Here is an idea for storing drums outdoors for extended periods with drum covers: Prior to placing the drum cover on the drum, mark where the bung is on the side of drum. Ninety degrees to the bung, lay a wicking device (such as a strand from an industrial mop) over the chime so that half is on top edge of drum and half is hanging outside of the drum. Install drum cover as normal.

If possible, set the back edge of the drum on a 1x2 board or equivalent to create a slope so that any condensation forming inside of the drum cover can be directed downward toward the wick and out to the ground. Note: Wick, if placed 90 degrees to the bung, will be 180 degrees from board or on downside of slope.

Join us for five weeks of in-depth lubrication and oil analysis training. Learn about Noria's new Lubrication Technologist training.

We send $100 for each tip published. Submit your tip.

Book Bits: Don't Switch Greases Before Reading This

From "Lubrication Excellence/Reliability World 2005 Conference Proceedings"

Excerpt from the chapter "How to Select the Right Grease".

Many if not most greases are not compatible. Even products with the same thickener type may be incompatible. Safely changing the type of grease in an application can be an arduous task. For this reason, the type of grease used in an application, once properly selected, should not arbitrarily be changed without good reason. Grease compatibility tables, which are widely available and indicate compatibility by thickener type only, should be considered general guidelines at best. It should not be assumed that these tables are always correct as there are other variables that affect compatibility. When incompatible greases are mixed the two most common results are extreme hardening or softening of the mixture leading to a significant loss of lubrication.

When changing grease type, the first step should be to contact the manufacturer(s) to obtain compatibility information. Documentation should be obtained indicating compatibility according to ASTM D6185. This method tests a variety of performance properties at three different mixture ratios. If no such studies are available, the products should be assumed to be incompatible.

More information about the book "Lubrication Excellence/Reliability World 2005 Conference Proceedings"

Test your knowledge and prepare for ICML lubrication and oil analysis certification.

QUESTION: What is the "dropping point" of a grease?

Get the answer.

"Our lube technicians recommended that we start filtering our new oils right out of the sealed drum with a 3-micron filter. Do you think this is necessary?"

Just because a drum is sealed doesn't mean the oil it contains is free of abrasives. There is a common misconception that new equals clean - there is no guarantee of this. The base oil, blending, packaging and logistic processes can all lead to contaminant ingress. Likewise, drums are never perfectly clean, particularly if they are reconditioned steel drums. New plastic containers are the generally the cleanest followed by new steel drums.

A good rule of thumb is that it cost 10 times as much to remove a gram of abrasive particle once it has entered your system than it does to exclude it in the first place. It can cost 10 to 1,000 times that figure, or more, to leave the gram of abrasive contaminants in the system, depending on mechanical design, machine criticality, contaminant abrasively, etc.

Filtering new oil is among your cheapest options for improving the mechanical reliability of bearings, gearing, hydraulic, systems, engines, etc.

In my opinion, your lube techs are on the right track. If they were mine, I'd support them on this initiative.

Drew Troyer, Noria Corporation

Submit a question | Discuss on Message Boards

Resources