I've always lubricated by feel. I use a gun I'm familiar with and I just go to it. I've run into bearings with specific requirements for so much grease every so often, but for the most part I lube by feel. I was wondering if anyone has tried teeing a pressure gauge into a grease gun as a 'crutch' for operators who don't have the experience to lube by feel? I know that ultrasonic grease guns exist, but they are a whole lot more expensive than a few small pipe fittings and a pressure gauge.

Mike

Lube by schedule/quantity has historically been recommended by most bearing manufacturers and equipment OEMs as you know. It's tough to break tradition. I follow the crowd and do almost what the OEM's say (only not as often, and don't pull the machine apart to hand repack every 3rd regreasing interval like some bearing manfuacturers recommend.)

Lube by ultrasound seems to be gaining a little ground in small pockets.

I've never heard anyone suggest to lube by feel. You mentioned a pressure increase and I picture that only occurs once the cavity is full. Sure, you don't want to keep pumping when the cavity is full. But if cavity is half full, you only want to add enough to get you to the next regrease, not enough to fill the cavity.

So, what is it that you are feeling for?

I can suggest the following, LubeRight, actually counting the amount of grease and tracking that and place if required:
http://www.assalub.com/aktuellt.asp?lang=eng
I don´t sell the stuff but know the guys well, it´s available worldwide. Olov

Electricpete, and others, I forgot to mention that this is my procedure for low-speed bearings, not high-speed.

quote:

Originally posted by electricpete:
Lube by schedule/quantity has historically been recommended by most bearing manufacturers and equipment OEMs as you know. It's tough to break tradition.

It is, indeed, and on important bearings (i.e. large, running in a hot environment, and/or a bugger to swap out) I follow those specifications within the resolution of my grease gun. By this I mean that my grease gun delivers 1/32oz per stroke, so I can't get more accurate than that and stay repeatable.
On run-of-the-mill bearings, though, I tend to fill 'em up.

quote:

I follow the crowd and do almost what the OEM's say (only not as often, and don't pull the machine apart to hand repack every 3rd regreasing interval like some bearing manfuacturers recommend.)

I only re-pack if the bearing is sounding a bit iffy, running hot, or if I have a reason to worry about the type/grade of grease in it.

quote:

Lube by ultrasound seems to be gaining a little ground in small pockets.

I agree, and some swear by it. Doesn't do much for you, though, unless the machine is running, and being inside my machines with them running is decidedly unhealthy. 8-)

quote:

But if cavity is half full, you only want to add enough to get you to the next regrease, not enough to fill the cavity.

If you know how much grease is in there now then you can certainly do that. With an 'unknown' bearing you would have to pull it apart to see what its current condition is before you could know how full the cavity is. The cavity could be (though hopefully isn't) empty, so adding 'just enough' isn't enough. The one level that you can estabish and know you're there is full. On low speed bearings, that's what I do at least the first time I get to it.

You mentioned slow speed bearings and that's a good point.

Small and slow speed bearings will be fairly tolerant of full cavities. Large fast speed will not... they will overheat or degrade the grease.. Starting about 6313 at 3600rpm, grease lubrication starts to get very finicky (one of my pet peeves and my biggest headaches are greased lubricated bearings in this size range and above. Really should be oil lubricated.)

quote:

Originally posted by electricpete:
You mentioned slow speed bearings and that's a good point.

Small and slow speed bearings will be fairly tolerant of full cavities. Large fast speed will not... they will overheat or degrade the grease.. Starting about 6313 at 3600rpm, grease lubrication starts to get very finicky (one of my pet peeves and my biggest headaches are greased lubricated bearings in this size range and above. Really should be oil lubricated.)

The only fast bearings I have around here are relatively small ones on fans and pumps. The only exceptions are the granulators which have fairly sizable bearings, maybe 6322 or so, and they run fast. Other than that hardly anything runs faster than 50rpm or so, and many run a lot slower than that.

A couple of tools that could be of assistance:
A grease meter that attaches to your grease gun and measures grease discharge in volume or weight:
http://www.reliabilitydirectstore.com/ESKF-lectronic-Gr...skf-lagm%201000e.htm

Ultrasound is gaining acceptance as an aid to prevent over lubrication:
http://www.reliabilitydirectstore.com/Ultrasonic-Inspection-p/up-201.htm

Happy to discuss offline.