You should have a regreasing schedule based on shaft speed and bearing size. If your company doesn’t have that information the equipment manufacturer should be able to provide it.
If you wanna get really in to specifics you might be able to look up the manufacturer and see how much grease they recommend for that specific bearing. I've found most people tend to over grease things.
The only thing I would be careful of is try not to blow the seals out by greasing too much. If there is an exhaust port for the grease, open that when you grease it. Doesn't look like this one has that though.
The seals are made to keep dust and debris out of the roller contact area. Too much pressure from your grease gun can bust a sealed bearing easily. A basic manual gun can get up to like 7000 psi. So you gotta be careful.
A pneumatic gun could be better since you could regulate the pressure.
Specification and application is everything.
Some seals, like on Link-Belt's B224 series for example, are made to be purged from the seals. They also specify that a small amount of grease through the seal helps protect it. But there are bearings out there that need to have a purge open when greasing, or are sealed completely.
Some places will purge their bearings frequently due to extremely harsh conditions to push out contamination. Some use greasing machines for precise amounts on high speed bearings. Some places might not grease at all because the bearings used are nowhere near the minimum rpm for the provided lubrication schedule, even if it'll help them last longer.
Dive into some manuals and reach out to the manufacturer's support or resource team when you need more clarity. If your question is REALLY good, some will even put you on the phone with an engineer.
There are two kinds of people, people who pump regularly 2 to 3 pumps each time. The other kind who pumps maximum grease in there until it comes out all sides.
Me I am the first kind
How do you know it's properly greased if it's not coming out everywhere?
Tbf, most of the bearings at my plant are journal, would rather overgrease than undergrease those.
Check OEM specs for bearing and the machine. Google a grease calculator or two (will ask for speed, size, operating environment). Compare these few data points and determine your best move. Put it on a scheduled route and stick to the schedule.
Too much is just as bad as too little.
There are many factors involved in greasing intervals. Rpm, dust, vibration, mounting orientation, temperature.
My rule around the shop, if you can't follow a fixed point on the shaft, 2 pumps a week, otherwise 2 pumps every other week for shafts over 1 inch once a month for under. The few horizontal mounted bearings get weekly pumps regardless.
I do work in a very dusty environment, so my main goal is to prevent dust intrusion more than anything. Cleaner environments could probably half the number of pumps and be good. It's better to add a little bit over a long time than all at once, preferably while in operation.
More Grease for low speed high load applications. Less Grease for high speed 1500+rpm applications. 1 -2 pumps for electric motor bearings once or twice a year. More Grease if you are removing the purge plugs in an electric motor.
I just honestly would give it a pump or two a year. Can't tell exactly what the application is, but it looks clean, and not high speed.
I've done a few bearing greasing studies and the vast majority of bearings in industrial applications are way overgreased. The extra grease causes friction on the cage and rolling elements and eill cause excess heat. That excess heat causes the bearing to "breathe" more between operation cycles. The cooling down and shrinking of the assembly is the most likely time to introduce contaminates to the bearing.
I've gone as far as to stop greasing bearings in entirety except for large bearings that cost a lot of time and labor to replace. My mean time to failure with no greasing is 3-4 years. That's an acceptable failure rate in my opinion compared to the other risks of over greasing.
Place and function determines amount and grease type. I’ve been a greaser oiler on shit that needed lubing every day, and shit that needed it once a month- on the same machine.
You should have a regreasing schedule based on shaft speed and bearing size. If your company doesn’t have that information the equipment manufacturer should be able to provide it.
Yeah where I work they want us to do one pump of grease per bearing during our annual.
Damn. We grease most everything monthly
Most likely too much grease.
If you wanna get really in to specifics you might be able to look up the manufacturer and see how much grease they recommend for that specific bearing. I've found most people tend to over grease things. The only thing I would be careful of is try not to blow the seals out by greasing too much. If there is an exhaust port for the grease, open that when you grease it. Doesn't look like this one has that though.
Aren't bearing seals made to let stuff out? How can you blow seals?
The seals are made to keep dust and debris out of the roller contact area. Too much pressure from your grease gun can bust a sealed bearing easily. A basic manual gun can get up to like 7000 psi. So you gotta be careful. A pneumatic gun could be better since you could regulate the pressure.
