FAQ: What Lubricant should I use?
The question we get most asked is can I use a particular oil? or we use this oil in other parts of our machine can I use it in the gearbox?
When lubricating our gearboxes we have a wide variety of factors to consider about the application. Speed, torque, backlash, temperature, environment are some of the aspects that have to be considered when selecting the correct lubricant to achieve the best life and performance from the gearbox.
As standard we have 3 lubricants that are most commonly used in our gearboxes. For more specialised applications, we can provide the necessary suitable lubricant, for example Food grade oils and greases. If your application requires specialised or specific lubricants, please contact us where we will happily discuss your requirements in greater detail.
For the purposes of this article we shall focus on our 3 most common lubricants; mineral oil, synthetic oil and grease.
Grease - Slow Speed applications
For applications where the peripheral speed of the gears is up to 3m/sec we would factory fill the gearbox with grease. The specification we use as a factory standard is Aral Aralub FDP00 (datasheet can be found here) This is a semi liquid grease with a wide temperature range. If Aral is not readily available to you, any equivalent grease would be suitable for lubricant change
Mineral Oil
For applications between 3 & 15m/sec peripheral gear speeds we would choose between a mineral and a synthetic oil. If the application is not in an extreme ambient temperature or subject to high running temperatures with the ability for regular maintenance we would ship our gearboxes with a mineral oil CLP to DIN51517-3 ISO VG68. As standard we supply Fuchs Renolin CLP 68 (more information can be found here). Any good quality equivalent can be suitable as a replacement.
Synthetic Oil
If your application is subject to extreme temperature conditions or in a non-maintenance environment we would recommend a synthetic oil. If the gearbox is also subject to high speeds we would also use a synthetic oil with forced lubrication to ensure that all bearing and gear contact points are properly lubricated. Please contact us to discuss your special requirements further.
Summary - Standard Oils for each Gearbox Type
Standard Spiral Bevel Gearboxes - Mineral oil CLP to DIN51517-3 ISO VG68 or Aral Aralub FDP00 semi fluid grease
VA series Spiral Bevel Gearboxes - Food grade NSF-H1 synthetic oil
HL series Spiral Bevel Gearboxes - Synthetic oil CLP to DIN51517-3 ISO VG68
Speed Modulation Gearboxes - Mineral oil CLP to DIN51517-3 ISO VG68 or Aral Aralub FDP00 semi fluid grease
Servo Gearboxes - Synthetic oil CLP to DIN51517-3 ISO VG68
HYP series Servo Gearboxes - Synthetic oil CLP to DIN51517-3 ISO VG150
P series Servo Gearboxes - Synthetic grease filled for service life