we have a pulp molding machine that rotates through a pulp slurry and the bearings on it are being washed out in a very short time. we are looking for a good grease that will stand up to running in and under water. Any suggestions?

Hi CKF,

I think you need not only grease but also an automatic lubricator, to have your bearing achieve long life. Please visit www.memolub.be for more info or you can send me a photo of your molding machine at memolub.ae@gmail.com

Hi CKF

Calcium Sulfonate Thickeners would suit the application the best, The thickner will handle up to 50% water whilst retaining grease spec, keep in mind the contaminates in the pulp would tend to reduce the water resistance but the grease would be superior to any grease type in high water applications.
The thickner is very shear resistant so does not suit very high speed applications.
An auto greaser would keep a slow purge on the bearings and work well, Calcium Sulfonate thickners are not easy to pump so check out any auto greasers pumping capability.

regards


Rob S



www.rttech.com.au

so this calcium Sulfonate, is this an addative we would add to the grease or a grease with an additive/thickener already good to go? If its an additive can you suggest a good grease to use with it?

Thanks
CKF

quote:

Calcium Sulfonate Thickeners

also this is the grease we are currently using.

Jax Magna-plate 500-2

There are three parts of a grease:
thickener
oil
additives

Thickener is not something you add later.

Hi CKF,

You should consider the Klueber STABURAGS range, but further info is required to make the right choice (bearing type, speed, load).
Try contacting the Klueber company or agent in your area.
They are trained to give professional assistance in selecting the right lubricant for critical applications.

mr.ckf
we are marketing some speciality lubricants for this problem we have one of lubricants please let me know your location &adress

You should check with the best product Omega 95 or their website http://www.magnagroup.com. Hope it's usefull for you.

Rgds,

Ted

Dear CKF,

You can go for good tackyfier grease with high base oil viscosity. Bechem High Lube FA 67 400 will be a suitable grease for you. For further details log on to www.bechem.de.

We have a similar situation. Vertical pump where the lower lateral taper bearings occasionally ingest a little wastewater. This has resulted in rust on bearings, vibration, & rebuilding the pump. In addition to the need for a grease with a good tickifier and water wash out resistance it needs to comply with the O&M requirements of:
"bearings are to be lubricated with a premium quality lithium based NGLI # 2 grease suitable for antifriction bearing use. The grease should have a viscosity range of 150 to 220 cSt (mm2/sec) at 40 C (100 F) and Timken load rating of 16 kg (35 lb.) minimum. The grease should contain rust and oxidation inhibitors and extreme pressure additives."

Any ideas on what to use?

The choice of grease in applications such as these is quite important. But you may be missing something! The application is under water and no matter what grease you use, you will always run the rick of ingesting water through the seals. We have done many of these types of applications with an automated system that will dispense on an ongoing basis, a very small amount of grease to the bearing. This action will allow the grease to not only lubricate, but can be set up to add a small amount extra and that extra grease is used to flush water and other contaminants out of the bearing housing before damage can occur to the bearing. Water is one of the worst contaminants to deal with because of the "micro explosions" that can occur when it gets into the load zone. You are probably seeing the same kind of damage on your bearings that would see in a hydraulic pump when it cavitates. Hit me off line to get more info.

deanm@autolube.ca

Hi CKF

Calcium Sulfonates are manufactured by Exon Mobil,

Their Grease has a passive EP system removing polar type additives found in normal EP greases
Polar additive assist water to mix with greases,
use an auto lube and make sure the auto lube can pump the grease,
have a read up on the specs on the net and you'll note the grease is designed for applications as you have,

Regards


Rob S

Calciuim sulfonates are a good call, aluminum complex as well. Lithium complex greases are getting better every day in this area it seems, but this sounds like the application is so severe that a general purpose grease won't get it done.
I also like the auto-greaser suggestion - washout is going to happen no matter what.

I am a fan of calcium sulfonate grease but there is a grease that is a step above the rest for resting water and that is Fastex water proof grease. The proprietary surface modifier in this grease will bond to metal surfaces and repel water to not only protect from rusting but increase lubricity for longer bearing life.
Call Gary Knox at Motion Industries in Lagrange Georgia and tell him Gary sent you.
You won't be disappointed by the results.

I looked at Fastex's product data, they list a "lithium" thickener, but I'd have to guess that's a lithium complex. Everybody's got their own sort of magic pixie dust that makes their glop better than Brand X. They show a nice low Water Washout number, but no Water Spray-off. When I see one but not the other, my antennae perk up. Both are just bench tests and neither tells a complete story, but seeing good performance in both would give me more of a warm fuzzy. Got any case histories?

Any one considered a li-cal thickened type grease? Considering the application, product performance and cost, this type of grease could also be another option.

Lamont
Look on the Fastex website (fastexfx1.com)under industrial lubricants and then under greases and there are 2 articles on the waterproof grease.
The one on the ferry pin would talk to water resistance to give less wear and better life eventhough it is not a rotating bearing situation. Great Wolf uses this grease very successfully on their water ride bearings as well. The specs don't do this product justice but it really works differently then other greases. By the way, if handling this grease, wear rubber gloves as the residue is hard to remove from your skin.

I like highly adhesive greases in non-rotating wet applications. Al-complex is good at that. I'm more nervous about them in bearings. Folks who love highly adhesive greases tend to talk up the Water Spray-Off and discount the Water Washout. They claim that much of the loss of grease for these products in the WWO is due to grease climbing up the shaft, not directly from the water.

It's a bench test and they sure have their limitations. (That's why I like to see good performance in both.) But that phenomenon makes me wonder what happens in bearing service. I don't really care if the grease was forced out by the water or it got up and walked out on its own, if it's not in the bearing, it's doing me no good.

One of the limitations of the WWO is that it uses one bearing configuration at one speed (the downside of testing standardization). Am I talking out of my butt here? Anyone have real-world knowledge? They don't let me out of the lab much anymore. (And they hardly even let play with the toys anymore either.)

In greases for underwater applications I’d be less concern about the type of thickener used. Thickeners don’t lubricate, oil does (and eventual additives added). To me, the most important thing is the viscosity of base oil that grease is made of. Greases made from oils of 1000+ cSt have natural (inherent) tackiness that is hardly possible to match with added artificial tackifiers, and have zero Water Washout characteristics. Any NLFI grease made for underwater application would have much less thickeners added to achieve targeted consistency if higher viscosity oil is used rather than thinner oils.