Water washout is a common issue across all industrial industries where machines operate under severe conditions, with high productivity and little downtime. Cleaning processes, environmental factors and general machine usage mean bearings, chains and parts are constantly exposed to water and chemicals that require grease to protect them from rust, seizing and wear. Understandably it’s important that same grease doesn’t wash away with every blast of water, so here’s our advice on how to reduce the chances of water washout of your grease…
Choose a Calcium Sulfonate based grease
While lithium based complex greases have been the standard for many years, technological improvements in machinery have affected the operating parameters of machinery, and therefore the requirements of lubricating greases. This has made way for a diverse range of greases developed for different applications, however for applications requiring H1 approval (food grade), heat resistance and/or water tolerance, a calcium sulfonate-based grease is the way to go.
Benefits of Calcium Sulfonate based grease
Water resistance - calcium sulfonate is a thicker property, providing excellent water-resistance that does not break down in the presence of water.
Extreme pressure properties – calcium sulfonate greases excel in extreme pressure performance.
Formulated for use in H1 (food grade) – calcite particles have natural lubricating properties meaning it is not always necessary to add performance additives containing sulpher, phosphorus or zinc. This allows some calcium sulfonate greases to be approved for H1 food grade use.
High operating range - Calcium sulfonate-based greases have a higher dropping point, making them ideal for high-temperature applications.
Beneficial for rust performance, with oxidation stability considered good or excellent.
Lithium is becoming a scarce resource, with increasing demand for its use in electric vehicles. With demand going to other resources, and the availability of alternative greases, lithium-based greases will become harder to source and therefore prices are likely to increase in the coming years.
Our Recommendations…
For food grade applications we highly recommend Purity FG2 Synthetic. This has been specifically formulated for the toughest food grade applications with outstanding protection against wear and water washout over a wide range of operating temperatures. Customers who have switched to Purity FG2 Synthetic grease have commented on its ability to get where it needs to be – and stay there! View more information & specs here.
For other industrial applications, the Peerless LLG Calcium Sulphonate greases have been developed for multi-application, formulated to reduce operating costs and provide extended protection in high temperature or wet operating conditions. View more information & specs here.
If you’re interested in testing a grease that’ll knock your socks off, but won’t wash away, get in touch and we’d be happy to send you a sample.