Open gears… both ugly and beautiful – like that toothless, super sweet rescue dog your gal saved from death row. Open gear lube is just ugly. Effective, but ugly.
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, open gears have been an outstanding, effective and efficient engineering workhorse. Used for power transmission in mills, draglines, shovels and kilns (to name a few) open gears are subject to contaminants and debris that can cause significant wear. Generally under high loads, open gears need lubricated with a product that can withstand extreme pressure (EP). In addition to EP additives, open gear lubes must also deliver the following characteristics:
- Resistance to water washout
- Protect against corrosion and rust
- Adhesion to metal surfaces
- Easy application
- Resistance to fling off
- Cushioning ability
- High film strength
Tacky and tenacious, open gear lubricants are formulated to provide a number of life extending benefits to the gears on which they’re sloppily applied. There’s nothing neat and tidy about open gears; they’re typically covered in dark, sticky lubricant and touching them with your bare hands generally leads to misery.
While not pretty in the Miss America sense, open gears are a very attractive means of transmitting power!
