Testimonials
Duolec® Vari-Purpose Gear Lubricant significantly enhances the performance and longevity of Nordberg cone crushers.
key takeaways
Challenge
Operating in wet and dusty conditions, cone crushers face challenges such as overheating of the eccentric bushing and potential gear oil emulsion due to water exposure.
LE solution
Duolec® Vari-Purpose Gear Lubricant (1604) is a high-performance gear oil suitable for industrial applications requiring high thermal stability and extreme pressure lubrication, featuring water separation, metal adhesion, and enhanced film strength.
Results
Glacial Sand & Gravel Corp.’s Nordberg cone crusher, lubricated with Duolec 1604 ISO 150 EP, has operated double shifts for ten years without repairs, showing minimal wear and no high oil temperature shutdowns, indicating exceptional performance and reliability.
This unit has run double shifts for ten years with no repairs or replacement of internal components.
- Service Rep
Customer Profile
Glacial Sand & Gravel Corp. and Allegheny Mineral Corp. are sister companies located in Western Pennsylvania where they recover and process limestone and glacial sand and gravel. Parent company Snyder Associates, Inc., in business for more than sixty years, has been a Lubrication Engineers customer for more than twenty years.
Operations include three open pit limestone mines, one open pit gravel operation, an open sand pit and a river dredging gravel operation, with processing facilities at each location.
Application
A key piece of equipment in their operations are eight cone crushers, including five Nordberg cone crushers. The Nordbergs include two model HP300 and three HP400s. The crushers are used as primary crushers at glacial deposit gravel sites and secondary crushers at limestone facilities.
Challenge
The environment in which the cone crusher operates is wet and dusty, and the eccentric bushing can run hot. With water as a factor in the application, emulsion of the gear oil can also be an area of concern.
LE Solution
John Hayes, LE lubrication consultant, recommended Duolec® Vari-Purpose Gear Lubricant (1604), which is a high performance gear oil acceptable for use in any industrial gear or bearing application that requires a high thermal stability, extreme pressure lubricant. Duolec 1604 separates readily from water and is fortified with a shear stable tackifier to provide adhesion to the metal during use. It contains Duolec®, LE’s proprietary temperature activated, dual acting, liquid additive that increases film strength and EP characteristics.
Results
All cone crushers are lubricated with Duolec 1604 ISO 150 EP.
In May 2006, Glacial Sand & Gravel Corp. called in a Nordberg field mechanic to assist with a maintenance procedure. This unit is used as the primary crusher, processing very hard river deposited glacial gravel. Upon shut down and internal inspection, the service rep reported the following:
Nordbergs should take no less than 30 seconds to wind down once the power is shut off. This unit takes three minutes, 30 seconds indicating no performance robbing wear and minimal internal friction. Internal inspection showed no wear or discoloration on the head ball or socket. All bushings and bearings measured within new tolerance and all gears showed minimal to no wear.
This unit has run double shifts for ten years with no repairs or replacement of internal components.
Additionally, this HP400, along with the rest of the cone crusher fleet, has never shut down because of high oil temperatures, a common occurrence with cone crushers.
The service rep remarked he has never seen Nordbergs run this cool and have this little wear.