Testimonials
Duolec® Vari-Purpose Gear Lubricant significantly reduced gear temperatures and increased equipment life in a feed mill blender.
key takeaways
Challenge
Stan Dillion, plant maintenance manager, sought to extend the planetary drive life and lower oil temperatures on the J&A mixer, which had a short 90-120 day needle bearing life due to excessive heat.
LE solution
Mark Nickel recommended Duolec® Vari-Purpose Gear Lubricant (1605) for its high-performance formulation that offers excellent oxidation resistance, thermal stability, and film strength, preventing sludge formation in high temperature gear and bearing applications.
Results
The conversion to Duolec 1605 reduced planetary drive temperatures by over 20˚F, potentially increasing drive life and feed production with more than 4 hours saved per oil change, pending satisfactory test results for a 120-day interval.
Customer Profile
Western Milling LLC is a large feed mill processing tons of feed and grain per day in custom blends for many of California's Southern San Joaquin Valley mega dairies. The mill receives raw grain via 120 car unit trains, and processes it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Application
This location in Goshen, California, operates a J&A 1750 vertical blender. The OEM recommendation is for Mobil SHC 630. This key piece of equipment mixes twelve tons per batch (every half an hour) of custom blends of dairy feed. This blender mixes 6 ½ days a week, 24 hours a day.
Challenge
The J&A vertical blender uses hydraulically driven Dervini planetary gear drives. Oil temperatures in the planetaries were beyond 200°F (93°C). Needle bearing life on the planetary drives was suffering from the heat, and the 90-120 day average life was considered short. The oil changes were being done every 90 days.
After several years with great success with other LE products, Stan Dillion, plant maintenance manager, wanted to improve the planetary drive life and reduce oil temperature on the hard working J&A mixer.
LE Solution
Mark Nickel, LE lubrication consultant, recommended Duolec® Vari-Purpose Gear Lubricant (1605), which is a high- performance industrial and automotive gear oil.
Duolec 1605 is formulated using blends of high quality paraffinic and synthetic base fluids which have been found to provide excellent oxidation resistance, thermal stability, and film strength. The unique blend of base fluids and thermally stable extreme pressure additives resist sludge formation in high temperature gear and bearing applications.
Results
Prior to the conversion to Duolec 1605, the north planetary drive was running at 197˚F (92°C) and the south drive was recorded at 205˚F (96°C) in the summer months. After the conversion to the north planetary drive, the temperature was recorded at 187˚F (86°C) and the south drive was 166˚F (74°C). Ambient air temperature was 67˚F (19°C). Allowing for the difference in ambient air temperature the average temperature reduction was more than 20˚F.
The first fill of Duolec 1605 will be drained and sampled in 90 days. Should results of those tests be satisfactory, the next fill will be taken out to 120 days. Xamine® (Lubrication Engineers Analysis Program) testing will be used to establish a target drain interval of at least 120 days. Because of the temperature reductions, Stan Dillion is expecting increased planetary drive life, and increased feed production due to the over 4 hours of time gained per oil change.