Al, I can appreciate your having the best results with that grease in your applications but in light of that, I wouldn't go as far as saying it is THE BEST.,
You know what Al, I just re read your post and took it the wrong way, as I see now you were not implying it was THE BEST. Sorry. well might as well leave this on here as it does show some interesting points about greases and how quality can effect bottom line expenses.
There is many situations especially where you have high levels of moisture, (steam, condensation units, water systems, and such) that this wouldn't hold up very well as it would start to mix and water would emulsify with the grease, changing colors, milking up and therefore, trapping water with the metal surface causing premature failure. Of course it won't do that if it is greased on a tight schedule but you and I both know, many employees have problems with doing a job as prescribed and will overlook some items. But take this one step further, if even under continued use, this bearing would last a normal life, but what if... and this is able to happen, you can get extended life out of the bearings by paying a little more for a specialized grease that is fully compatible with every type of grease in the plant (except bentone(clay base)), so there you could consolidate greases and not mix up different applications, thus reducing that problem, but also with no washout and having an EP moly type of additive, would reduce heat and friction, and with the complex that won't go anywhere, you find you're not having to pump or use as much, therefore, you're not having to use as much time re greasing as much and also find that instead of using 8 cases of grease every two months, that you're now only using maybe 10 in the whole year... Logic would suggest that if those items could(and can) appear as a result of a quality grease, it would effect your BOTTOM LINE expenses in many ways. Now this is not to mention that by using this type of EP technology, it actually reflects on power costs as it will reduce the power consumption it takes to move those bearings. In a big plant like a power plant, this power difference is a considerable savings.
Example,
We have a power company in Nevada, that saved $140,070 per year on their cooling tower gear boxes.(23 in all). Voltage and amperage tests were performed on the gear boxes and motors with the following results:
code:
Competitors Schaeffers Difference
amperage(avg) 225.6 208.7 -16.9
Voltage(avg) 471.82 468.59 -3.23
Cost est. $2763.74 $2256.24 -$507.50
Savings per year/per gear box $6,090
Saving per year/all gear boxes $140,070
This is done with power meter analyzers that can record every aspect of the power and even recognize and record harmonics which are lowered when using this type of grease. You can even see motor balance problems through the control box if the alignment is too far off as it really affects the harmonics.
So, have you ever done any kind of power/bearing life study using that grease you state is the best?
[ December 18, 2002, 08:42 AM: Message edited by: BOBISTHEOILGUY ]
