Any experts on automatic, central greasing systems?

[Hay Dude]

Have a central grease system on baler.
Due to operator error, it was run out of grease.
I refilled with grease and began cracking lines all the way up to the main splitter, which has about 40 lines coming off it going to different parts of the baler.

I cracked the fitting at the bottom of the greaser and grease came out. Good.

Then removed the main line from the entrance into the splitter. It produced grease. OK good.

I cracked a few lines, beyond the splitter, at their ends: one at a knotter, one at a plunger bearing and one at a pickup wheel. They all produced grease. Good.

There is a sensor on the main splitter. It blinks during “normal” operation. It IS blinking. Good. The cab monitor warning for “greasing error” is OFF. Thats good.

But there are many, many other lines from the splitter. I am told if they have an air bubble, they will not pass the bubble. The result is the grease is blocked and the bearing will fail. I do not know how far or even if, any air bubbles made it past the splitter.

Does anyone know for sure if the air entrapped will/will not pass in lines past the splitter?

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Grease is generally viscous enough that it will push air out of lines. But it depends on the grease flowing.

Most of the automated central point systems just pump out a small amount continuously, and under that scenario, it could take a while to clear all of the lines. Can you disconnect the lines at the central hub, and pump them with a grease gun to clear the air from the lines?

 

[Hay Dude]

Grease is generally viscous enough that it will push air out of lines. But it depends on the grease flowing.

Most of the automated central point systems just pump out a small amount continuously, and under that scenario, it could take a while to clear all of the lines. Can you disconnect the lines at the central hub, and pump them with a grease gun to clear the air from the lines?

Thanks for your insight. The disconnected lines would not be possible to connect to a grease gun or any other grease pumping device. They are just plastic tubes.

Really the only option I have is to run the tractor and run the greasing system in manual mode for a very long time to pump grease for a quite a while, which I think would accomplish what you are suggesting.
I was going to do this next, but didnt know if it would pass air bubbles in random spots in grease lines?

 

[oldnslo]

If I understand your system one main supply line feeds a (splitter) block with multiple small grease lines from that block feeding bearings with varying lengths of line between block and bearings. Based on this I would have concerns about air for follow reasons.

1) How big of air pocket is in the line(s)? Is it big enough to compress in volume without pushing the grease through?
2) If common inlet then in theory all the lines see the same potential pressure and volume. If a couple of the grease points take very little pressure to absorb grease this would also reduce potential for pushing air out of lines with greater resistance.
3) Are you sure all the points were getting grease before the reservoir went dry? Reason for asking is that 40 + years ago I worked for a company building packaging equipment we had to handfill every line before connecting them to the central distribution system otherwise some bearings never got grease and others would be over filled.

A possible option to hand pump grease is if you can buy or a simple adapter to go between your grease gun and the plastic tube. This would be a slow process since would gave to pump each line individually. This is how we filled the lines on packaging equipment when new 40+ years ago. Again this was on new machine that had never had grease in it.

 

[Anakist]

They should be injectors rather than splitters on a central grease system. Precisely to avoid all the grease being sent to the least restrictive point and nothing else getting greased.

Whenever we changed grease stuff we always had to purge every single line. That was more because it was on mining equipment that worked in pretty atrocious conditions 24/7 though, and we had them off for days or weeks.

Removing a grease line for a couple of hours was fine. I assume there were bubbles in there that got pushed through and out. Who told you that a grease system won't push air? That doesn't seem correct to me.

James

 

[Hay Dude]

I just acquired the baler this year, so I’m not 100% sure everything is being greased.
Now I’m more unsure.

 

[Hay Dude]

They should be injectors rather than splitters on a central grease system. Precisely to avoid all the grease being sent to the least restrictive point and nothing else getting greased.

Whenever we changed grease stuff we always had to purge every single line. That was more because it was on mining equipment that worked in pretty atrocious conditions 24/7 though, and we had them off for days or weeks.

Removing a grease line for a couple of hours was fine. I assume there were bubbles in there that got pushed through and out. Who told you that a grease system won't push air? That doesn't seem correct to me.

James

I agree with you. It doesn’t make sense to me, either. I would think the air would come out, but I was told my “mechanics” in the know, that it won’t purge out air bubbles.

 

[oldnslo]

Hay dude
Unfortunate reality is that depending on system design, air pocket size - location your system may or may not push out an air pocket. Only way to be certain is check all the lines you can access at grease point. A real pain in the arse but only way I would feel confident that it is working especially on a high dollar machine like your balers. I would especially check the high load critical items.

My 2 cents on this…

 

[MacAttack]

I worked in a steel mill for some years. I started out in a crew that moved all over. Occasionally I was assigned to the auto grease system in one of the operations. For hours we just hooked up grease lines that had been disconnected. We hooked them up and came back 1/2 hour later to see if they were working. They always worked. Bearings had grease oozing. Most dang boring chore that I was ever assigned. Hated it.

 

[Hay Dude]

I worked in a steel mill for some years. I started out in a crew that moved all over. Occasionally I was assigned to the auto grease system in one of the operations. For hours we just hooked up grease lines that had been disconnected. We hooked them up and came back 1/2 hour later to see if they were working. They always worked. Bearings had grease oozing. Most dang boring chore that I was ever assigned. Hated it.

I can sympathize.…
I ended up doing the same. Engine has to run minimum 600 rpm to make greaser run. I started tractor and ran in “manual greasing mode” for an hour. I cracked about 10 fittings, mostly the ones that lube high dollar bearings (like plunger bearings) and they did ooze grease. Comes out very slowly. Really illustrates how many of us probably over grease our machines.

We baled again with it on Sunday, Monday & Tuesday with no issues (I hope)
Ridiculous how the monitor tells you you are “out of grease” instead of “low on grease”.

 

[Tinhack]

They should be injectors rather than splitters on a central grease system. Precisely to avoid all the grease being sent to the least restrictive point and nothing else getting greased.

Other machines like mills, lathes and shapers having central oiling systems have restrictions in the short runs. Sometimes these are adjustable but capped. They are nothing but a small valve to regulate flow. Others have a fixed venturi to regulate flow. I've never seen any specs on adjustment, so they must be set at the factory never to be touched again. Unless you're an owner restoring one.

Grease will certainly be harder to move, and bearings will need more grease than bushings. There must be a way to regulate the flow somewhere. Perhaps at each item being serviced.

I can understand why an air gap can't be passed--Air is compressible. I think the only way to be sure is to force-feed each line, with the end open. You may have to purge each line of grease first and start factory fresh.

 

[Anakist]

There must be a way to regulate the flow somewhere.

Like I said, central grease systems (should) use an injector rather than splitters.

That shows how they work. When the line gets pressurised it pushes grease in from an injection port, then fills a side port. When the pressure releases the spring pushes the plunger back letting the grease from the side port into the injection port. That way there is always a measured amount of grease injected each time the grease pump runs. The pump can be dumb and run every X minutes or seconds and just keep pumping until it reaches (for example) 3000psi. You buy different injectors (or daisy chain them together) to get more grease in some areas.

Fool proof method to ensure bearings and pins both get greased from a central system.

James

 

[Hay Dude]

Ran baler 2 hours on 7/10, 6 hours on 7/11 and 2 hours on 7/12. Everything seems to be ok. Up at the “splitter” (it’s like a valve body with 50 lines coming off of it) there is a small sensor with a light that comes on/off every 10 seconds. The light is functioning normally.

The monitor in the cab shows normal function, but I don’t fully trust it. Itprobably gets it’s signal from the sensor shown above.
I DO see grease coming from several fittings.

It‘s about all I have to go with as removing every line is not an option.