Lubrication Related Work Practices

a. Make sure you make your daily rounds and inspections. Information gathered during inspections must be recorded (logged). Your daily inspection reports will go a long way in troubleshooting activities. When you come on shift, read the log to see if something odd is going on with any piece of equipment.

b. For key pieces of equipment, make a record of bearing housing temperature. You, and other operators, should learn to take temperature from the same spot every day. To check the temperature, you can use a magnetic thermometer or an infrared thermometer. All operators should use the temperature measuring instruments in the same manner – otherwise the temperature readings will have very little value. During equipment start-up, the bearing housing temperature should be checked frequently until it stabilizes for at least 30 minutes.

In some cases, the equipment lubricant reservoirs are provided with cooling water coils. The intent is to protect oil from overheating. The idea is not to cool the oil as much as possible. Usually excessive cooling is as detrimental as excessive heating.

c. Assess the physical condition of oil. The oil should not have froth or dark sludge-like substances. All abnormal conditions must be investigated.

d. In many cases you will come across a situation where you frequently need to top off the oil. This fact should be logged and investigated.

e. Keep your lubricating system clean.