Laboratory Testing & General Mineral Processing Engineering

Laboratory Testing & General Mineral Processing Engineering

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Design failure found in open gear lubrication systems (5 replies)

(unknown)
8 years ago
(unknown) 8 years ago

I have been working on Open Gear automatic lubrication systems now for almost 30 years and have conducted over 150 open gears lubricant conversions in numerous countries. However there is one design failure that is present in almost all systems that I have come across. It does not seem to matter whether it is a BijurDelimon dual line system or a Single line progressive type or even a Single line injector system the delivery and return lines are typically sized too small. When designing an automatic lubrication system it is critical that the delivery lines from the pump to the distribution valve and the return line to the tank are of suitable size to enable free flow of lubricant under all operating conditions. My default minimum size for both is 1/2" ID, however most installed systems tend to have 3/8" as their delivery and 1/4" for the return line. While the line from the distribution valves to the spray nozzles is important it is getting the lubricant to the valves and back to tank which has the largest impact on lubrication system performance. The second design failure is to not use a three way air solenoid to deliver air to the pump, without a three way solenoid when the system is stopped the line remains full of air thereby leading to continued delivery of lubricant after the fact.

Helena Russell
8 years ago
Helena Russell 8 years ago

Our problem seem to be pumping high viscosity lubricate like SHC 46M. Heating has a small effect but does not solve the problem of the pump bogging down.

(unknown)
8 years ago
(unknown) 8 years ago

Who returns open gear lube for reuse? We certainly don't do it here in the USA. The main problem with reuse is making sure that thick goop is clean for reuse. We collect it and recycle it with the supplier or a third party. I agree the lines are often too small.

Bob Mathias
8 years ago
Bob Mathias 8 years ago

When I talk about the return line I mean in dual line and some single line systems they have a return line which dumps system pressure (and some lube) back to the tank after each lube cycle. This return line is often overlooked as a potential problem but has a very large impact on the system performance.

Zander Barcalow
8 years ago
Zander Barcalow 8 years ago

We here in India too use single line http://www.lincolnindustrial.comsystem where there is no return line. Major problem we face is pump getting jammed if it is lifted out of the lubricant tank.

(unknown)
8 years ago
(unknown) 8 years ago

Do you mean the lubrication system becomes blocked when the pump is removed from the lubricant tank? Therefore contamination is entering the system, do you have a lubricant filter on the outlet of the pump to stop contaminants blocking the single line system. What size filter/strainer are you using as we usually recommend 150 micron.

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