Automated grease dispensers 1

[Nivrah]

I would like an advice on automatic grease dispensers. It is good maintenance practice to relubricate bearings at regular intervals (months) and whilst some require very small amounts, other bearings may require over 100 grams for eg. Two methods are currently widely used: the manual grease gun and the automated grease dispenser. Sometimes, at a given lub interval, too much grease is being fed in the bearing by a gun at any one time which can lead to seal damage and over-lub. My question therfore goes as follows: as from how much grams of grease should I consider using automated grease dispensers rather than a gun? I have hear that typically, over 50 grams one would consider an automated one. Any advice? opinions?
Assume all other factors like temperature, bearing accessibility, speed, etc have been taken into consideration.

 

[Spud6414]

We use both methods here. Automated greasing devices come in many types and designs and can be used for very small amounts of grease, (1 gram) Up to very large systems. It really dependes on what you want to spend on them.

Spud says; Meticulous effort and willingness to learn are honorable traits.

 

[unclesyd]

Here is a list of the major players in the grease dispensing field. For grease the majority of our automatic dispensers are from Lubesite, while for lube oil we favor the Bjur brand. There is no reason other than they are readily available.

http://www.bijurdelimon.com/us/usa/brands.html

 

[Spud6414]

We use Lubesite as well.

Spud says; Meticulous effort and willingness to learn are honorable traits.

 

[dinjin]

The only trouble with using a gun is that it is very difficult to measure the grease output. Depending on the bearing usage, we have even suggested greasing after each shift. Each application is different and it is often very hard to track the service of the bearing and its revolutions. We also assume that you rotate the bearing slowly when you are adding grease.

 

[Nivrah]

The grease output from a gun can be difficult but if you calibrate it well, you should get grams/stroke under both high pressure and low pressure application.
@ Spud6414: given that you use both methods; now suppose a bearing needs lubrication of 60 grams of grease. Will you be keen on pumping in , say, 20 strokes (assume 1 stroke =3 grams) in one time? Probably not.
Thanks a lot for your posts guys!
Forward I move; together the further we go!

 

[Spud6414]

Nivrah, that would depend completely on the application and bearing type and type of service.

Spud says; Meticulous effort and willingness to learn are honorable traits.

 

[unclesyd]

Here is a little different approach to automatic lubrication. It is supposedly metered accurately over a specific time.

http://web.me.com/dwg7/GreaseMaxUSA/GreaseMax.html