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Guest post by Paul Llewellyn – LUBRICATION ENGINEERS

If manually greasing a bearing typically means that the bearing will end up being over-greased because more often than not the person doing the greasing pumps new grease in until new grease comes out the other side of the bearing, and over-greasing is as bad as under-greasing, then why don’t more facilities use fully automatic or single point lubricators which can prevent this problem?  Let’s take a look at some of the positives associated with automatic lubrication and SPLs.

Advantages of a Single Point Lubricator (SPL):

• Reduce work place hazards. Keep employees safe in situations where bearings are cage enclosed and a lock-out/tag-out is required to simply grease a bearing. Instead, remote mount outside of cage. Machine gets greased while in operation. Keep exhaust fans properly lubricated without the risk to personnel (annual greasing instead of monthly). Hard to access bearings can now be properly greased with a remotely mounted SPL that can be easily monitored and changed out (conveyor systems, for example).
• Precise lubricant delivery. Automatic greasing puts the right amount of grease, in the right place, at the right time, using the correct grease. This means no lube mixing and a reduction in the amount of grease purchased.
• Improved machine reliability/availability. 50% of all bearing failures are due to lubrication issues. Properly lubricated bearings last longer and increase uptime and throughput. A reliable asset is a safer asset.
• Man-hour availability. Automatic greasing and SPLs free up personnel so they can do other more productive tasks related to maintenance and reliability-centered maintenance.
• Automatic lubricators and SPLs work 24/7/365. Once installed and set correctly, these systems are never late, never sick, don’t take vacation and deliver consistent results time after time.
• Environmental benefits: Automatic systems and SPLs keep the correct amount of grease in the bearing so high moisture areas, dusty and dirty applications, higher temperature assets and other environmental conditions have less of a negative impact.

If you are trying to improve the reliability program at your facility, consider automatic lubrication and Single Point Lubricators as a simple place to start.  You will see immediate benefits with improved bearing life, parts and labor reductions, less unscheduled downtime and increased production and profits.

Learn more about Lubrication Best Practices from Paul Llewellyn at our Rethink Maintenance Training Roadshows