In some applications, it is nearly impossible for oil to remain fluid at all ambient temperatures. In these situations, the use of an oil heater is recommended. However, there are several things that must be considered before a heater is applied or even selected. In some cases, these devices can be counterproductive for your machines as well as your lubricants.
“My filter company uses the following notation to rate one of its filters: BX=2, B10=X, BX=75, followed by these numbers: 5, 8 and 17. I’m familiar with the Beta rating, but I’ve never seen it shown in this way. What is meant by these numbers?”
The most important proactive maintenance exercise you can do for a piece of hydraulic equipment is to define its temperature operating window (TOW) and then ensure that the equipment always operates within this window.
“We have been seeing more gear failures at our plant recently and are unsure why. Can you offer any advice for determining the causes of gear failures?”
Several factors could cause an unexpected rise in gear failures. Start by investigating what is different since the failures increased. Are there different lubricants in service? Has the operating environment changed? Is there a cross-contamination issue? Have you changed your lubrication routines?
Lubricant users are increasingly inquiring about the cleanliness and lubricant quality of new oil deliveries.
This trend is logical and probably unending as the maintenance field becomes more aware of the linkage between contamination and machine reliability. Yet there has been legitimate concerns raised by some lubricant suppliers regarding this trend.
