It’s Important to Use a Good-Quality Lubricant for Your Machinery

Posted: Dec 18, 2011
Author: Bumgarner Oil

A good-quality lubricant is crucial to keep machinery running smoothly. Farmers need lubricants to keep their equipment working efficiently, as do all manufacturing plants. It is essential to use the right kind of lubricant for any apparatus with moving parts.

Take a powerful hydraulic system as an example. There is always the risk of an oil leak or oil being forced out by pressure. Therefore, a low-toxicity lubricant should be used to prevent health hazards.

It’s also important to ensure that an industrial lubricant has a low flash point, to minimize the risk of it causing a fire. Most greases and oils have high flash points. If possible, choose lubrication products with low flash points, for safety.

The primary function of industrial lubricants is to moderate friction between a machine’s moving parts. Whether to use a heavy- or light-duty lubricant depends on how often and how fast the components work, as well as the amount of force involved. If the wrong type of lubricant is used, there’s a risk of the parts clogging up and causing a breakdown and downtime.

There are two types of industrial lubricants – synthetic and refined. The latter are usually made from crude or mineral oil, while the former are produced with chemical compounds. Synthetic lubricants are advantageous because they maintain a constant viscosity in any temperature. Refined lubricants, in contrast, often become thick when it’s cold and thin when it’s hot.