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How do you select the right gear oil for your application? We often get calls with the conversation going something like this:

“Got any 90 weight gear oil?”

“Sure, what are you using it in?”

“A gear box, duh.”

We were recently asked about gear oil availability and fortunately our local Lubrication Consultant is wise enough not to prescribe Rx over the phone. He arranged for us to go out and look at the actual application.

We asked about the plant operation. “We process juices, milk, yogurt, and ice cream”. We asked to see the manual for the gearbox. Sure enough, it called for an ISO 220. When asked about how the gear box is being used; “It’s used to rotate product right before going into the holding area awaiting transportation”. We asked other questions to determine the Load (normal), Environment (in-doors), Temperature (cool), and Speed (nothing special) of the application (he’s a man of few words). Of course we didn’t stop at this point and pressed for more in-depth answers and asked to see the gearbox application.

When we arrived in the area of the application, the maintenance foreman handed us parkas. As we entered the area, a large thermometer on the wall indicated -40. The gearboxes were being used to rotate open gallon containers of ice cream in the blast chiller area.

Quite often, we’ve seen well meaning personnel purchase a bucket of what they think is the right lubricant, put it into service, and then be met with failure of the machinery.

We prefer to *Blue-Print* the application with a real time, eyes-on observation, consulting the manual, verifying the Load, Environment, Temperature, and Speed. In this case, we prescribed a food grade, high viscosity index, low viscosity gear oil.

Contact us. We’ll help.

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