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I have eight large Dodge Pillow Block Bearings on Hammermills. The Mills are fifteen years old but still in OEM condition. We have fought these bearings overheating from day one. The problem is, the gap that the excess grease escapes from becomes full of dry, hard grease then the new grease sits in the bearing and churns building up heat very fast. Using Phillips Multiplex FS 220 now. Is there anyone that has ran into this problem? Any ideas welcome!
Thank's KRH
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Hey Kevin,
Can you give a bit more detail? Shaft speed, bearing dimensions, typical temp, etc..?
Shaft size is 4-7/16", Motor RPM is 1800, Daily Operating temp is 160F, After greasing temp goes to 195F in fifteen minutes.
I ran some quick numbers, it looks like the base oil viscosity in the grease is too high. Even at 190 F you are looking at an operating viscosity of around 35.2 cSt when you should really be closer to 14 cSt. The Miltiplex FS 100 is going to be a lot closer to what you should be using in that application. If you can get me the rest of the dimensions for the bearings, I could run the calculations for how much and how often would be best for optimal lubrication.
Let me make that part even easier for you. here's a link to our calculator https://www.machinerylubricati...e-quantity-frequency.
I will get the rest of the numbers tomorrow when I get to work. We were actually considering trying the FS 100!
Thanks for your help !
Absolutely man, happy to help!
The bearing is 2.125 wide and 7.750 diameter with a double set of taper rollers. Housing footprint is Horizontal 18" x 5". Looking at the Lubrication calculator that you sent it looks like 2OZ one time each week. Very helpful tool, thanks very much.
Happy to be of service, thanks for joining the forums!
It looks great, but I think it will be better suited for the approaching winter. Thank you. I will refer to it gradually. @snow rider 3d
I don't know how to do it Head Soccer
We had a similar issue with our pillow block bearings. One solution we found was to switch to a high-temperature grease with better resistance to hardening, such as synthetic-based grease. Regularly cleaning out the old hardened grease from the escape gaps also helped prevent build-up. Have you tried using a different grease or adjusting the lubrication intervals? coreball
