infrequently, usuallyonly when there is suspected contamina-tion, when the wrong grease may have beenused or when a failed component isstudied to determine root causes. Theprimary stumbling block has been that apractical, user-friendly methodology toassess grease condition in the f ield on aregular basis has eluded industry.

The development of an innovativeportable grease analysis kit offers a solutionfor users to perform grease conditionassessments directly in the f ield (and asfrequently as necessary). Such greaseanalysis can deliver a wide range of benefits:

• Grease relubrication intervals can beadjusted according to real conditions

• Grease quality can be evaluated todetect possible unacceptable devia-tions from batch to batch

• Grease performance can be assessed toallow verif ication of the grease’s suit-ability for the particular application

• Under-performing greases can be iden-tif ied to help prevent related damage

The kit’s appeal broadens since nospecial training is required to perform thetests, no harmful chemicals are involved,sample sizes are purposely small (just 0.5grams of grease are needed to perform allof the tests) and quick assessments in thef ield based on immediate results enabletimely decision-making. The kit alsocontains instructions for use, a reporttemplate and guidelines for proper inter-pretation of test results.

The grease test kit lets users analyze threeall-important grease properties: consis-tency, oil bleeding and contamination.Universal tools supplied for all three grease

condition assessments include a samplingsyringe, a sampling tube, a permanentmarker, sampling containers, disposablespatulas and gloves. Tools specif ic to aparticular test also are provided.

Consistency Greases are classif ied by their consis-

tency, or stiffness, according to theNational Lubricating Grease Institute(NLGI) and are graded from NLGI Class000 (very soft) to 6 (very stiff).Classifications are based on the degree ofpenetration achieved when a standardcone is allowed to sink into the grease at atemperature of 25 degrees Celsius for aperiod of f ive seconds. For normal use inbearings, grease consistency usually rangesbetween NLGI Class 1 and 3. Lower-consis-tency greases will be recommended forlow-temperature applications or forimproved ability to pump; greases withhigher consistency will suit bearingarrangements with a vertical shaft.

The kit’s test for consistency involves af ixed grease volume spread between twoglass plates by means of a calibrated

A Quick and Easy Way to Test Grease Conditions in the Field

LUBRICANTS AND FLUIDS

Figure 1. Grease analysis can provideimportant information about lubricant

condition and properties.

Figure 2. Greases are classified bytheir consistency, or stiffness.

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 37

weight. By comparing the stain to the calibrated measuring scale,you can directly determine the NLGI lubricant class.

This is significant, considering that bearing failures attributed topoor lubrication often can be caused by mixing incompatiblegreases with different properties, leading to inconsistent lubricant.Therefore, it is imperative for optimized bearing performance thatthe correct grease type first be selected to deliver the necessary baseoil viscosity in the proper amount at the prevailing operatingtemperature and that its consistency be maintained over time.

Tools in the kit specif ically for the consistency test include ahousing, a calibrated weight, a mask and glass plates.

Oil Bleeding Grease must release some of its oil during operation to properly

lubricate a bearing. The rate of release is called the bleed rate (orthe oil separation rate). Typical oil bleed rates of greases forbearing lubrication are 1 to 5 percent. The base oil viscosity andoperating temperature influence the bleed rate, which should behigh enough for adequate bearing lubrication.

The kit’s test for oil bleeding properties begins with a f ixedamount of grease placed on a piece of special paper. When thispaper is heated, base oil is released from the grease, which createsan oil stain on the paper. By measuring the diameter of the ellipsethat is formed and comparing it with a fresh sample, the bleedingproperties can be evaluated.

Components for use in the oil bleeding test include a USBheater, a USB/220/110V adapter, a special paper pack and a ruler.

ContaminationCleanliness of grease is as important as the proper amount. If

contaminated grease is placed into a system, it can cause moredamage than a lack of lubrication.

The kit’s test for evaluating contamination uses a suppliedpocket microscope to view a fixed grease amount spread betweentwo glass plates. Any contamination becomes apparent.

The Right Grease for the ApplicationEffective grease monitoring and testing as an integral part of an

overall lube management program can tell much about machineryconditions and potential problems. But the entire process can beundercut when the correct grease for an application is not specifiedand used at the outset.

Although it may be tempting to standardize on a single greaseplant-wide to increase purchasing power, all machines operate ashighly specialized rotating assemblies, and every asset will exhibitrequirements specific to the application. Mixing greases will provefatal long-term for machinery and often will have the same effect ascontamination. It can be helpful to establish color codes or othervisual aids at machinery locations to guide maintenance staff inidentifying the proper grease to be used and avoid mix-ups and thedamage they can cause.

Over time, the grease in a bearing arrangement will naturally lose itslubricating properties. This underscores the need for careful attentionto original lubricant selection and then conducting regular tests of thegrease for a better understanding of its condition.

Note: The proprietary SKF Grease Test Kit (TKGT 1) profiled in thisarticle has been developed and introduced by SKF.

About the Author Paul Michalicka is the North American area sales manager for SKF. To

learn more, you may contact Paul via phone (416-299-2894) or e-mail

(Paul.Michalicka@skf.com). You may also visit www.skfusa.com.

Figure 3. Special paper helps to determine bleeding properties.

Figure 4. The portable kit contains everything that’s neededto perform grease condition assessments.

