Multi-purpose greases

Multi-purpose greases
Multi-purpose greases are recommended for most maintenance applications where the temperature remains within a conventional range of -20°C to 130°C. Load, speed and lifetime constraints also remain within standard values.
Application fields

Description

Multi-purpose greases are called traditional or conventional greases. They are recommended everywhere when constraints remain “moderate”. Mostly offered in NLGI2 grade, the most versatile: The archetype being EP2 Grease. These are the greases with the best price/performance ratio and they have proved their worth over a long time.

As their name indicates, they are very versatile. They are suitable for all types of general lubrication. Targeted additives and the know-how of manufacturers-formulators have nevertheless made them very good challengers for speciality greases.

They cover all application fields, or nearly all, and are available in all sorts of packaging:

  • from the 400g cartridge, which remains the most common small format
  • up to 190kg drums

According to the industry, these multi-purpose greases can be offered in boxes, buckets or kegs and also aerosols and automatic greasers.

Applications

Multi-purpose or multi-functional greases are particularly suitable for lubrication of equipment such as:

  • Ball bearings, needle bearings
  • Plain bearings
  • Axles and articulations
  • Roller bearings
  • Agricultural machinery
  • Gimbals, chassis
  • Pipes (for their protection)
  • ...

Characteristics

Multi-purpose greases can be made of calcium soaps (hydrated or anhydrous) but more generally they are made of a lithium soap. This chemistry is particularly stable and resistant to mechanical constraints. Its high dropping point (around 190°C) allows it to be used at temperatures of around 140°C. We make mixed lithium-calcium soaps to improve behaviour in the presence of water and thus reinforce the versatility of this type of grease.

Soaps such as lithium complexes or sulphonate allow for high-end multi-purpose greases.

The mineral base oil is perfectly suited to the target range of service temperatures.

Thanks to multi-purpose additives they can fully meet the technical requirements of general maintenance and remain much more economical than speciality greases.

  • Excellent mechanical strength, stable to rolling and shearing
  • Very good adherence to surfaces, resistant to water wash-out
  • Large spectrum of additives: Anti-oxidant, anti-corrosion, anti-rust, anti-wear, extreme pressure (EP)
  • Generally miscible with each other and with numerous elastomers.

Multi-purpose greases can contain solid lubricants to increase EP performance and can be coloured to limit errors in use.

They are available in all NLGI grades from 000 to grade 3. Their viscosity is generally in the range 100 cSt to 320 cSt but can be formulated from base oil of any viscosity (from 9 cSt to 1000 cSt).

Product benefits

Multi-purpose or multi-service greases are the core of maintenance lubrication.

Characteristics Customer benefits
Diversity of the offer, interest for all markets Products optimised with frequent updates = Excellent value for money
“Wide spectrum” additives, versatile thickeners Suitable for numerous applications  => A single grease = Rationalisation of stocks and procurement
Numerous lines available in different packaging Each industry and specificity taken into account  = Easier organisation of maintenance structure

Associated services

CONDAT offers equipment suitable for facilitating implementation of our lubricants:

Condat provides Technical assistance to advise you and guarantee optimum use of our lubricants.