Dirty grease is a silent killer of bearings. Monitoring bearings with ultrasound can often reveal contaminants in the grease, but not if you rely solely on trending dB levels. An increasing RMS and Max RMS value alone may indicate a starving lubrication film, but add Crest Factor analysis and the potential to identify dirty grease is a reality. An increase in CF, followed by a subsequent decrease may indicate that dirty grease is grinding your bearing.
Tip Provided by:
Allan Rienstra
SDT Ultrasound Solutions