Sign Up for Noria’s Free E-newslettersLube-Tips is a unique educational resource designed to give

maintenance and operations professionals an insider’s grasp oflubrication and lubricants. Each week, this highly used e-newsletter offers tips and facts intended to provide mind-openinginsights and take the mystery out of machine lubrication.Subscribe today by visiting www.machinerylubrication.com.

Additional Noria e-newsletters are available by visitingwww.reliableplant.com/Newsletter.aspx.

38 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

CROSSWORD PUZZLER

21

3

4 5

6

7

8

9 10

11

12

4131

15

16 17

18

19

20

ACROSS3 What the “DR” stands for in DR ferrography.4 Basestock valued in applications where safety and fire

resistance are critical considerations.6 The site of the RELIABLE PLANT 2011 conference and

exhibition.8 Molybdenum disulfide is often referred to as this.

10 The certification program (abbreviated) created by the

Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals.12 Any substance having basic (as opposed to acidic)

properties. In a restricted sense, it is applied to the

hydroxides of ammonium, lithium, potassium and sodium.13 A casing for gear sets that transmit power from one

rotating shaft to another.15 The primary product of Alcoa’s operations in Point

Comfort (see cover story).16 The focus of Brendan Casey’s hydraulics column

in this issue.18 A deposit resulting from the oxidation and polymerization

of fuels and lubricants when exposed to high

temperatures. It’s similar to, but harder than, varnish.

19 The type of lubricants showcased in this issue’s Product

Spotlight.20 Machinery Lubrication magazine recently won an award

for editorial excellence from this business press society

(see bottom of Page 5).

DOWN1 A form of extremely localized corrosive attack

characterized by holes in metal.2 The “I” in ICML.4 PAG, spelled out.5 Distress marks on sliding metallic surfaces in the form of

long, distinct scratches in the direction of motion.7 Compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen.9 Last name of this issue’s “Get to Know” subject.

11 Where the RELIABLE PLANT 2010 conference and

exhibition was held.14 Stephen Sumerlin’s column in this issue focused on this

product.17 The Alcoa plant featured in this issue’s cover story is

located in this state.

Get the solution on Page 47.

Get a Printable Version of This Puzzle Online at:

MachineryLubrication.com/puzzle

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 39

40 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

E very day, thousands of industrial professionals from aroundthe world visit our Web sites. See what makes these sites so

popular and so informative. Visit us today and every day atwww.machinerylubrication.com and www.reliableplant.com.

Articles & White PapersThe Continuing Evolution ofFood-grade Lubricants

This outstanding white paperdescribes: 1) how U.S. Departmentof Agriculture food-grade lubricantrequirements have changed; 2)

monitoring program advancements; and 3) new and future tech-nology developments in this area. Find this in the White Paperssection on the ML site.

Lubricant Selection and Management Standards at General Motors

Comprehensive industry standards for many industrial lubricantsand fluids are notably lacking. Such standards would be of greatbenefit to end-users to reduce the time and expense associated withevaluating potential products. Product management is becoming moreimportant for worker health and process productivity, and standardsor guidance in this area is important. Find this article in the WebExclusives section on the ML site or type in “LS2” in the ML Search bar.

A Checklist for Selecting Oil Filter HousingsFilter housings are available in various sizes and shapes.

Housings can be stand-alone or designed to fit into oil reservoirs.They may accommodate one or more elements. This article listsitems to consider when selecting a filter housing. Find this article inthe Web Exclusives section on the ML site or type in “Flange” in theML Search bar.

AlsoEducation on the Road

Get all the details on Noria’s industry conferences, seminars andother educational events, including our industry-leading MachineryLubrication and Oil Analysis courses. Just click on the “Events” linkfound at the top of the ML and RP home pages.

Term GlossariesNearly 100 lubrication and oil analysis terms are defined in the

Glossary on the ML Web site. Maintenance, reliability and leanterms are defined on the RP Web site. Just click on the “Glossary”link on the top of each home page.

Watch VideosMore than 160 free videos, vodcasts

and slideshows on lubrication and oilanalysis topics are available for viewingon the ML Web site. Simply click on the“Videos” box on the ML home page.

More than 1,500 videos on maintenance, reliability, lean andmanufacturing topics can be found on the RP site.

Industry NewsStay informed by reading news stories posted most every day.

Check out the “Industry News” box on the home page of each site.

E-mail NewsletterSign up for Lube-Tips and Filtration Tips, Noria’s free lubrication-

related e-mail newsletters, which contain helpful articles, tips, triviaand more. Just click on the “Newsletters” link at the top of the MLhome page. Additional newsletters are available via the “Newsletters”link on the RP home page.

Subscription ServicesEnsure that you will continue to receive award-winning Machinery

Lubrication magazine by filling out the free subscription form. Simplyclick on the “Subscribe” link at the top of the ML home page.

Get Even More Information at machinerylubrication.com and reliableplant.com

WEB PREVIEW

We’re Your Source for Free White Paper ReportsMachineryLubrication.com is the place to turn for free white paper reports on

a host of maintenance and reliability topics. Here’s just a sampling of some ofthe white papers currently available for download.

