


Heating of greases up to 300☌ is no problem for today's drop point measuring instruments. The temperature at which the dripping begins is called the drop point. This drop can be melted thickener soap or oil. Now the fat is continuously heated until a drop forms at the lower opening of the nipple. For this purpose, a small amount of grease is filled into a nipple in which a thermometer is located. In the test, the end point of a softening process is determined under static conditions.

DROPPOINT. ISO
The determination is regulated in DIN ISO 2176.

The drop point should not be confused with the temperature application limit for a grease! The drop point indicates the temperature in ☌ at which a small quantity of grease forms a long-drawing drop under defined test conditions. These values are indicators for an identity check or allow an indication of whether a grease can meet the set requirements at all or at any point in time. The drop point is determined mainly for fresh grease, but also for used grease (at least 3g of grease are necessary for the determination). The oil added during grease boiling is absorbed and retained by the thickener so that it can then be released again at the lubrication point under defined conditions during use. The raw materials, which are actually powdery, form this "sponge-like" thickener structure in a cooking process. lithium, calcium, sodium or aluminum or combinations of these soaps are usually used as thickeners. All types of mineral and synthetic oils with different additive compositions are used as base oils. The base oil is embedded by the thickener, similar to a sponge, and thus prevented from running off. They consist of up to 95% base oils with additives. Lubricating greases are not chemically pure substances. It is very important that the grease does not "melt away" even at rising temperatures, but adheres to it! If an oil would drip from the lubrication point or even run out and the moving parts would then run dry, a grease is used instead of the oil. Machine elements are usually lubricated with a lubricating grease when a continuous supply of oil to the lubrication point is technically not feasible or only at great expense. The drop point – an important parameter for lubricating greases
