Gear Lub or Gear Oil

[kthree]

For many years, the wording on the side of the drum containing the lubricating oil we put in our helical geared speed reducers said Gear Oil. Our oil supplier always advised us to use Gear Oil for our application and not Gear Lube. We recently changed oil suppliers, which brought a brand change with it. The product supplied by the new brand is labeled Gear Lube. When I placed the 2 product description sheets side by side, the wording was essentially identical. Since the description sheets are the same, I guess it really makes no difference what words are on the side of the drum, but it would still be nice to crack the mystery. Any suggestions, ideas, comments any wish to offer about the difference between Gear Oil and Gear Lube, or if there is any, will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, K.

 

[Doug Hunter]

I would expect no difference between "gear oil" and "gear lube". Just make sure the NUMBERS in the product description (viscosity, density, etc.), and the chemical composition, are comparable.

 

[3DDave]

I had similar questions and called a company for technical advice and was soon transferred to a chemical engineer. They keep tabs on their own product and also on those of competitors.

 

[dgeesaman]

I've never noticed any relationship between 'gear lube' and 'gear oil'. I'm always focused on things like viscosity, additive package, yellow metal compatibility (when relevant), pour point, scuffing or other extreme pressure performance, and viscosity index.

I recommend you find the product number before/after and keep the product data sheets on file.

 

[kthree]

Thanks All. Appreciate your considering and responding to my post. As you have suggested is what we have done, follow the data sheets. K.

 

[mfgenggear]

OP
The manufacture of the gear box who specifies which lubricant to use.
Reason: as a designer the gear lube must be
Tested with the gear box and the lube properties
Thar are desired and designed with a gear box program.

 

[Gr8blu]

In my experience - a "gear oil" has no additives. A "gear lube" very well might. For example - gear lubes can include specific chemistry to minimize wear from a) high pressure, b) high temperature, and/or c) dissimilar materials.

Both must provide adequate lubrication for the moving parts.

 

[MintJulep]

Both "Gear Oil" and "Gear Lube" are undefined colloquial terms and have no intrinsic meaning.

They are used at the whim of the manufacturer's marketing department.

Also, as noted by @kthree, this can be used by distributors as a way to lock in customers by giving incorrect advice to uninformed buyers.

While it's nice to say "always follow the gear box manufacturer's recommendation" if the gear box maker recommends a specific brand and product line then know that the lubricant manufacturers market the same product using different names in different locations, and frequently change the name of products to create the appearance of "new and better".

Hopefully the gear box manufacturer gives a recommendation for a standard (e.g. API GL-5). Even so, the API standards define "minimum requirements", and every lubricant manufacturer will "meet or exceed" them, with differences in additive packages.

It's impossible to find a product that exactly meets the requirements of an API standard, so it's impossible for gear box manufacturers to test to that minimum. It's impossible for a gear box manufacturer to test all brands of lubricants. At best they test a small sample of oil manufacturers.

Unless your application is right at the limit, anything better than used school bus oil is likely ok.

"gear oil" has no additives.

Here's one that does: https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants...y-lubricants/products/mobilube-hd-plus-80w-90