We have previously covered the current specifications for Engine Oil (see here) - today we are going to discuss gear oil specifications. The first clarification when discussing gear oil is the difference between industrial or automotive gear sets. These two sets of products have different formulations to ensure protection for different types of gears and applications. Industrial Gear Oil Specifications Industrial gear oil requirements can vary depending on the…

      Changing Grease Ideally, the best procedure to follow when changing grease brands is to completely remove all old grease before new grease is added. This is usually done, for example, when automotive wheel bearings are repacked with grease. In some pieces of equipment, such as electric motors, the grease-lubricated bearings are not designed to be relubricated, as the grease lubrication life and the bearing life are about…

  Knowing what lubricant you need really comes down to the specifications. Ensure that you are sourcing engine oil that meets the most up to date specs. When you do this they are often (not always) backwards compatible with previous generations.   Diesel Engine Oil Specifications The newest specs for diesel engine oil are the API CK-4 and FA-4. These were launched in December 2016. API CK-4 replaced the API…

  You can think of viscosity as how thick a liquid is. A liquid with high viscosity is thick, like honey, while a liquid with low viscosity is thin, like water. Comparing water to honey is easy to understand and visualize, it leaves too wide a range when we are discussing equipment. So, we use more accurate measurements when formulating lubricants.  The chart below shows the common scales that viscosity is measured…

You see after-market engine oil additives on the shelves that promise performance enhancements. It sounds great - wear protection, cleaner engines, rust inhibitors. Should you use them? Should you use engine oil additives? The short answer - no. When a blender formulates your engine oil they have already carefully selected additives that work together. Adding an unknown additive to an existing engine oil can cause a reaction with the chemistry…