Breathers

One of the most overlooked causes of wear in almost all types of machinery is dust.

Dust particles are extremely abrasive and if left unchecked, will build up in the oil and form a grinding paste. The result is well polished, very shiny gear teeth which look pretty but are shiny because of wear. The most common entry point for dust and water is through the breather.

A gear box will exchange it’s internal free air volume a minimum of four times a day when standing idle and in excess of tenfold when operating, as the temperature changes. Air carrying dust and water are sucked in when the compartment cools, dust settles in the oil, the water condenses and the air is expelled as the compartment warms up, repeating the cycle again as it cools. This heating and cooling is a natural process which occurs during the daily ambient cycles from day to night but air movement is rapidly accelerated with temperature changes due to operation.

Dust and water are flushed when we change oil and are usually the main reason for changing oil in non-combustion compartments so it makes sense to look after the way in which our equipment breathes. We often see new gearboxes arrive at site fitted with a plug with a hole in it or a breather which consists of scrunched up scourer pad which will stop particles entering over about 1mm.

At Clean Oil Services, we have selected a range of off-the-shelf products which are cost effective and which work to filter the dust and stop it entering the system at very affordable prices. A breather costs from less than $10 to $100…. A gearbox costs from thousands to hundreds of thousands – protect your equipment from contamination by maintaining your breathers.

Let us advise you of the most effective breathers to suit your application. Our spin on range starts from 3µm at less than $20.00 each.

Our range includes stainless steel spin on breather bases designed to prevent water entry, 3, 5 and 10µm spin on breathers and a complete range of desiccant water absorption breathers.