Hey Lubey

[Dan J]

I was passing by a giant wind turbine and for whatever reason
I started thinking about the bearings and lubricants used on the main shaft
Must be some huge loads and high maintenance requirements
Know anything about them? Anyone else?

[M.D. Holloway]

Yup - several years ago we were asked to send in a gear oil to meet a specific requirement to a German concern and they would test it for us and if it passed they would bless it. Well it cost somewhere in the hood of $80large! I passed at that point. Back then they said the oil would be in the box for 20 years. even at the extrordinary opportunity I still had little interest in a factory fill that lasted that long with out a change out - not much upside and too much liability and frankly even the most stout synthetic still could not be expected to last that long. It was a fools errand. So I waited.

Jump forward to present day. The gearboxes house over 20 gallons of oil and are required to be changed out every 3 to 5 years depending on certain factors. Third party maintenance teams will drain and pump in fresh oil and there is no 'police'n' of the oil being used. A sad but true tail. As with all good intentions a path to hell is well worn.

There aree grease requirements as well. The specs are somewhat sound albeit a tad over the top. We have grease and oil in my turbines that it is working well. Funny thing is, I never had our lubricants tested according to their terms. I just didn't think it was warrented. We presnted our emperical evidence as to the performance of the products and let the maintenance crew decide.

[Hugo930]

Nanos?