TECHNICAL TRAINING

Presentation on
How to Calculate Grease Quantity and
Frequency for Bearings

BY
G VASU REDDY
DY.MANAGER
JHABUA SITE.
 Introduction
Arguably the most common
activity performed in lubrication is
to grease bearings.

This involves taking a grease gun

filled with grease and pumping it
into all the
grease Zerks in the plant.

common task is also plagued

with ways to make mistakes,
.
 Regular mistakes,
such as

• Over greasing,
• Under greasing,
• Over pressurizing,
• Greasing too frequently,
• Greasing infrequently,
• Using the wrong viscosity,
• Using the wrong thickener and consistency,
• mixing multiple greases, etc,
 Calculation of Greasing quantity
The amount of grease during each republication
procedure can usually be calculated by simply looking
at a few bearing parameters.
There are a few ways to calculate the republication
frequency.

 Temperature,
 Contamination,
 Moisture,
 Vibration,
 Position,
 Bearing Type,
 Runtime,
Temperature–
As the Arrhenius rate rule indicates, the higher
the temperature, the quicker oil is going to oxidize.
This can be taken into practice by shortening the re-
lubrication frequency as higher temperatures are
anticipated.
Contamination–
The environmental contaminant types and the
likelihood for contaminants to enter a bearing should
be taken into consideration when defining the re-
lubrication frequency. Even the average relative
humidity can be a point of measure to indicate water
contamination concerns.
Moisture –
Whether bearings are in a moist indoor
environment, dry-covered arid area, occasionally
facing rain water or even exposed to wash downs,
the water ingression opportunities need to be
taken into consideration when defining the re-
lubrication frequency.

Vibration –
The velocity-peak vibration can be an indication
of how much shock-loading a bearing is
experiencing. The higher the vibration, the more
you need to grease to help protect the bearing with
fresh grease.
Position –
A vertical bearing position will not hold onto grease
in the lubrication zones as effectively as those
positioned horizontally. In general, it’s advisable to
grease more frequently when bearings are closer to a
vertical position.

Bearing Type –
The design of the bearing (ball, cylinder, tapered,
spherical, etc.) will have a significant impact on the re-
lubrication frequency. For example, ball bearings can
allow more time between re-grease applications than
those of most other bearing designs.
Runtime :–
Running 24/7 versus sporadic use, or even how
often there are starts and stops, will have an impact on
how quickly the grease will degrade and how effectively
the grease will stay in the key lubrication zones. Higher
runtime typically will require a shorter re-lubrication
frequency.
 Final Discussion
 Above points considered along with the speed (RPM) and physical
dimensions (bore diameter) in a formula to calculate the time until the next
grease re-lubrication for a rolling-element bearing.

these factors play a role in calculating the re-lubrication frequency, often

the environment is too contaminated , a purge procedure should be
performed to push grease through the bearings more frequently.

 Filtration is to oil as purging is to grease. If the cost of using more grease

is less than the risk of bearing failure, then purging grease might be the best
option.

 Specified calculation to determine the amount of grease and the re-

lubrication frequency will be best to help avoid one of the most frequent
mistakes made in one of the most common lubrication practices.