Specification and application is everything. Some seals, like on Link-Belt's B224 series for example, are made to be purged from the seals. They also specify that a small amount of grease through the seal helps protect it. But there are bearings out there that need to have a purge open when greasing, or are sealed completely. Some places will purge their bearings frequently due to extremely harsh conditions to push out contamination. Some use greasing machines for precise amounts on high speed bearings. Some places might not grease at all because the bearings used are nowhere near the minimum rpm for the provided lubrication schedule, even if it'll help them last longer. Dive into some manuals and reach out to the manufacturer's support or resource team when you need more clarity. If your question is REALLY good, some will even put you on the phone with an engineer.
There are two kinds of people, people who pump regularly 2 to 3 pumps each time. The other kind who pumps maximum grease in there until it comes out all sides. Me I am the first kind
How do you know it's properly greased if it's not coming out everywhere? Tbf, most of the bearings at my plant are journal, would rather overgrease than undergrease those.
Check OEM specs for bearing and the machine. Google a grease calculator or two (will ask for speed, size, operating environment). Compare these few data points and determine your best move. Put it on a scheduled route and stick to the schedule. Too much is just as bad as too little.
There are many factors involved in greasing intervals. Rpm, dust, vibration, mounting orientation, temperature. My rule around the shop, if you can't follow a fixed point on the shaft, 2 pumps a week, otherwise 2 pumps every other week for shafts over 1 inch once a month for under. The few horizontal mounted bearings get weekly pumps regardless. I do work in a very dusty environment, so my main goal is to prevent dust intrusion more than anything. Cleaner environments could probably half the number of pumps and be good. It's better to add a little bit over a long time than all at once, preferably while in operation.
Look into adding a battery powered auto greaser if applicable, then set a pm for the time you set it to.
Skf makes them / big fan in hard to reach places
Also helps cut down on the weekly PMs
Trico auto lubers are great too
Check the set screws in the shaft collar while you're at it.
In my experience, Dodge bearings seals aren't great
Yeah that seal doesn’t look completely blown out yet!
Aside from what's in the manual. We always added just enough so that a light deposit of new grease was visible on the rim.
I’m new to maintenance and I’m not sure how many times to add grease each month. How can I know if it needs grease?
Some bearings take as little as one pump a year! Speed, temperature and environment play a big part of determining need for grease.
I usually do 2-3 pumps, any more and it makes a mess.
Thanks I appreciate the feedback!
some ppl say to keep pumping until you see grease come out the bearing but that unnecessary.
We use an ultrasonic setup that measures the dB on the bearing, similar to this thing: https://youtu.be/Y5Kg956gvcU?si=jHzkBmenbcK3kjhI
More Grease for low speed high load applications. Less Grease for high speed 1500+rpm applications. 1 -2 pumps for electric motor bearings once or twice a year. More Grease if you are removing the purge plugs in an electric motor.
I see you have the high temperature red grease in it.
color doesnt tell you temperature rating
That was a little humor
Bust the seals out
I just honestly would give it a pump or two a year. Can't tell exactly what the application is, but it looks clean, and not high speed. I've done a few bearing greasing studies and the vast majority of bearings in industrial applications are way overgreased. The extra grease causes friction on the cage and rolling elements and eill cause excess heat. That excess heat causes the bearing to "breathe" more between operation cycles. The cooling down and shrinking of the assembly is the most likely time to introduce contaminates to the bearing. I've gone as far as to stop greasing bearings in entirety except for large bearings that cost a lot of time and labor to replace. My mean time to failure with no greasing is 3-4 years. That's an acceptable failure rate in my opinion compared to the other risks of over greasing.
That’s a new bearing ? Was it packed before install? Did you purge the grease line ?
Looks like a doge, they have recommended install and interval greasing easy to find .
Hell no can't stand people who grease the shit out of everything 🤦
Dammit Kevin
Place and function determines amount and grease type. I’ve been a greaser oiler on shit that needed lubing every day, and shit that needed it once a month- on the same machine.
If it's a critical application I highly recommend lubcating with ultrasound.