5 Myths About Lubrication

And how they're quietly sabotaging your equipment, budget, and uptime

Myth #1: “All oils are basically the same.”

Truth: Lubricants are engineered, not generic.

Some people treat oil selection like picking a soft drink grab what’s on sale, pour it in, and hope for the best. But lubrication is not a one-size-fits-all.

Why it matters:

Every machine has a unique set of operating conditions: load, temperature, speed, environment, duty cycle, etc. Lubricants are designed with specific base oils and additive packages tailored to these conditions. Choosing the wrong one can lead to foaming, poor film strength, corrosion, varnish buildup, or thermal breakdown.

Real-world example:

Using an AW (anti-wear) hydraulic oil in a gear drive might sound harmless, but that fluid lacks the extreme pressure (EP) additives needed for boundary lubrication in heavily loaded gears. The result? Premature wear, pitting, and eventual failure.

Action step:

• Always consult OEM recommendations and factor in real-life conditions.
• Standardize product selection and labeling with a lubricant consolidation chart.
• Don’t mix brands unless you’ve confirmed compatibility with both the supplier and a chemist, some additive packages react like vinegar and baking soda.

Myth #2: “If it’s not leaking, it’s fine.”

Truth: Silent failures are still failures.

This mindset is like assuming your arteries are fine because you haven’t had a heart attack yet. Just because you don’t see oil on the floor doesn’t mean everything’s running clean and smooth.

What gets missed:

• Oxidation
• Water and coolant contamination
• Additive depletion
• Ferrous wear debris
• Acid buildup

These degrade lubricant quality and cause internal wear long before a leak ever appears.

The red flag:

By the time you hear unusual noises, experience excess vibration, or smell burnt oil, the damage is already happening and often irreversible.

Action step:

• Implement a regular oil analysis program, quarterly at minimum.
• Use particle count, water content (Karl Fischer or crackle test), TAN/TBN, and elemental spectroscopy as part of your routine.
• Pair sampling with visual inspection of breathers, seals, and fill ports.

Myth #3: “More grease means more protection.”

Truth: Over greasing destroys bearings.

It’s the well-meaning maintenance tech’s cardinal sin. If a little grease is good, more must be better right? Not even close.

What really happens:

• Too much grease = rising temperatures = oxidation = accelerated wear.
• Grease gets churned into foam, loses structure, and can’t lubricate effectively.
• Excess grease builds heat and forces its way past seals, pulling in contaminants or blowing seals out entirely.

Common offenders:

• Electric motors (especially small ones)
• Pillow block bearings
• Couplings

Action step:

• Use ultrasonic grease guns to detect when grease actually reaches the bearing.
• Follow the manufacturer's guidelines for re-lube intervals and volumes.
• Consider switching to automatic lubricators for consistency and precision.

Myth #4: “Change oil on a fixed schedule, not condition.”

Truth: Time-based changes are outdated and wasteful.

The 3,000-mile oil change myth bled into industrial plants like an unwanted tradition. Changing oil purely by time or run hours is easy but it’s also expensive and often incorrect.

Why it fails:

• Clean oil may be dumped before it's necessary (wasteful).
• Contaminated oil might stay in service too long between changes (risky).

Real story:

At one facility, maintenance was draining and refilling the oil in a fleet of centrifugal pumps every three months like clockwork. No questions asked. After introducing oil analysis, they discovered many of those pumps were running in clean environments, at steady loads, and the oil was still in excellent shape after six months or more.

They slashed their lubricant consumption by 40%, reduced labor hours, and, most importantly, stopped risking contamination during unnecessary oil changes.

Action step:

• Transition to condition-based oil changes using oil analysis.
• Use wear metals, viscosity, acid number, and oxidation levels to determine health.
• Consider condition monitoring sensors for real-time data on critical systems.

Myth #5: “We’ve always done it this way.”

Truth: Legacy practices are your reliability killer.

There’s nothing like institutional stubbornness to tank a good maintenance program. Legacy lubrication practices may have made sense 30 years ago but machines, lubricants, and reliability strategies have evolved.

Old-school red flags:

• Equipment that is vented to the atmosphere with no desiccant breathers
• No labeling on fill points or oil containers
• Mixing grease types without consideration for compatibility
• Using dirty funnels or “universal” pump carts

Cultural inertia is the real enemy.

The "we’ve always done it this way" mentality is comfortable, but it blinds teams to progress. And let's face it, some techs learned bad habits from others who never got training either.

Action step:

• Audit your lubrication practices from cradle (receipt and storage) to grave (drain and disposal).
• Train your team, not just once, but continuously. Modern lube knowledge isn’t common sense.
•  Use color-coded tags, labels, and charts to enforce procedures.

Final Word: Lubrication = Strategy, Not Chore

When done right, lubrication can extend equipment life, reduce energy usage, prevent failures, and save tens of thousands annually. When done wrong, or based on myths, it’s a ticking time bomb.
Start by killing these five myths in your plant. Turn lubrication from an afterthought into a reliability cornerstone. Your machines (and budget) will thank you.

Ready to ditch outdated lube habits?

Start by sharing this article with your maintenance team and spark the conversation. Then take the next step, audit your current lubrication practices and see which “myths” are quietly costing you. Need help identifying them? Let’s talk.