Have you ever tried to determine the correct re-greasing intervals for bearings?
According to Noria, over 60% of bearing failures happen because of incorrect lubrication, hence why this is an incredibly important issue for food manufacturers.
The subject is so complex that bearing manufacturers, reliability professionals and grease manufacturers do not agree on one single solution. This is very frustrating for engineers and it's all too easy to lay your hands on conflicting published data that just heightens the confusion.
Engineers frequently raise this issue during our regular visits to food production sites and it's clearly a cause of significant stress - especially when production lines are down and money is being lost!
Luckily, there is a really simple, scientifically-proven method that is fast and effective to implement.
At Activate Lubricants, we have used the MHC Bearing Checker for many years and can demonstrate its effectiveness in a few minutes (in person when circumstances allow of course!). This low-cost, simple tool uses ultrasonics to 'see' into targets including bearings, gearboxes, motors and pumps. It's a simple, one-handed method of instantly analysing bearing condition and lubrication state and provides data for fast, accurate re-lubrication intervals.
Interestingly, we often find that the breakdown issue is due to bearings being over-greased rather than under-greased. The bottom line is that lubrication accuracy equals cost savings - so that’s a double win when the outcome resolves bearing issues while decreasing your grease spend!
To find out more about preventing bearing failures, please get in contact. Our technical team are a friendly bunch and are more than happy to advise on this complex subject.