• “Cost-Effectiveness of Automatic Lubricators”• “Grease Analysis in the Field Improves Plant Lubrication”• “Automatic Grease Lubricators: What You Need to Know”• “Lubricants Can Help Lower Energy Consumption”• “Elements of a Good Preventive Maintenance Program”• “Controlling Gearbox Lubricant Contamination”• “Using Infrared & Ultrasound to Predict Upcoming Failure”• “Hidden Benefits of Lubricant Consolidation”• “Motor Repair or Replacement? The Green Solution”Check out the full list of white papers. Visit www.machinerylubrication.com

and click on the “White Paper” link on the home page.

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 41

42 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

BOOKSTORE

Oil AnalysisBasics – SecondEditionPublisher: Noria Corporation

The new Second Edition

includes more detailed informa-

tion on oil sampling, filtration

and contaminant removal, base

oils and additives, water-in-oil

contamination and removal, ASTM standards, glycol testing,

flash point tests, plus 14 additional oil analysis tests.

How to Grease a Motor Bearing Training DVDFormat: DVDPublisher: Noria Corporation

How to Grease a Motor Bearing provides plantpersonnel an overview of the best practices for lubricatingelectric motor bearings. Anyone responsible for the main-tenance, operation and reliability of electric motors willbenefit. Use it to train operators, lubrication technicians,mechanics, electricians and maintenance personnel foryears to come.

The product has three main benefits:• Lubrication technicians will have a clear understandingof why proper motor bearing lubrication is critical.

• You’ll reduce motor failures, downtime, rebuilds andreplacement costs.

• You’ll replace old-timelubrication procedureswith vendor-neutral, best-practice procedures thatwork.

Practical Lubrication for Industrial FacilitiesAuthor: Heinz Bloch

Helps reliability professionals, mechanics, machinists orlubrication specialists understand what matters most in a lubri-cant, and to distinguish mere sales talk from relevant facts. It isintended to assist theprofessional in ensuringthat machinery operatesat optimum performancelevels with a minimum ofcostly downtime.

Oil SamplingProcedure PostersPublisher: Noria Corporation

This set of 3 posters visually displaysstep-by-step oil sampling procedures forin-service lubricants and hydraulics.Posters include required sampling equip-ment lists and procedures for high-, low-and atmospheric-pressure systems.

For descriptions, complete table of contents and excerpts from these and other lubrication-related books, and to order online, visit:

store.noria.com or call 1-800-597-5460, ext. 104

Welcome to Machinery Lubrication’s Bookstore, designed to spotlight lubrication-related books. For a complete listing of books of interest to lubrication professionals, check out the Bookstore at www.noria.com.

The Practical Handbook ofMachinery LubricationAuthor: L. Leugner

If you want to establish yourself as the lubrication expert inyour company, this book is a must-read. Once you pick it up, youwon’t put it down until you’ve finished it. It’s that easy to read.

Introduction to LubricationFundamentals Training DVDFormat: DVDPublisher: Noria Corporation

The Introduction to Lubrication Fundamentalstraining DVD teaches lubrication basics through high-quality animation and video. DVD training makes learningfun and convenient while helping employers provide stan-

dardized training for every employee, every time.

http://www.noria.com/training/

44 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

CERTIFICATION NEWS

A world-class lubrication and lubricant analysis programrequires individuals with world-class skills. While it is true to

say that those directly responsible for lubrication must be properlytrained, other individuals in the organization also require knowl-edge, or at least awareness of the program’s goals, primary benefitsand fundamental tenets. In order for the organization as a whole tosucceed in lubrication excellence, it is vital that a lubrication andlubricant analysis skill development program is put in place andtailored to meet the needs of all the individuals who affect, or areaffected by, poor lubrication.

Lubrication Training Almost everyone in a plant needs some lubrication awareness

training. The lubrication topics selected and the degree to whichthey should be covered depends upon the individual’s job. Forexample, it doesn’t make sense to put the plant manager through adetailed training program on the use of a grease gun. That is simplynot a skill the plant manager is going to put to good use. While thisis a good example that is generally applicable, each plant orcompany needs to develop its own specif ic lubrication trainingobjectives based on its different staff categories.

The skill inventory and training program will vary from organi-zation to organization. As an illustration, consider a plant with thefollowing lubrication-related job descriptions:

Reliability and predictive maintenance analyst: This skilled indi-vidual is responsible for assuring reliability of the plant and is theprimary technical resource to the plant on maintenance and relia-bility issues. His or her role is to run onsite oil analysis tests,assimilate and evaluate data from both onsite and off-site oilsample analysis, and to interface with the other reliability teammembers from the vibration and thermography groups. To providethis support, the analyst requires a thorough understanding of allthe lubrication and oil analysis functional skill areas.

To achieve the desired level of knowledge for this position, thisindividual typically needs several weeks of training on the basics oflubrication and lubricant analysis. He or she also may requireextensive training on various procedures for which he or she will beresponsible (sampling, for example). In addition, extensive special-ized training is required on the correct use, maintenance andcalibration of onsite test equipment. This individual also requiresfrequent training to keep knowledge and skills up-to-date andshould be actively involved with appropriate conferences and meet-ings to hone skills, make contacts and benchmark best practices.

