Gear Oil Characteristics and Machine Health
The equipment in your facility is essential to your business, and it's not cheap either. This is why it is so important to monitor, test, and evaluate your machine health routinely. One of the components you need to focus on is the type of gear oil or lubrication you use with your machines.
Types of Gear Oils
Rust and Oxidation Lubricants
Rust and oxidation gear oils are designed for machines with high speed, low loads, and uniformed loading gears. These lubricants are the best choice for applications with metallics surfaces.
Extreme Pressure Lubricants
Extreme pressure lubricants contain special additives that strengthen and improve load-carrying ability. These lubricants are best used with machines that include heavy loads, low speeds, and shock loading.
Compound Lubricants
Compound lubricants are mixed with synthetic fatty acids to increase their lubricity and fume strength. Compound lubricants are used in machines with high-temperature gears.
Monitoring Machine Health
Viscosity is the most important property to monitor, but you also want to monitor the additive package, any degradation of the lubricant, and the presence of contaminants.
Some of the testing methods that can help you do so are:
- Elemental Spectroscopy
- Acid Number
- Particle Count
- And More
Learn More About Gear Lubricants
If you are interested in learning more about gear oils and machine health, download our free eBook, "Get the Picture," which covers the applications of these methods, alarm limits, operating principles, and more.
