Hey, I am new to this forum but really impressed with the great content and support available here. I would like to get some suggestions for an automatic lubrication system. I think most of you guys have experience on this. I didn't used any any automatic lubrication systems before. My boss wants to purchase it by next week. I have searched on Google but didn't find anything which came under our budget? One of my Facebook friend told me that companies like http://www.rushhydraulic.ca manufactures automatic lubrication systems? Any advice? Your suggestions will be really appreciated. Thanks
What type of equipment is the system to be used on, mobile or fixed..? With autolube systems you get what you pay for in my experience and good-quality systems are not cheap by any means. Maybe your boss's idea of budget isn't feasible.
And if your boss thinks an autolube system eliminates maintenance he's wrong. They are very good but someone still needs to be doing a good inspection on a daily basis to see that the machine is getting grease where it should be and that the system is kept full. A poorly installed system or one that is not properly cared for will be worse than none at all. The latest systems we have on our new equipment were Lincoln. They have systems for just about any type of application: http://www.lincolnindustrial.com/applications.aspx I think trying to purchase any system on short notice and at the same time a tight budget can cause one to grab the first one they see that is cheap, like Nige says you will tend to get what you pay for. Don't know your application but wonder why time is so short, can't one grease the equipment a few times by hand while making a more informed decision?
IMHO the best autolube system is manually operated. If the manual operator don't do the job they're automatically fired.
I've seen a huge difference in machines that have the systems installed. I've my hands on many 12,000 and 15,000 hour machines that have never been apart and are still tight. Manually greasing a machine works OK but I've never seen one last those kind of hours even with a great operator doing his job perfectly. The biggest part of the maintenance is just making sure the tubes are still intact and not pumping grease on the ground. That's also where good installation practices come in. Knowing where to run the tubes so they don't get mashed or broken is key to the systems working for a long time.
John C. I operated a Hitachi UH083 from new and was sold at 11000hrs with all the original pins and bushes and had only been hand greased. I've seen autogreasers cause all sorts of problems with over or not greasing. One other factor with hand greasing, It gives the operator or whoever a good opportunity to do a good daily inspection of the machine.
Tones, I can't disagree with you. I have seen plenty of people do the same to 10k to 11K. Haven't seen any go past 15K with out some sort of work. I deal with a lot of machines now days and the numbers are just showing up the other way now. The owners want operators operating. They don't want to pay much for high dollar operators so all work to what everyone else gets paid. Big outfits with lots of machines on big projects are saving a ton of money with the systems. The world is changing.
Still the problem comes down to people not keeping an eye on the machine, one broken line and the system can be useless. Where I worked we used several different types of systems going back 40 or more years. Any of them were only as good as the people maintaining them, often the real problem was the management not the guys on the ground. You can pay someone to grease by hand, fill and maintain an automatic system or pay a guy to weld and line bore a worn out machine. Too many look at the savings of not doing the first two and think the third is just a normal cost of running equipment. Like I have often said some pencil pushers think preventive maintenance is interchangeable with preventing maintenance.
kshansen, I absolutely agree with you and love your last line. The thing is that around here the systems are being installed by big companies on lots of machines and they are showing their value. I have one customer who installed systems on all their dump trucks, pup trailers, belly dumps and side dumps as well as all their equipment. The operators are clean and not griping about grease anymore. Truth was that the operators were so concerned about the greasing operation that they didn't notice other problems right in front of them. The other part of the issue was in big companies you get operators that don't care and it takes time to send them into another career. Do you want your income builder to be trashed out by the time a pink slip can be generated. The systems have been laid out well and there are few problems. It is making a difference on the disposal side of their business as well as the maintenance. When the first couple proved out they added them to nearly everything.
Well where I just retired it was one of the two or three biggest cement/aggregates companies in the world. But having said that most of the plants at least in the Northeast USA are plants with 30 or fewer total workers at each site so in some ways each one is a relatively small operation with little direct supervision on a day to day basis from upper management. The maintenance level at one plant can be way different from one say 25 miles away.
Hi Guys, I have been in the Automatic Lubrication industry for close to 10 years. If anyone has any questions or needs please let me know and I will do my best to help.