Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1412702
22 | September - October 2021 | www . machinerylubrication.com Myths About Lubricating Grease By Chuck Coe, CLGS, CLS Grease Technology Solutions LLC Because grease is so poorly under- stood, there are many my ths surrounding grease quality. Some examples include: "black grease is better," "sticky grease is better," "red grease is the best," "greases with different thickener types are always incompatible," "good greases don't bleed oil," and "multi-pur- pose greases are all the same." Let's take a closer look at that last myth. e truth is that multi-purpose greases can be made with different thickeners, different base oil viscosities and different additive combina- tions. Due to the possible combinations, this pretty much ensures that there is a range of performance in multi-purpose greases. ere has not been an industry specification for "multi-purpose" grease to standardize perfor- mance. Until now. Machinery Lubrication: Who is NLGI, and why did NLGI develop this new certification? NLGI: NLGI (formerly the National Lubri- cating Grease Institute) was incorporated in 1933 and is a not-for-profit trade association, primarily composed of companies who manu- facture and market all types of lubricating grease, companies who serve them with equip- ment, supplies, and services, as well as research and educational groups and companies whose interests are primarily technical. Another cate- gory for membership is "Consumer," which is for organizations that are users of lubricating grease. e Institute works continuously to strengthen its association by rendering service to the end-user of grease, as well as those on the manufacturing and supply side. e objectives of NLGI are to disseminate information that can lead to the development of better lubricating greases for the consumer and to provide better grease lubrication engi- neering service to the industry. NLGI endeavors to promote these objec- tives in several ways, including funding lubricating grease research, promoting improved laboratory and field tests and lubricating grease manufacturing improve- ments. Technical discussion forums between consumers, producers and educators are provided, and dissemination of technical data relevant to improved manufacturing techniques, new products, new uses, and new application and testing methods is fostered. Part of NLGI's mission is to provide resources that are relevant to the global grease end-user (consumer) community. The well-known GC-LB Performance Classification has provided an internation-