Lubrication technicians: These individuals are primarily respon-sible for lubricating the machines. They manage the store room,grease bearings, top-up machines, perform oil changes, make orsupport decisions to upgrade or change a lubricant specification,

To Become World Class, Your Facility Needs a Lubrication Skill Development Program

Figure 1. Skill-based Matrix for Various Plant Job Functions

Reliability Laboratory Mechanics Generaland PdM Lubrication Oil and Operators Managers and

Professionals Technicians Analysts Craftsmen SupervisorsLube Storage and Inspection ■ ▲ ■ ■ ■ ●

Lubrication Fundamentals ▲ ▲ ■ ▲ ■ ■

Contamination Control ▲ ▲ ■ ▲ ■ ■

Sampling Techniques ▲ ▲ ▲ ■ ■ ●

Lubrication Health Monitoring and Analysis ▲ ■ ▲ ■ ■ ■

Contamination Monitoring ▲ ■ ▲ ■ ■ ■

Wear Debris Detection and Analysis ▲ ■ ▲ ■ ■ ■

Instrument Use, Care and Calibration ■ ● ▲ ● ● ●

Laboratory QC and Management ■ ● ▲ ● ● ●

Lube Team Management ■ ▲ ● ● ● ▲

Performance Trending and Financial Benefits ▲ ■ ■ ● ▲ ▲

Legend: ▲ Required ■ Optional ● Not Required

and re-engineer or upgrade lubricant applicationhardware. They work with lubricant suppliers andlubrication consultants daily to keep things goingsmoothly. They also manage contaminationcontrol efforts by maintaining breathers andfilters, using filter carts and other periodic decon-tamination technologies, etc. Lube techs workclosely with mechanics to troubleshoot machineproblems that might be lubrication related. Lubetechs require a thorough understanding of lubestorage and handling, lubrication fundamentalsand contamination control.

Lube technicians require several weeks of trainingto develop a sturdy knowledge base. Additional timeis required to train the individual on various proce-dures with which he or she will be working. It is notsufficient to rely solely on hands-on training fromexperienced technicians because a small proceduralmistake, often made as a perceived time-saving exer-cise, can perpetuate and grow into a major flaw inlubrication best practice.

Just like the reliability technician, these individ-uals also will require frequent booster shots tokeep their skills f ine-tuned and current.

Mechanics: Mechanics are most intimatelyfamiliar with the internal workings and condition ofthe plant’s machinery. They need sufficient technicalknowledge about lubrication fundamentals to spotand accurately diagnose lubrication-induced abnor-malities and opportunities to reduce wear throughchanges in the lubricant type, delivery mechanism ormaintenance. If they fail to provide feedback aboutthe effectiveness of the lubrication process, the sameproblems will recur. They also need to understandthe importance of maintaining or restoring cleanli-ness during repair, and be proficient in proceduresfor doing so. Because the mechanics are sometimesasked to perform oil changes, they must be trainedon those procedures.

Operators: Operators see more of the equip-ment than anyone in the plant and are typicallyrequired to walk-down the equipment every shift.This is a great opportunity to collect simple,inspection-based lubrication information. Beyondthe level gauges, the operators should regularlyinspect for filter and desiccant condition, evidenceof water contamination, foaming and air entrain-ment, leaks, darkening of the oil, sludge, smoke orfumes exuded from vents, and a host of other easy-to-observe conditions.

Operators should be set up with a clipboard, orpreferably a personal digital assistant (PDA), thatallows them to input inspection information usingquestions to which they can simply answer yes, no ornot applicable. This information must be fed back tothe lube technician and reliability analyst so thatappropriate corrective actions can be taken.

Operators also must be trained to perform thesefunctions, with an occasional refresher course tobring their skills and knowledge back up to speed.

Managers and supervisors: While they needonly awareness training, management training istypically the most important training in theprogram, but the most commonly overlooked.Managers make resources available, provide visi-bility for the program and must defend it when itcomes under fire.

Managers require very little skill-orientedtraining (sampling procedures, for example), butthey need some technical knowledge about thevarious aspects of the program (such as why arepresentative sample is important to oil analysiseffectiveness), and they should have a generalknowledge about how good lubrication manage-ment creates value (like high particle count in thefluid increases wear and clean oil reduces costs).The emphasis for management is on the financialbenefits that the program provides and on aspectsof managing the lubrication team.

Managers and supervisors need up to one day ofintensive awareness training, along with periodicinformation updates to keep them fresh and currentwith regard to new information. Conferences serveas a good knowledge maintenance mechanism formanagers. At these events, they can discuss lubrica-tion program management issues with their peers,attend benchmarking sessions, and become exposedto new products, technologies, services, proceduresand best practices.

Based on these job functions and requiredknowledge and skill base, this plant should imple-ment a planned training program based on theskills-based matrix shown in Figure 1.

Knowledge and Skill Certification

Having selected the appropriate trainingmodules, the question that must be addressed is“How does management know that an individual canperform a particular job?” The answer to this is certi-f ication. Certif ication assures that an individualpossesses the knowledge and skills to perform therequired tasks. Knowledge certif ication is funda-mental to success and is best performed by athird-party entity. A third-party entity is truly objec-tive in that it has no stake in the success of theorganization or the individual. Another advantage ofthird-party certif ication is its transferability. Anorganization can hire a person precertified, and indi-viduals can take their certification with them. If noprecertif ied individual is available for a position,certification within a certain time frame can be madea condition of employment.

