To Seize Or Not To Seize

That's curious, Terry. In the case of copper based anti-sieze, I would have thought it softer than the bearing and if anything, be ground even finer than it is. Perhaps it was simply attracting dust and dirt? Nickel is also a soft metal, although harder than most copper.
 
This was a very clean although wet environment, dirt shouldn't be a problem. The bearings were normally greased on a regular basis, but I would not think that it had anything to do with the anti-seize / grease mixture either. In this particular instance, the bearing was installed by a new guy who evidently did not know any better. These bearings typically lasted several years with grease as the lubricant, but for some reason it appears that anti-seize did not work well. Now, it is possible that there was an unseen problem with this bearing right out of the box, and its failure and the use of anti-seize were just a coincidence, but the old timers there all claimed that it failed because of the anti-seize. Maybe they were right, maybe not.
 
Since it is not really designed as a lubricant, I suppose there are no EP additives, so maybe it just doesn't work as grease. Could be a bad bearing or bad install, but my guess (without explanation) is failure because of the anti-seize.
 
It seems clear that oil loaded with metal powder is not going to be as good a lubricant as grease even if the metal is softer than steel. For anti-sieze, of course, lubrication is not what exactly you want.
 
The load on these bearings is immense. The machine is a turning machine used in the brewing malt industry. It moves down the bed of germinating barley very slowly while the helixes gently turn and lift the grain to loosen it. If not done every few hours, the grains will grow into a tight mass that will not let air pass between the kernels. Anyway, the machine moves slowly through the bed, taking about 2 1/2 hours to travel the length of a 120' bed. The machine rests on four wheels which travel down the 'track' at the top of the compartment walls. The bearing in question is one of two on each of the four wheels. In addition to bearing the weight of the machine, they also carry the load of the wet grain being lifted at the same time. I know this is a little off topic, but thought others might find it interesting.
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So, I can see where foreign material or the lack of EP additives could have a significant effect on the life of a bearing.
 
Well dang another lesson from my youth shot to pieces. This was the same man that taught me to clean and chase all the nuts bolts and holes before reassembling and torquing.
Who-da a thunk it.
***G***
 
Just want to seize this opportunity to say that anti-seize has always worked well as anti-seize for me and that bearing grease has always worked well for me as bearing grease.
I tried milk of magnesia only once then put it back in the medicine cabinet. But I'm probably older than grumpy so I have probably forgot more than I ever learned.
 
Sandia said:
A mechanic mentor from back in the day, told me " you can paint an elephant with a teaspoon of anti-seize ".
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:grin big: very true! My can was getting dry after about 5 years, so I mixed in a little mineral spirits to liquefy it again. That was about 10 years ago. It still isn't even half gone yet.

GG
 
I've seen small amounts of the copper based stuff come packaged with brake relining kits. Why that would be better than nickel I don't know. Otherwise I use the Permatex Nickel Anti-Seize or the Never Seize (also nickel) 99% of the time. It does look a little scary on engine rebuilds, where I use as little as possible, at the first oil change to see that swirling nickel in the oil. Otherwise I use it all over and with abandon. I'm old enough now that I've taken apart plenty of rusty, baked stuff I re-assembled with it from 10 or 20 years ago and sing it's praises each and every time!

For electrical connections I use a copper bearing grease from Allen-Bradley called "Kopr-Sheild". Like No-ox, it has a non-corrosive, non-creaping base. Works great on crimps and screw terminal connections in hostile environments.

Not to be confused with Ideal's No-Alox which is an aluminum laden grease just for Aluminum electrical connections. I wouldn't use that for anything else.

Good old White Lithium grease has always served me well in wet locations too. Just I learned in the stationery engineers handbook, but I'm "old". :)
 
I was taught to use the silver permetex anti seize on the bevelle disc washers in a Bridgeports drawbar. This was from a factory trained tech. He also went out of his way to order it so it wasn't like he grabbed whatever was handy. Also every one I have taken apart seems to have the same stuff in it. However this is not a rotating part. I personally wouldn't use it on a bearing though
 
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