Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1148092
ML keg at all times when not refi lling a grease gun. Kegs should also be stored inside a clean cabinet. When you refi ll a grease gun, ensure the plunger and outside of the gun are clean. If they are not, you will be introducing more contaminants into the keg. Finally, if you buy your grease in tubes, be sure to store them vertically with the removable seal on top and preferably inside the original box in which they were delivered. Having the seal on top helps to prevent oil leakage in the event the base oil separates from the thickener. Grease tubes should be stored inside a clean cabinet as well. Now that you know how to keep grease clean, how can you make certain that it stays cool and dry while in storage? e simplest answer is to store your cabinets inside a climate-controlled room. It is not enough to simply maintain an air temperature of approx- imately 70 degrees. You also want to limit the amount of moisture in the room. Two of the top oxidation accelerators are water and heat. By controlling these two factors, you can signifi cantly extend the life of your lubricants. Just like my moving boxes, all greases are not created equal. It is important to mark the date when your greases were received and when they will expire. e expiration date will vary depending on the thickener. For example, lithium grease is often identifi ed as having a 12-month shelf life, while calcium-complex greases may have a shelf life of just six months — and this is under good storage conditions. Some people may wonder whether they need to label their greases in storage, since the product names are already on the boxes. e answer is yes, you should. e goal of labeling lubricants in your plant is to have everything and everywhere a lubricant is stored, trans- ported or applied be identifi ed with a label that is unique to that specifi c lubricant. e label should at least include the product name or lubricant identifi cation system (LIS) code, as well as a unique color and shape. As technology continues to advance, you may also add a barcode or radio-frequency iden- tifi cation (RFID) tag to prevent accidental cross-contamination. While grease is in storage, the best way to identify it is to label the shelf where the grease or grease gun is to be stored. It also is a good idea to have a picture of what the contents of the cabinet should look like. is will help set the expectation for all personnel who open the cabinet. How to Handle Grease Guns Grease guns should be treated with care. Although some may be inexpensive in compar- ison to other equipment, they are still precision instruments. When calculating how much grease to apply, remember that the amount can be reported in either ounces or grams. e lubrication technician must convert the number of pumps into volume. Just as not all greases are created equal, the same can be said for grease guns. is goes beyond simply the model and manufacturer. erefore, the volume per pump must be determined for each individual grease gun. e best way to calibrate a grease gun is to slowly pump 10 strokes of grease onto a postal scale and then divide the total volume by 10. is will yield the average volume per pump of the grease gun. Each grease gun should also be dedicated to a single grease. is will significantly reduce the amount of cross- contamination. Be sure to place a label on the grease gun with the date it was calibrated and the average volume dispensed per pump. www . machinerylubrication.com | July - August 2019 | 43 Global Training Calendar ICML certification testing is available for most of the courses listed. Visit www.lubecouncil.org for certification information and test dates. For updated dates and locations, visit Noria.com/train August MACHINERY LUBRICATION II Buenos Aires, Argentina • August 6 – 9, 2019 OIL ANALYSIS II Melbourne, Australia • August 12 – 14, 2019 WORKSHOP: RELIABILITY LEADERSHIP ENABLED BY LUBRICATION Leon, Mexico • August 12 – 13, 2019 MACHINERY LUBRICATION LEVEL II São Paulo, Brazil • August 12 – 14, 2019 OIL ANALYSIS II Johannesburg, South Africa • August 12 – 16, 2019 MACHINERY LUBRICATION III Leon, Mexico • August 14 – 16, 2019 MACHINERY LUBRICATION II Zhengzhou, China • August 20 – 23, 2019 OIL ANALYSIS II Mandaluyong City, Philippines • August 20 – 23, 2019 MACHINERY LUBRICATION I Daegu, South Korea • August 26 – 29, 2019 MACHINERY LUBRICATION III Cartagena, Colombia • August 27 – 29, 2019 September MACHINERY LUBRICATION I Perth, Australia • September 2 – 4, 2019 OIL ANALYSIS III Johannesburg, South Africa • September 2 – 6, 2019 OIL ANALYSIS II São Paulo, Brazil • September 2 – 4, 2019