FAQ’s

Firstly, remember that GreaseMax has only one moving part, (the piston), no mechanical parts, and no electrics. It uses an operating system proven to be reliable for over 30 years. GreaseMax is manufactured to stringent production and product quality control standards and procedures that are independently regularly verified and certified by TüV Germany. It is very unlikely that non–performance will be encountered.

The GreaseMax design is fail safe: the starter cap cannot be screwed in without turning the activator screw down, which in turn can only break the seals and release the controlling element into the chemicals. The only possible result then is the production of gas which must push the piston forward and the lubricant out. The gas is retained in a gas tight neoprene bag and also as part of the fail–safe design by the gas tight seals on the piston and the double O–rings on the starter cap.

However, to be assured, check the following:

• Verify the bearing condition with the Condition Monitoring program
• Check the bearing temperature.
• A fresh discharge of grease around the seals will normally be visible

No. GreaseMax is self–regulating and is a true automatic lubricator. It will maintain its correct discharge rate regardless of the bearing type, tolerance or operating conditions.

No.  See page 3, Operation of GreaseMax.

No, they are all the same size. The only difference is the discharge rates. (see the diagram and notes on page 3).

No. GreaseMax discharges at a very slow controlled rate and the amount of grease it can push into a bearing while the bearing is stopped for a few days will not a cause a problem.

If the plant is stopped for short periods, for instance at the weekend, the resistance of the grease way is increased. This may slow or temporarily stop the GreaseMax discharge. When the plant starts again grease–way resistance will reduce and the grease will be released into the moving bearing. (Eventually GreaseMax would build enough pressure to move grease into the stopped bearing).

When greasing is done with a grease gun, excess grease is used. Only a very small amount of grease is used by a bearing, the rest is wasted. Because GreaseMax introduces grease into the bearing at a slow controlled rate while the bearing is moving only a small output quantity is required.

Providing the correct GreaseMax is chosen to begin with, the output will be sufficient. An additional benefit is that the plant will remain much cleaner!

Several GreaseMax can be grouped together into one line to provide a higher feed rate.

No, never. The discharge cannot be evenly split, as every bearing has a different grease resistance. Inevitably one bearing will be starved of grease.

If GreaseMax is applied to a bearing with little or no grease–way resistance (which is common for many applications) and GreaseMax is unscrewed before it is empty, a lubricant discharge will be apparent but at a slow rate. Remember, GreaseMax operates in equilibrium with resistance.

On the other hand, a GreaseMax unit which is operating under higher pressure, will, if unscrewed before it is empty, discharge lubricant as the pressure equalises. If the pressure is high this discharge can be quite large, depending on the pressure and the volume of lubricant remaining in the GreaseMax unit.

This situation may cause confusion, especially if users have removed the product from bearings which are similar but have different grease–way resistances. For those bearings with a high grease–way or bearing resistance the GreaseMax when removed (assuming the unit is not fully discharged) will have a large lubricant discharge; for those with little or maybe no grease–way resistance and therefore low pressure there will be little or minimal discharge. The often–large variation between the amount of lubricant discharged from GreaseMax units from similar bearings when they are removed before the units are totally empty sometimes leads users to think that some of the units are defective when in fact the units are operating normally according to the conditions.

If GreaseMax is operating under a lot of pressure, when removed this pressure will be lost. The unit may have been at say, half–life, so the piston will be halfway down the cylinder. The chemical reaction which produces the pressure is very slow and to re–pressurise up to the required pressure the second time may take a considerable period. Under–lubrication during this period may result.

(Note: when first installed there is no problem with the time taken to accumulate pressure as the internal volume in the expansion diaphragm is fully taken up with liquid, so pressure develops quickly).

GreaseMax has a steel body for a very good reason.  Steel does not deform under the heat and pressure likely to be encountered when using GreaseMax in some applications.  Plastic does.  If this were to occur, GreaseMax would suffer failure.

The disadvantage of course is that the progress of the piston can’t be seen but the advantages in terms of the performance and reliability of the unit far outweigh the disadvantages.

Note: the rate of piston movement is very slow and visual monitoring of the piston would require careful periodic measurements to be made which would be time consuming and impractical in most operations.

As will be apparent, the time spent on manual greasing can be used more efficiently and the expense applied to a better maintenance outcome. If inspections are required, they are better done by qualified personnel as part of a Condition Monitoring program. If the bearings are correctly lubricated and then correctly inspected, (which need only be at relatively extended intervals), bearing life will be considerably improved. Maintenance costs will be greatly reduced and the costs of unscheduled production stoppages in terms of lost production and unscheduled maintenance will be lowered.

GreaseMax is made to be completely reliable in all conditions.  We prefer not to compromise with any design aspect but particularly this one.  To make it adjustable would mean added complexity and the addition of electrical components.  This would inevitably degrade the reliability factor.

In the industrial waste. Do not leave the expired units lying around for the curious to tamper with. Remember, GreaseMax contains a small amount of potassium hydroxide and retains residual pressure for a period after expiry. The amount of lubricant remaining in an expired GreaseMax is very small and does not give rise to environmental concerns for disposal.