Ceramic Bushing Lubrication

Grease and oil are common lubricants for hybrid bearings but ceramic bearings are less sensitive to fluctuations in lubrication conditions.

Ceramic bushing lubrication.

Prevent electrical arcing when electrical current passes across bearings a washboard pattern appears on the raceways along with a darkened grey appearance. There are ptfe grease formulations for full ceramic bearings but they are used more in higher speed applications such as cycling. For example compared to steel bearings ceramic balls can operate under the same lubrication conditions at speeds up to 20 higher. Given the lower speed and load the bearings will be subject to in a mount you should be fine running them dry.

Lubrication all bearings whether steel or ceramic require lubrication. In applications lubricated by water or process fluid bearing materials need to be both chemically resistant to the fluid and able to operate with thin films. Grease and oil lubricants can also be added to full ceramic bearings as well as hybrids in order to change performance characteristics such as increase speed reduce ball skidding or reduce noise. Ceramic cermet bearings are used successfully in many oil water and process lubricated pump applications.