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 45

CERTIFICATION NEWS

46 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

Third-party certif ication relieves managers from the requirementof possessing expert knowledge on the topic in order to evaluate anindividual’s capabilities. In today’s plants, managers are spreadvery thin. They can’t be experts on everything. As long as themanagers know who the experts are, and where they can be found,they don’t have to be experts themselves. Third-party certif iers offerthis ad hoc expertise to managers.

In the lubrication industry, the International Council for MachineryLubrication (ICML), a non-profit organization, serves in this capacityby offering multi-level skill certifications for the Machinery Lubrication

Technician (MLT), Machinery Lubricant Analyst (MLA) and theLaboratory Lubricant Analyst (LLA). Figure 2 summarizes the skill eval-uation objectives for each of ICML’s certif ications. (Figure 2 alsooutlines the required certification for each job function.)

Make the Transformation You can’t be world-class at anything if your team isn’t skilled and

motivated. Developing machinery lubrication and lubricantanalysis skills with occupation-oriented training to build knowl-edge, skills and attitudes can go a long way toward ensuring that

Figure 2. Testing Criteria for ICML Exams and Suggested Certification for Job Functions

* These suggestions are for general managers and supervisors. Individuals in charge of lubrication or lubricant analysis activities should attain Level II or III certification in the area for which they are responsible.

Legend: ▲ Required Certification ▼ Optional, not required except for personal development■ Optional, but recommened for collateral knowledge ● Required for program managers and senior technicians, recommended for other technicians within the occupation group

Reliability Laboratory Mechanics Generaland PdM Lubrication Oil and Operators Managers and

Professionals Technicians Analysts Craftsmen Supervisors*Level I Machine Lubricant Analyst (MLA) ▲ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Level II Machine Lubricant Analyst (MLA) ▲ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Level III Machinery Lubricant Analyst (MLA) ● ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

Level I Machinery Lubrication Technician (MLT) ■ ▲ ■ ■ ■ ■

Level II Machinery Lubrication Technician (MLT) ▼ ● ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

Level I Laboratory Lubricant Analyst (LLA) ■ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▼ ■

MLA Level 1 Level II Level IIITargets in-plant technicians responsible for the dailyactivities associated with lubrication tasks and basiclubricant analysis for machine condition monitoring,including, oil changes, top-ups, greasing bearings, lubri-cant receiving and proper storage and care of lubricants,dispensing devices and basic oil sampling, contaminationcontrol, and problem detection.

Targets in-plant technicians responsible forthe daily activities associated with lubri-cant analysis for machine conditionmonitoring, including sampling, samplemanagement, performance and simpleonsite tests, managing test results, andperforming simple diagnostics.

Targets in-plant technicians and engineersresponsible for managing the lubricantanalysis function. Tasks include teammanagement, test slate selection, settingalarms and limits, sampling system design,instruments and software selection, andadvanced diagnostics.

MLT Level 1 Level IITargets in-plant technicians responsible for daily lubrication tasks,including oil changes, top-ups, greasing bearings, lubricant receiving andproper storage and care of lubricants, and dispensing devices.

Targets in-plant technicians or engineers responsible for managing the lubeteam, selecting lubricants, troubleshooting abnormal lubricant perform-ance and supporting machine design activities.

LLA Level 1 Level IITargets laboratory technicians responsible for the daily activities associ-ated with producing lubricant analysis data for machine conditionmonitoring. Tasks include performing test, reagent management, instru-ment calibration and SPC-based quality control.

Targets laboratory technicians, chemists and engineers responsible formanaging lubricant analysis activities in the laboratory. Tasks mightinclude management of lab staff, instrument and LIMS system selection,management of calibration, maintenance of laboratory certification, anddiagnostic support to clients.

Laboratory Lubricant Analyst

Machine Lubrication Technician

Machinery Lubricant Analyst

ICML Testing CriteriaCandidates are tested through a written, closed-book, multiple-choice format exam consisting of 100 questions, covering the requirements for eachcertification type as outlined below. Candidates have three hours to complete the exam and are required to attain a 70 percent passing rate in orderto achieve certification.

lubrication best practices are implemented and effective. By certi-fying individuals, the level of knowledge and skills attained is notonly assured, but also a sense of pride and commitment begins topermeate throughout the organization. So get skilled, get certif iedand watch the dramatic transformation!

About ICMLThe International Council for Machinery Lubrication (ICML) is a vendor-

neutral, not-for-prof it organization founded to facilitate growth anddevelopment of machine lubrication as a technical field of endeavor. Amongits various activities, ICML offers skill certification testing for individuals inthe fields of machine condition monitoring, lubrication and oil analysis.ICML is an independently chartered organization consisting of both paidprofessional staff members and volunteer advisors. It provides lubricationand oil analysis standard development support, scholarship, skill-basedtesting and certification, and recognition of excellence. For more informa-tion about ICML, visit www.lubecouncil.org.

Machinery Lubrication www.machinerylubrication.com September - October 2010 47

LABORATORY LUBRICANTANALYST – LEVEL I

Duck Young Cho Solge Corp.

MACHINE LUBRICANTANALYST – LEVEL I

B en Arnold Rio Tinto

Vern Bittner Holcim (US) Inc.

