NSK says its Molded-Oil technology has helped a food producer save $127,500 per year during the operation of two food production conveyors.
The food producer says it was experiencing ball bearing insert failures every four to six weeks, because the high-pressure washdown processes it was using were causing grease to wash out from the bearings, damaging the seals.
The downtime from these failures was estimated to cost $5000 per month, per line, and maintenance costs of were values at $3000 per year per line, and bearing replacements cost $1700 per year.
The food producer decided to source more durable bearings, and NSK delivered. An engineer from the company identified the problem of water washout, where lubricant is flushed out of bearings due to repeated washdowns.
NSK provided its Molded-Oil bearings, which use a solid lubricant, preventing it from being washed out. According to NSK, Molded-Oil bearings increase the reliability of machinery, lengthen the maintenance-free intervals, and are well-suited for corrosive and contaminated environments.
Molded-Oil can provide up to twice the operating life of grease lubrication in water contaminated environments. Operating environments are kept free of grease, and there is no need for lubricant replenishment.