At
many industrial facilities, the job of tool lubrication is typically
assigned to a newly hired mechanic who has very little or no
lubrication knowledge and just learning the ins and outs of the
plant. These mechanics are provided a grease gun and told to
lubricate some crucial points on a particular line or possibly the
entire plant.
To
the maintenance supervisor, this task seems like an ideal way to make
familiar the other person with the plant’s equipment. While a new
mechanic, is performing a crucial task to help increase the bearing
life. In fact, both the mechanic and supervisor are right, but they
might be missing something.
Certainly,
assigning a new mechanic the job of lubricating equipment will help
him be familiarize with the plant’s equipment, but did you
understand what cost you are paying for this? The new mechanic might
be thinking in mind that you are performing a crucial task, but is
this the right way to increase the bearing life?
The
answer depends upon how well they train the new mechanic. In fact,
more than 35% of bearing failures happen due to improper lubrication.
An enthusiastic but not very well trained lube tech with a grease gun
can possibly become a reason for premature bearing failures and the
reason being over greasing or in other cases, lack of lubrication
practices.
So
here the question arises...
Should
you leave the task of motor lubrication
to the new mechanics?
Well!
The answer to this question is that unless the mechanic knows about
the healthy lubrication practices, you shouldn't assign this task to
him otherwise it can pay you a lot for the repairs.