Mathew Blanchard Next Era Energy Resources

Simon Brown Georgia-Pacific

Levi Chaffin Alcoa

Mun-tae Choi Korea Gas Technology

Meghan Couves Rio Tinto

Roger Cox MillerCoors Brewing

James De Wever Rio Tinto

Terry Farrell BP Lubricants USA

Jason Frankiewicz Holcim (US) Inc.

Philip Freitas Noria Brasil

Alexander Genvarev Cargill

Gong-seop Han Korea Gas Technology

Mark Hay Alcoa

David Hayes Lubrication Engineers

Michael Holden Georgia-Pacific

Chris Homan Holcim (US) Inc.

Andrew Inman Toyota

Yun-su Kim Korea Gas Technology

Gyeong-muk Kim Korea Gas Technology

Young-kwi Kim Korea Gas Technology

Yong-man Kim Korea Gas Technology

Young-ho Kim Korea Gas Technology

Digby Kuiper Rio Tinto

Dae-jun Lee Korea Gas Technology

Jong-geun Lee Korea Gas Technology

Don McNeill Holcim (US) Inc.

Luis Alejandro Meza Noria Brasil

Yuji Minowa Chubu Electric Power

Hong-suk Moon Korea Gas Technology

Richard Nesbitt DuPont

Fritz Neumann Rio Tinto

Nils Nilsen RRI Energy

Byung-il Oh Korea Gas Technology

Jeon-ho Oh Korea Gas Technology

Matthew Patton Cashman Equipment

Darryell Perry Holcim (US) Inc.

Rick Powers Dow Corning

William Ridenour DuPont

Daniel Robinson Sunoco

Robert Scott LubeWorks Ltd.

Hideto Shigeta Wako Chemical Ltd.

Donald Slovak Holcim (US) Inc.

Daniel Smallwood Rio Tinto

Trevor Smith Syngenta

Jerry Soto Holcim (US) Inc.

Michael Stastny Invista

Stewart Stephen Syngenta

David Towle Holcim (US) Inc.

David Treacy Lagan Cement

Masatoshi Yabe Tohoku Enterprise Co.

MACHINE LUBRICANTANALYST – LEVEL II

Gary Arnesto Magsaysay ShipManagement Inc.

Steve Barclay BHP Billiton

Willy Bermudez Holcim Philippines

Craig Bethell Lubrication Engineers

William Bittner Georgia-Pacific

Larry Boyle Lubrication Engineers

Alejandro Chacin Lubricantes del OrienteS.A.

Aulynn Ria Cristobal Total Philippines Corp.

Chanse Dahl Barrick Goldstrike Mine

Geoffrey Dalisay Holcim Philippines

Joseph Dominick RRI Energy

Satoshi Edamoto The Kansai Electric PowerCompany

Yu Fang Choose Technology Ltd.

George Flowers Georgia-Pacific

Jianqiang Gong SGS-CSTC StandardsTechnical Services

Erica Graves Haas TCM

Jose Gutierrez Holcim (US) Inc.

Xianya Han Bridgestone Tire

John Hayter Industrial Oils Unlimited

Gabriel Hernandez Bavaria SAB Miller

Lyle Hoffman Holly Corp.

Jin Moon Hong Sukwon Industrial

Young-soo Hong Korea Plant Service &Engineering Company

Satoru Ishizuka IHI Inspection &Instrumentation Co.

Yeong Gi Jang Korea East-West PowerPlant

Bangseok Jeong Korea Plant Service &Engineering Co.

Takaharu Kawasaki The Kansai Electric Power

Naoki Kikuta The Kansai Electric Power

Jong Hui Kim Solge Corp.

Hakjun Kim Posco

Chang Young Lee Korea East-West Power Plant

Jaeyeol Lee Korea East-West Power Plant

Myungha Lee Korea East-West Power Plant

Peng Lu Ningbo WanhuaPolyurethanes Co.

Michael Malpezzi RRI Energy

Li Mao Ling Tianjin Iron Steel Group Company

Edwin Marino TeaM Energy Corp.

David Medina Barrick Australia Pacific

Ronald Meischner Caterpillar

Wagner Miranda Silubrin

Min-Hwan Mo Korea Plant Service &Engineering Co.

Raul Molina Holcim (US) Inc.

Recent Recipients of ICML Certifications

P I D I R E C T R E A D I N G N

T T P H O S P H A T E E S T E R S E O I C R

C O L U M B U S N O N Y H G R A A Y I T

M O L Y D N I K S C M R P G O Y H O N N L E C A L K A L I E K G E A R B O X S L N H R R H E T B E V G M O A L U M I N A

F I L T R A T I O N T L T Y N S H L A C Q U E R C E E X

F O O D G R A D E R A L A S B P E S

From Page 38

CERTIFICATION NEWS

48 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

Nobuo Nakano The Kansai Electric Power

Mario Natividad Holcim Philippines

Gaoyang Qi SGS-CSTC StandardsTechnical Services

Eleazar Samaniego Kepco Philippines

Ji-Hyun Seog Korea Plant Service &Engineering Co.

David Stetler Barrick Goldstrike Mine

Michael Street Shell Australia

Daisuke Takeuchi Tokyo Electric Power Co.

David Treacy Lagan Cement

Jason Trood Newcrest Mining Limited

Takeshi Watanabe The Kansai Electric Power

Xing Wen NCH Chemical Co.

