Base oil viscosity of greases


Importance of Base oil Viscosity in Greases

While we’ve focused on the variances in greases due to thickener types, we haven’t touched much on the differences in base oil viscosity.

With gear oils, we need the correct viscosity to allow the gears to turn at the required rate while still being lubricated. If the oil is too thick and the gears are high speed, then the gears will not be lubricated quickly enough and they can become damaged. Similarly, greases are made up of base oil with different viscosities.

Most greases use a viscosity of 220cSt (these are the multipurpose greases). However, greases for electric motors use a base oil viscosity of 100cSt. What’s the difference?

Well, if a multipurpose grease was used for an electric motor the energy used for that motor can be 100W however, if a grease with a base oil viscosity of 100cSt was used, the energy used could be reduced to 70W. Is this significant? Definitely YES!!!

On any manufacturing plant, there are at least 5 – 10 electric motors, in some cases there are 70 or more! If at least 25W were saved per motor per month then the company can a significantly reduced power bill at the end of the year!

Understand your applications before applying “any” grease!