Babbitt Bearing Failure

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Requesting oil type for babbitt bearings.

We have a babbitt bearing on a 20,000 gpm morris pump that is has high temperature faults. The temperature reading is ~ 155 F. Babbitt starts to wipe at 160 F. The oil type we are presently using is Citgo 68 AW. This bearing and shaft has recently under gone a series of inspections and measurements. All clearences are with in OEM specs. Is there a prefered oil type out there that may help remove heat from a self lubricated babbitt bearing?

8/31/075:03 AM

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francisbrabantMember

I am certainly not an expert but the type of oil will not make a huge difference on heat transfer.

You first have to prevent heat buildup (lower the friction, right?). If you have established that your oil is the best for the application and still have overheating (for Babbit temp), you have to go towards heat removal (circulate the oil, cool it or cool the bearing with other means...

9/1/075:07 AM

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macabfMember

What makes you think that the babbitt starts to wipe at 160 F

1/23/087:17 PM

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alanwallaceMember

Plasticworld,
If your heat generation is enherent in the design then you could consider changing from the lead based babbitt to a tin bassed babbitt that has a higher thermal Johnson elastic limit. A bearing rebabbiter or a materials engineer should be able to assist you in specking the material. We had a similar issue a few years ago when we increassed production and were plagued with this problem that we were unalbe to find a lube solution for.
Regards......

6/7/087:33 AM

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francisbrabantMember

Check out this Web site

Alchemy Castings

They show the formula and some data on Babbitt material that should help you out.

6/7/0811:07 AM

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