MACHINE LUBRICATIONTECHNICIAN – LEVEL I

Duane Allport Hormel Foods

Nicholas Amsalem ADM BioProducts

Gavin Anderson CSR Bradford Insulation

David Apel Hormel Foods

Roger Arendorff Hormel Foods

Ben Arnold Rio Tinto

Fabio Avantaggiato Banca d’Italia

Ermeal Baker Georgia-Pacific

Mark Basnight Invista

Craig Bethell Lubrication Engineers

John Biehn Cargill

Vern Bittner Holcim (US) Inc.

Jose Blanco Petrobras

Matteo Bongiovanni Jesi Energia S.p.A.

Giannino Bortolini

Albert Brock III Georgia-Pacific

Lincoln Brown Cargill

Larico Burchett Unicco

Daniel Burford DuPont

Matthew Burns Norske Skog Tasman

David Burrows Rio Tinto

Michael Butler Unicco

Scott Byers McCain Foods

Jose de Jesus Camacho Portola Packaging Inc.

Kevin Cameron Georgia-Pacific

Gerry Carpenter ConAgra Foods

Daniel Cartmill Jr. Oneok

Levi Chaffin Alcoa

Dwayne Chute Mosaic Company

Juan Pablo Collazo Essroc Italcementi Group

Tyler Cook Hormel Foods

John Cory Georgia-Pacific

Meghan Couves Rio Tinto

Jesus Cruz Organizacion Terpel S.A.

Thomas Dalton Australian Paper

Charles Davis Georgia-Pacific

Ian Davison Norske Skog Tasman

Sinforiano Daz Jr. Holcim Philippines

Ricardo De La Paz Invista

James De Wever Rio Tinto

Dan DeBeltz Cliffs Natural Resources

Dale DeHoedt Cargill

Steve Dellar Rio Tinto

Gary D’Henin Cargill

David Dickinson Essroc Italcementi Group

Daniel Dillman Essroc Italcementi Group

Joseph Dominick RRI Energy

Bruce Durham Georgia-Pacific

Dave Ederer ConAgra Foods

John Edgar Armstrong WorldIndustries

Edwin Espinosa Organizacion Terpel S.A.

Jack Evans Jr. Georgia-Pacific

Karl Fazackerley Rio Tinto

John Feeley Rio Tinto

Sadie Ferreira Verso Paper

Pat Fox Rio Tinto

Jim Frisz Cargill

Dmitriy Furman Caraustar

Dave Garbin Rio Tinto

Andrea Gardon Aeronautica Militare

James Geddes Georgia-Pacific

Randy Gilbert Invista

Robert Gillenwater Portola Packaging

Mark Glisson Georgia-Pacific

Bryon Goff Cargill

Scott Goins Georgia-Pacific

Luis Jahir Gonzalez Petrobras

Timothy Goutermont Cliffs Natural Resources

Carlo Gusberti Vipetrol S.p.A.

Jose Luis Gutierrez Holcim (US) Inc.

Marvin Halderman Westar Energy

Estill Hamilton ConAgra Foods

Scottie Hamilton ConAgra Foods

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Kim Se Hoon Korea East-West PowerPlant

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Georgina Leyte Holcim (US) Inc.

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Giuliano Metz Banca d’Italia

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MACHINE LUBRICATIONTECHNICIAN – LEVEL II

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50 September - October 2010 www.machinerylubrication.com Machinery Lubrication

T he rolling element bearings used in electric motors potentiallyhave many modes of failure if an incorrect strategy is imple-

mented. These modes include incorrect lubricant selection,contamination, loss of lubricant and overgreasing. This article willdiscuss several effective strategies to minimize the likelihood thatone of these failure modes will happen.

Most electric motors are designed with grease-lubricated, anti-friction, rolling element bearings. Grease is the lifeblood of thesebearings, providing an oil f ilm that prevents the harsh metal-to-metal contact between the rotating element and races. Bearingtroubles account for 50 to 65 percent of all electric motor failures,and poor lubrication practices account for most of these bearingtroubles. Good maintenance procedures, planning and the use ofthe correct lubricant can signif icantly increase productivity byreducing these bearing troubles and, likewise, the motor failures.

FailuresGet to know the failures. By knowing what the failure modes are,

you can focus on reducing or even eliminating them. Wrong lubricant – It is important to use the correct grease for

the application. Regreasing with the wrong grease can lead topremature bearing failure. Most oil suppliers have grease that isspecifically designed for electric motors.

Grease incompatibility – Greases are made with different thick-eners, such as lithium, calcium or polyurea. Not all greases arecompatible with one another, even those with the same thickenertype; therefore, it is important to use the same grease or compat-ible substitute throughout the life of the bearing.

Motor casing full of grease – If the grease cavity is overfilled andhigh pressure from the grease gun is applied, the excess grease canfind its way between the shaft and the inner bearing cap and pressits way into the inside of the motor. This allows the grease to coverthe end windings of the insulation system and can cause bothwinding insulation and bearing failures.

Lubricant starvation – This has several possible causes. The first isinsufficient grease being added during installation. The second is inap-propriate, elongated relube intervals. The third possibility is that the oilhas been removed from the thickener base by excessive heat.

Overpressurization of the bearing housing – Anytime there is anoverpressurization of the bearing housing, stresses are placed onparts that weren’t designed to handle the pressure. Keep in mindthat the standard manual grease gun can produce pressures up to15,000 pounds per square inch.

