Designation: D 1264 96

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS 100 Barr Harbor Dr., West Conshohocken, PA 19428 Reprinted from the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. Copyright ASTM

An American National Standard

Standard Test Method for

Determining the Water Washout Characteristics of Lubricating Greases1

This standard is issued under the xed designation D 1264; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval. This test method has been adopted for use by government agencies to replace Method 3252 of Federal Test Method Standard No. 79 lb.

1. Scope 1.1 This test method covers the evaluation of the resistance of a lubricating grease to washout by water from a bearing, when tested at 38 and 79C (100F and 175F) under the prescribed laboratory conditions. It is not to be considered the equivalent of service evaluation tests. 1.2 The values state in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. The values given in parentheses are for information only. 1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. For specic hazard statements, see 6.2 and 7.1. 2. Referenced Documents 2.1 ASTM Standards: D 235 Specication for Mineral Spirits (Petroleum Spirits) Hydrocarbon Dry Cleaning Solvent2 3. Summary of Test Method 3.1 The grease is packed in a ball bearing, the bearing is then inserted in a housing with specied clearances, and rotated at 6006 30 rpm. Water, controlled at the specied test temperature, impinges on the bearing housing at a rate of 5 6 0.5 mL/s. The amount of grease washed out in 1 h is a measure of the resistance of the grease to water washout. 4. Signicance and Use 4.1 This test method estimates the resistance of greases to water washout from ball bearings under conditions of the test. No correlation with eld service has been established.
1 This test method is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee D-2 on Petroleum Products and Lubricants and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee D02.G on Lubricating Grease. Current edition approved June 10, 1996. Published August 1996. Originally published as D 1264 53 T. Last previous edition D 1264 93. 2 Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 05.01.

5. Apparatus 3 5.1 Ball Bearing, ASTM test bearing size 6204.4 5.2 Bearing Housing and Shield with dimensions as shown in Fig. 1. 5.3 Reservoir, Bearing-Housing Mount, Circulating Pump, and Drive Motor, similar or equivalent to those shown in Fig. 1. Table 1 provides the metric equivalents. 5.4 Heating Source, to maintain the water temperature at 79 6 1.7C (175 6 3F).
NOTE 1Suitable temperature control may be obtained by the use of immersion heaters, steam coils, or infrared heat lamps, in conjunction with transformers or thermostats.

5.5 Thermometer or Thermocouple, to determine the temperature of the water reservoir. 6. Materials and Reagents 6.1 Distilled Water. 6.2 Stoddard Solvent (WarningSee Note 2) in accordance with the requirements of Specication D 235, or ASTM n-heptane5 (WarningSee Note 3). 7. Preparation of Apparatus 7.1 Clean the reservoir and water passages by ushing with distilled water. Wipe off any oil scum which has been deposited on the surfaces of the reservoir. Clean the test bearing with Stoddard solvent (WarningSee Note 2.) or ASTM n-heptane (WarningSee Note 3).
NOTE 2Warning: Combustible. Vapor harmful.
3 This apparatus is available from the Precision Scientic Co., 3737 Cortland St., Chicago, IL, Labline, Inc., 3072-82 W. Grant Ave., Chicago, IL, 60622 as Catalog No. 4165, and Stanhope-Seta Limited, Park Close, Engleeld Green, Egham, Surrey, England, TW20 OXD. as Catalog No. 1961. 4 The ball bearing has been standardized by Subcommittee D 02.01 on Lubricating Grease of Committee D-2 and is available from ASTM Headquarters at nominal cost by specifying PCN 12-433360-12. Copies of correspondence and test data regarding the selection of the test bearing can be obtained from the Information Center at ASTM Headquarters by requesting Research Report RR: D02-1272. 5 Described in Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 05.04, Motor Fuels Section I, Annex 2, Section A2.8 Reference Materials.

D 1264

FIG. 1 Water Washout Characteristics of Lubricating Grease Apparatus TABLE 1 Metric Equivalents for Fig. 1
in. 0.010 0.015 0.031 18 532 316 14 mm 0.25 0.38 0.79 3.18 3.97 4.76 6.35 in. 0.875 0.938 214 6 mm 22.22 23.81 57.1 152 F 100 6 5 175 6 3 C 37.8 6 3 79.4 6 2

NOTE 3Warning: Flammable. Harmful if inhaled.

8. Procedure 8.1 Pack the tared bearing with 4.00 6 0.05 g of test grease. Insert the bearing and tared shields into the housing, and
2

assemble the unit in the test apparatus. 8.2 Add a minimum of 750 mL of preheated distilled water to the reservoir, but keep the water level below the bearing housing. Without starting the bearing, start the water circulating pump while diverting the water spray from the housing by means of a piece of tubing attached to the capillary discharge tube or with a deecting metal shield until equilibrium temperature is attained. When the test is to be made at the higher temperature of 79 6 1.7C (175 6 3F), it will be necessary to heat the water to the specied temperature by a previously selected source of heat. 8.2.1 If the rig has one motor driving both pump and test bearing, remove the belt from the test bearing spindle pulley

D 1264
during water warm-up time. 8.3 When the water reaches the specied temperature, adjust the by-pass valve to give a water-ow rate, through the rubber tubing and into a glass graduate, of 5 6 0.5 mL/s (Note 4). Remove the rubber tubing from the capillary discharge tube, and adjust the water jet so that it impinges on the end plate 6 mm (14 in.) above the outer opening of the bearing housing. Start the bearing.
NOTE 4Sufficient experience should be obtained with a particular tester to make sure that the water-ow rate can be maintained within the specied limits for a 1-h test run.

10. Precision and Bias 10.1 The precision of this test method was obtained using the ASTM Committee D02 on Petroleum Products and Lubricants Precision Program (D2PP).6 10.2 RepeatabilityThe difference between successive results obtained by the same operator with the same apparatus under constant operating conditions on identical test material would, in the long run, in the normal and correct operation of the test method exceed the following values only in one case in twenty.
38C 79C Repeatability r 5 0.8 (X + 2) r 5 0.6 (X + 4.6)

8.4 With the bearing operating at a speed of 600 6 30 rpm, continue the operation for 1 h. 8.5 Shut off the motor and heating source, if used. Remove the test bearing and shields and place them on a tared watch glass, with the shields being separated from the bearing and placed with their inner faces upward to expose the wet grease to the air. 8.6 Dry the bearing and shields for 15 h at 77 6 6C (170 6 10F), and then weigh to determine the grease loss (Note 5). The grease remaining on the shields, and any leakage occurring during the drying period, should not be considered as grease lost. Duplicate tests shall be run.
NOTE 5Some weight loss may be experienced for greases containing low-viscosity oils because of oil evaporation during drying. The drying temperature should be increased to 93 6 3C (200 6 5F) for greases containing high-viscosity oils, to facilitate removal of water during the time period specied.

where: X is the average of two results in %. 10.2.1 ReproducilibityThe difference between two single and independent results obtained by different operators working in different laboratories on identical test material would, in the long run, exceed the following values only in one case in twenty.
38C 79C Reproducibility R 5 1.4 (X + 2) R 5 1.1 (X + 4.6)

where: X is the average of two results in %. 10.3 BiasThe procedure in this test method has no bias because the value of grease washout can be dened only in terms of a test method. 11. Keywords 11.1 grease; washout; water
6 Available from ASTM Headquarters at a nominal cost. Request PCN 13502000-12.

9. Report 9.1 Report the average of duplicate tests as the percentage weight of grease washed out at the test temperature, and indicate the temperature at which the bearing assembly and grease were dried.

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