Greasing

[dogdidit]

They say over greasing is as bad as no grease. But how do you know you over gresaed? I always thought anything more would just come out the fitting.

[superfittertech]

They say over greasing is as bad as no grease. But how do you know you over gresaed? I always thought anything more would just come out the fitting.

some bearings are sealed. over greasing causes unwanted pressure or ruptures the seals. both are not good for bearings

[big johnson]

The age old question. An over greased bearing is not good but it will last longer than one without grease. Depending on the shaft size, I hardly ever put more than 3 strokes of the gun into a bearing. If it's not running while I grease it, I put in 2 strokes. I've tried all the manufacturer's reccomendations and end up over greasing. My method developed over the years and I have bearings that have lasted 10 years past their expected life.

[Truck43]

When greasing larger motors always check for relief plugs

[ispip]

It will really depend on what you are greasing, if it is just a pillow block bearing than 1 or 2 pumps should be good. But on a 50 horse motor than you need to pull the drain plug and even then you you never know if you are getting grease in the bearing. I don't know how many times i have pulled an end bell and you see all the differant colors of grease and none of it got in to the bearing. Also a good question is how often do you gease? On some Lieberts they have sealed bearings and you can't or the Baldor motors in a Trand Intellipak every 10,000 hours. So it really depends on your application and enviroment. And don't forget the type of grease All-Purpose, Lithium? You have to becarefull cause when some of these greases get hot they make acid. I have been using E.M. (electric motor) Polyrea grease as recommended by my local motor shop.

[william antley]

They say over greasing is as bad as no grease. But how do you know you over gresaed? I always thought anything more would just come out the fitting.

If grease is oozing out through the seals, you've over greased it. The problem with over greasing is that the heat generated by the bearings being under a load cannot escape, the grease holds it in, and the bearings will fail.
Proper greasing techniques have already been offered so, no need to beat a dead horse.
I've had near 90+% of my bearing replacements being required because someone got happy with the grease gun, must have been thinking about their girlfriend. There was sometimes near a full tube of grease wrapped around the bearing blocks when I did the replacement, that was fun.
I've discussed bearing lubrication with several experts and their information has been consistent with my knowledge, a little too little is better than a little too much. Plus, I learned that most pillow block bearing are already lubed from the manufacturer, there's no need to fill it up right after installation, that'd be too much.
Keep the same type grease in the bearing at all times, meaning, don't switch grease. Some greases are not compatible with others and that will cause problems, either breakdown of the lube or heat failure of the bearings.

[hvacker]

I've read in Mfg's literature to grease until "moisture" is visible.
The new grease will force an oily liquid through the seal. Then it's time to quit.

You can't just count pumps. The bad ones are when a bearing can't be seen.