Overheating due to excess grease – Too much volume will causethe bearing elements to churn the grease, trying to push it out ofthe way, resulting in parasitic energy losses and high operatingtemperatures, which in turn increase the risk of bearing failure.

Getting StartedThe f irst thing you need is a plan to execute. The following

would be the bare minimum that would need to be discussed andimplemented to get the program started. 1) Make an equipment list that includes all of the assets you want

to include in the program.

2) Verify the type of bearings installed in both the inboard andoutboard ends of motors. This will determine if the bearings areregreasable. You also should determine a policy for the regreasingof shielded bearings, commonly found in motors. (Some expertsrecommend not greasing double-shielded bearings.)

3) Choose a grease type that will be adequate for the program.Remember that once a grease type and manufacturer arechosen, it is best not to deviate from this choice.

4) Make all necessary modifications to the electric motors. Thisincludes adding fittings and making them accessible.

5) Establish a set of procedures for maintaining the motors.

Developing a PM System There are many choices to make when deciding on a preventive

maintenance (PM) system. In some plants, it may be beneficial to onlyuse a spreadsheet, while others have the need for complete, dedicatedsystems. The end goal is the same: You want to be able to track eachmotor as an asset and keep track of the attention that each motorreceives. Some good things to include in the PM system are: date ofinstallation, horsepower, frame size, rpm, bearing type and environ-mental conditions. It will take a while to set a system like this up, butonce completed, it will be one of the greatest tools you possess.

Determining Lube TypeWhen searching for a lube type and manufacturer or supplier,

there are several things to consider. The following is a list of quali-ties associated with a good electric motor grease.1) Good channeling characteristics

2) NLGI Grades 2-3, ISO VG 100-1503) High dropping point, 400 degrees Fahrenheit at a minimum

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4) Low oil bleed characteristics, per D1742 or D6184

5) Excellent resistance to high-temperature oxidation

6) Good low-temperature torque characteristics

7) Good anti-wear performance, but not extreme pressure

Polyurea grease is popular with many bearing and motor manufac-turers. A good percentage of equipment manufacturers also specify sometype of polyurea grease in their electric-powered machinery. A polyurea-based grease is an excellent grease for electric motors, but be warned:This thickener is incompatible with most other thickeners. Some manu-facturers don’t recommend mixing one brand of polyurea with another.Instruct your motor rebuild shop on what grease to use, and make sureyour grease type is specified on new motor purchase orders.

Determining Regrease Time Cycle There are several methods for determining a regrease time cycle.

It is very important to realize that no one method will give you amagical answer to your problems. There are multiple calculators,tables and charts that can give you a very good starting point. I liketo use them all to get a good feel for how I want to set the cycles.The real “fine tuning”, however, must be done by trial and error.The factors that most calculators have in common are: load, oper-ation time, bearing type, temperature, environment and speed. Thisis where the database you built will be beneficial.

Grease Volume Control Grease volume control has been a longstanding problem for

industry, and simply following OEM recommendations may not beenough to solve this problem. There exists an equation that has yetto fail me. It is a simple equation that takes a very logical approachto determining the volume of grease to be added. The formula is:

Where G = the amount of grease in ounces; D = the bearingoutside diameter in inches; and B = the bearing width in inches.

Once the volume is found, you need to convert it into shots, orpumps of the grease gun. There is only one way that I know of toget the value used to convert the number. You will need the greasegun that is going to be used and a postal scale. After f inding theoutput per full stroke of the handle, label the gun so that it is now“calibrated”. The average value I’ve found is approximately 18 shotsper ounce for most manual guns.

The Procedures The intent of a good maintenance program is to extend the

service life of your motor. In most cases, improper lubricationprocedures or the failure to follow them can have a negative impacton your program. A good base set of procedures should includesome variation of the following:1) Ensure the grease gun contains the appropriate lubricant.

2) Clean the areas around the relief and fill f ittings.

3) Remove the grease relief valve or plug.

4) Grease the bearing with the proper, calculated amount ofgrease. Add grease slowly to minimize excessive pressurebuildup in the grease cavity.

5) Watch for grease coming out of the relief port. If you pumpexcessive amounts of grease into the motor and the old, usedgrease is not being purged, stop and check for hardened greaseblocking the relief passage.

6) If regreasing is performed with the motor out of service, operatethe motor until bearing temperature raises to operating temper-ature to allow for thermal expansion of the grease. Ensure thatthe relief valve or drain plug is left out during this process.

7) Allow the motor to run at this temperature for a short time to expelany excess grease before installing the bottom grease relief valves.

8) After excessive grease has been purged, reinstall the drain plugand clean excessive grease from the relief port area.

This article was written as a very broad and general document toinform you of some of the thought processes that go into thecreation of a lube program. It may seem like an easy task to take on,but in reality, it is very difficult. Remember to take your time, do itright the f irst time and you will f ind the rewards are very muchworth the trouble.

About the AuthorJeremy Wright is a certif ied Machinery Lubricant Analyst (MLA) Level I

and Level II and Machinery Lubrication Technician (MLT) Level I by theInternational Council for Machinery Lubrication (ICML). In addition, he isa Certif ied Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP) by the Societyfor Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP). Contact Jeremy atjwright@noria.com.

G = [(.144) x D x B]

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