Lubrication is an important aspect of maintaining an electric compactor. One essential function of lubrication a vibrating compactor is that it keeps the bearings moving smoothly thereby ensuring the machine runs in optimal condition. Lubrication also ensures that the motor does not overheat because lubricants help moving parts to dissipate generated heat. Due to these essential functions and many others, proper lubrication must be a priority if longevity of your compactor is desired. To avoid damaging your machine, you need to understand the basics of lubrication, and this article outlines some of this information.
Compatibility -- One of the most common mistakes that compact machine owners make believe that any grease will work with their devices. While there is some truth to this, it is important to understand that there are different types of lubricants that might not be compatible with your vibrating compactor model. For instance, lithium and calcium based greases are compatible with one another and can be used together. However, the same cannot be said of lithium and polyurea based oils; mixing these two will cause oil leaching, thereby depriving your machine bearings of the much-needed lubricant. Before lubricating your vibrating compactor, make sure you know which other oils to use by consulting the manufacturer manual.
Lubricating Intervals -- Having a lubricating schedule for your vibrating compactor can help prolong its life. However, regardless of the fact that vibrating compactors put a lot of pressure on their bearings, most owners will only lubricate when they hear grinding sounds coming from the bearings. In most cases, the bearings are already damaged by the time they start making noise. To make the perfect lubricating schedule for your vibrating compactor, you must consider a few factors like bearing size, operating hours, cleanliness of the environment, vibration levels, and operating temperatures. If these factors are on the extremes, reduce or increase the frequency of lubrication your compactor accordingly.
Lubrication Procedure -- The manner in which you apply grease to your vibrator's bearings affects their operation. Most people will use sticks to remove used oil before reapplying fresh lubrication, which is the wrong way of doing it because you will not remove every bit of old grease. Since grease attracts dirt, you want to make sure that you remove old grease first completely, and the best way to do is when the motor is running. As the engine is working, pump fresh grease between the bearings and watch as the old grease is squeezed out of the machine. Keep the motor running until you purge out all the dirty grease. Rerun it for another 20 minutes to get rid of any excess lubrication.
Share
