Improper lubrication of the gear reducer may cause lots of faults

As a power transmission device, gear reducers can adjust torque by changing speed and power to ensure the normal operation of various machinery or industrial equipment. Gear reducers have been widely used in many fields such as mining, coal, metallurgy, chemical industry, construction, transportation, etc. However, gear reducers are prone to transmission failure, reduced efficiency, shortened life, etc. due to improper lubrication during operation.

It can be said that lubrication is an important part of gear reducer maintenance. So, how to choose the lubricating oil for gear reducer? What kind of faults will be caused to gear reducers by improper lubrication?

 (1) How to choose lubricating oil for gear reducer

In general, the following methods can be followed to select lubricating oil:

a. Gear reducer lubricating oil should be selected according to the gear reducer working environment, load size, movement characteristics and friction form. High-speed moving gears should choose gear oil with low viscosity and good fluidity, low-speed moving gears should choose lubricating oil with good anti-wear properties, and low-temperature running gears should choose low-condensation gear oil.

b. Gear reducer lubrication is an important part of reducer maintenance. For closed gear transmission with lower speed, it is usually lubricated periodically by human workers. The lubricant used is lubricating oil or grease.

c. For large gear reducers with low speed and heavy load, extreme pressure heavy load gear oil with high viscosity should be used as much as possible, because it has better extreme pressure anti-wear, thermal oxidation stability, corrosion and rust resistance, and excellent anti-emulsification performance than medium load gear oil. This makes it easy to form a chemical film on the meshing surface of the gear, thereby protecting the gear tooth surface and minimizing the wear of the reducer as much as possible.

d. Do not change the original lubrication scheme of the gear reducer. For example, if it was originally oil lubricated and then changed to grease lubrication, the lubrication may not be in place or the heat generated cannot be dissipated, resulting in insufficient thermal power of the reducer, which can easily cause it to break down.

When Shanghai SGR Heavy Industry Machinery Co.,Ltd. ships gear reducer products, they will recommend suitable lubricants to customers and provide the correct method of adding and removing lubricants to relieve customers’ worries.

 (2) What faults may be caused by improper lubrication of the gear reducer?

Improper lubrication of the gear reducer may cause the following faults:

a. Poor lubrication will cause noise and vibration in the gear reducer, causing environmental pollution

After the gear reducer is started, if it makes a continuous and loud piercing sound, it may be caused by foreign matter stuck, serious gear wear or bearing damage; sometimes, the reducer vibrates violently, which may be caused by bearing and gear wear or poor transmission device configuration. In the above cases, it will cause a certain degree of environmental pollution, resulting in safety hazards at the production site and affecting the normal operation of the reducer.

b. The oil temperature is too high and the gear reducer components are damaged

During the operation of the gear reducer, due to overload or insufficient lubricating oil, the oil temperature in the body of the gear reducer will rise rapidly, causing damage to some parts in the body; some parts will be greatly deformed due to heat, reducing the accuracy of the reducer; some parts will be damaged due to the decrease in material strength due to high temperature, which will cause serious power loss of the reducer, operation failure and other equipment problems. In this case, the transmission parts may be stuck, resulting in uneven mechanical operation and other problems.

c. Oil leakage from the gearbox causes environmental pollution

The parts of the gear reducer filled with oil leaked from the box due to loose screws or damaged sealing rings during operation. Sometimes, due to the oil level being too high or foaming, oil leakage may occur at the vent plug, polluting the environment.

d. The lubrication effect of the gear pair is not good, and problems such as tooth surface wear occur.

When the gear reducer operates in a relatively harsh environment, and it is difficult to form a stable and good oil film between its meshing surfaces, resulting in problems such as pitting and wear on the surface, which in turn causes tooth surface failure and affects the normal operation of the reducer.

The gear reducer is mainly composed of transmission shafts, bearings, gear pairs and other parts, and most of the problems are caused by lubricant failure. Lubricant failure often causes problems such as gear wear, equipment malfunction, and environmental pollution. Therefore, in actual operation, it is necessary to reasonably select lubricants, use lubricants correctly, and do a good job of early fault diagnosis to prevent problems before they occur and ensure the normal operation of the gear reducer. （Author: SGR,  Angie Zhang）

 Email: export@sgr.com.cn

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