Inadequate gland seal maintenance can cause pump bearing failures and lead to downtime, but fortunately there's an easy way to prevent this. Learn how Accumin™ lubricators can help prevent costly bearing failures caused by leaking gland seals to keep your operation running smoothly.

When pumping slurry, gland seals can be prone to leakage. This is often caused by inadequate maintenance, incorrect lubrication application, poor quality gland water, or a combination of all three. Plant operators should be vigilant against gland seal leakage as it can cause premature bearing assembly failures, leading to downtime.

Gland Maintenance

Inadequate gland maintenance can cause leakage, spraying slurry or water directly onto the pump’s bearing assembly. If this penetrates the bearings, there is a high risk of failure.

In some instances, incorrect gland seal adjustment causes unwanted leakage. This can be resolved by regularly adjusting the seal and ensuring seal water supply is high quality and free of abrasive particles.

Bearing assembly lubrication

In addition to contamination ingress from leaking gland seals, incorrect bearing assembly lubrication volume is another factor to be mindful of. If a pump bearing assembly is over greased, a build-up of excess grease in the bearing assembly cavity can cause grease churning resulting in elevated bearing temperatures. This leads to rapid degradation of grease and subsequent bearing failure. Conversely, if the bearing assembly is under greased, the loss of fluid film lubrication will cause premature bearing wear. When this occurs, the remaining grease will experience accelerated degradation due to internal contamination caused by abrasive wear particles.

To help prevent premature bearing assembly failures, Weir Minerals recommends that grease should be regularly supplied to the bearing assembly labyrinth seals using Accumin™ automatic lubricators. This provides a protective barrier against gland leakage and other sources of external contamination whilst also regreasing the bearings.

Michael Roinich, Weir Minerals Accumin™ Product Specialist states “Our Accumin automatic lubricators are a heavy-duty, single point lubrication system designed specifically for Warman slurry pumps. They deliver the required amount of grease in line with our specifications and are fitted as standard on any new pumps. This helps our customers prevent bearing failures, keeping their operations running smoothly.”

The Accumin™ range is comprised of two lubricators with easy to adjust dispensing systems. The Accumin™ 125 lubricator, ideal for smaller pumps, is waterproof, gas operated and ready to use straight out of the box. The 250 model embraces the latest technology and is recommended for larger pumps, featuring a reusable electro-mechanical drive unit embedded with software which can determine fault codes. This model features an LCD display and LED indicators which immediately confirm the lubrication system’s operational status. Accumin™ lubricators are suitable for most grease lubricated rotating equipment including conveyors, fans, electric motors, valves, filter belts, vacuum pumps, mechanical seals and gearbox seals.