When converting from one grease to another, double-check to make sure that your soap bases and oils are compatible. The simple way to do this is to have your supplier or an independent test lab perform a Worked Penetration test on a mixture of the greases.

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Yogi Berra and Ted Williams, two of baseball’s greatest figures, both said in their own way that one’s brain plays a huge role in hitting a baseball effectively - an act that appears to be purely physical. Baseball players who fail to recognize the mental aspects of hitting effectively have little chance of achieving a high batting average and even less chance of making it into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Manually greasing a bearing is another act that, at least on the surface, appears to be purely physical. One grabs the grease gun, pumps it full of grease or installs a cartridge, goes to the machine, attaches the gun to the grease fitting and pumps the lever to deliver grease - right? Regrettably, this is too often the case. When the act of greasing a bearing is viewed as a purely physical task, the plant has little chance of developing a world-class machinery lubrication program that delivers machine reliability, profits and competitive advantage. Today’s technology is paving the way to a more precise and cerebral approach to the seemingly simple act of greasing a bearing.

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Question: Synthetic engine oils are recommended for high-temperature applications. Does this mean they do not oxidize?

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"Can you filter out oxidation, and if so, what is the best method? I have heard that oxidation is a permanent chemical change and can't be filtered out."

Figuratively oxidation can be filtered, that is, it can be slowed or reduced through proactive maintenance best practices. In reality, oxidation cannot be filtered because oxidation is a chemical process of aging in the oil driven by catalysts such as high temperature, water, air, metals (in the form of wear debris and contamination) and other contaminants such as fuels and process chemicals.

Therefore, minimizing the ingress of these will reduce or significantly slow the oxidation rate of the oil, resulting in longer lubricant life.

However, by-products of the oxidation process such as acids and fine insolubles can be filtered out by the use of advanced filtration/separation technologies such as electrostatic separation or vacuum separation. Once these by-products have been removed, depletion of the additive package will have occurred, and this can be sweetened by the addition of additives with the guidance of your lubricant supplier.

Of course, once the oxidation process reaches a certain stage, the viscosity is severely affected and the oil, selected as such for the application, is no longer fit for purpose. This viscosity change is irreversible, and a complete change of the lubricant is required.

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