Objective: get data from real machines before changing grease: how long LUBCON grease stays on the draw-frame rollers compared with the grease in use, and which grease suits the spindle bearings of the ring frames (spindle speed about 19,500 rpm) and the open gears. Result: on the draw-frame rollers the LUBCON grease was still in place after at least 18 days (when the trial was stopped), compared with about 9 days for the grease in use; the open gears and the ring-frame spindle bearings were stable after two weeks by observation.
A spinning mill with tens of thousands of spindles in the Mekong Delta was using an imported grease from another manufacturer on the draw-frame rollers with a two-week relubrication interval, but the grease lasted only about 9 days. The mill wanted data from its own machines before changing: how long LUBCON grease would stay on the draw-frame rollers, and which grease would suit the high-speed spindle bearings and the open gears of the ring frames.
In June 2017, Hop Tien technicians chose the trial points and the grease machine by machine. Draw frames from a European manufacturer: TURMOGREASE Highspeed L 252 on one machine and THERMOPLEX 2 TML on a second machine of the same type, against the grease in use. Ring frames, spindle speed about 19,500 rpm: TURMOPRO Li 1503 for the spindle bearings and bottom-roller bearings; GRIZZLYGREASE No. 3 for the open drive gears, a low-speed, high-load point. Each point was inspected visually (color, adhesion, running, fling-off) at 14 and 18 days.
Rule for the trial: a grease with a different thickener from the grease in use means the old grease is cleaned out, not pumped over; with the same thickener, the old grease is still purged completely before the trial grease is pumped in. A Hop Tien engineer confirms the procedure for each point before the change.
Draw frames: at 14 days, the LUBCON grease on the rollers had not changed color or run and still adhered well to the shaft; at 18 days (when the trial was stopped) the grease was still on the rollers, whereas the grease in use lasted only about 9 days. The actual retention time may be longer than 18 days but was not measured. This gives the mill a basis for considering a longer relubrication interval. The report records the two trial greases on the draw-frame rollers together, not separately by grade; THERMOPLEX 2 TML is the grade Hop Tien presents for draw-frame rollers on the high-speed grease page.
Ring frames: after two weeks, GRIZZLYGREASE No. 3 adhered well to the open gears with little fling-off and full coverage of the tooth surfaces; TURMOPRO Li 1503 ran stably on the spindle bearings and bottom-roller bearings by observation. These two points run at very different speeds (spindles about 19,500 rpm; the drive gear shaft much slower), so they do not share one grease, and the ring-frame spindle bearings use a different grade from the greases trialed on the draw-frame rollers.
| Point · machine | Trial grease | Inspection point | Observations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Draw-frame rollers (reference) | Grease in use from another manufacturer | 2-week interval | Lasted only about 9 days according to the mill's records |
| Draw-frame rollers, first machine | TURMOGREASE Highspeed L 252 | 14 and 18 days | No change in color, no running, still adhering; still on the rollers at day 18 (trial stopped). Recorded together with the grease below |
| Draw-frame rollers, second machine | THERMOPLEX 2 TML | 14 and 18 days | No change in color, no running, still adhering; still on the rollers at day 18 (trial stopped) |
| Spindle bearings and bottom-roller bearings of the ring frame (spindles ~19,500 rpm) | TURMOPRO Li 1503 (no product page yet) | 2 weeks | Running stably by observation; further monitoring according to the mill's maintenance schedule |
| Open drive gears of the ring frame (low speed) | GRIZZLYGREASE No. 3 | 2 weeks | Adheres well, little fling-off, full coverage of the tooth surfaces |
Results by grease and trial point (assessed visually; the report has no bearing housing temperature readings)
Trial report, June 2017; results assessed visually, and Hop Tien provides the photos, records and a detailed explanation on request. Plant name, machine make and the other manufacturer's grease name are withheld in line with Hop Tien's practice.
Objective: verify the hydrocracked mineral air compressor oil CPI-9370-46 under air-compressor conditions in Vietnam (hot discharge, dusty and humid compressor rooms) and use oil analysis to set the change interval for each machine. Six machines at three plants were monitored; this article presents three representative machines. Result: the normal samples held a viscosity of 44–50 mm²/s, within ISO VG 46, and a TAN below 0.5 mg KOH/g up to almost 5,000 hours; the 75 kW machine went on to 7,612 hours on one fill when monitoring ended (last analyzed sample at 4,872 hours); one case of water entering the oil was detected early through routine sampling and dealt with.
Binh Duong (now Ho Chi Minh City), North Central Vietnam, Dong Nai · Aug 2022 – Jul 2023
Objective: fill the ammonia refrigeration compressor oil CPI-1009-68 into four NH₃ screw compressors with 11,400–49,100 running hours without letting old oil and sludge contaminate the new oil. Method: drain the compressor unit and the separator through the machine's oil drain valve, clean the filter, drain every low point until the oil runs clear, and only then pump in the new oil; done during a maintenance stop, without dismantling the machines.
Dong Thap · Oct 2016
Objective: in a station with several machines, choose the oil by each machine's conditions and the base oil in it, and change the oil without carrying old deposits into the new oil. The 132 kW machine runs hot (display reading about 96 °C at the survey) and was on another manufacturer's PAG-based oil; it was switched to CPI-1522-46, a PAG/ester oil of the same family. The 200 kW machine runs cooler and was given the PAO oil CPI-4601-46. Both were drained completely, the separator tanks cleaned and the separator elements and filters replaced before filling; Hop Tien recommends an analysis sample after 500 hours.
Dong Nai · Nov 2018 – Aug 2019
Objective: clean the varnish out of a 75 kW screw air compressor with many years of service and switch it to an NSF H1 registered air compressor oil without a long shutdown. Method: run the cleaning oil CPI COMP CLEAN II (not an H1 oil) in production for up to 500 hours per TDS so the varnish dissolves gradually; drain completely, clean the system and replace the filters as recommended; only then fill the H1 oil CPI-4265-46F and monitor by periodic oil analysis according to the plant's maintenance schedule.
Binh Duong (now Ho Chi Minh City) · Mar 2019
Objective: clean the carbon deposits from the chain and guide rails of an 8-chamber stenter before switching to LUBCON TURMOFLUID 40 B chain oil, with a procedure that can be repeated on the other machines: mechanical cleaning, spraying the cleaning oil LUBCON TURMOWOODOIL MKP Cleaner at the chain's working temperature in several rounds, blowing with compressed air, then changing the oil. Results assessed visually (before/after photos) and by the maintenance team's observations.
Dong Nai · 2017