Purchasing gear lubricants: be careful when playing the numbers game
Written by John Sander
1. Set Lubrication Goals
As with most things in life, it is very important to have a goal. This is even important when it comes to selecting a gear lubricant for use in a specific piece of equipment. Most maintenance groups have a broad goal of increasing the reliability of the equipment for which they are responsible. In trying to improve reliability, one thing that is often reviewed is "uptime". The higher the percentage of uptime, the more reliable it is considered. Lubrication has often been traced to reliability. Also, many maintenance individuals would like to reduce the amount of time they have to spend performing lubricant-related maintenance projects. High-performance lubricants are available that can be used to help improve reliability. Lubrication has also been traced to improved energy efficiency, an area that has been given much attention in recent years. Improved heat removal and friction reduction in a gear application can result in decreased energy consumption.
So the question remains, what is the goal for selecting a gear lubricant for a specific application? Is the one currently in use not performing as needed? Is there a desire to change from one supplier to another? Is it a new piece of equipment that needs to be filled for the first time? Are there availability issues with the lubricant currently in use? Does the company have an edict to reduce energy consumption? Is there a desire to increase the maintenance intervals? Goals must be personalized and they must be specific. Without a specific goal, there is little reason to push ahead to steps 2-10.
