AST Bearings supplies bearings with high-quality lubricants that are typically qualified to certain military specifications. If a customer does not specify the type and quantity of lubricant, we will lubricate the bearings to conform to industry standards. However, it should be noted that there are many misconceptions regarding the shelf life of lubricants, and some discussion is worthwhile.

AST Bearings maintains a library of lubrication spec/data sheets and books describing the attributes of lubricants from most of the world’s major and specialist manufacturers, and we adhere to their published shelf-life guidelines. Shelf-life guidelines are often unclear and they usually only relate to the storage life of the lubricant in its original container. Once a lubricant has been applied to a bearing (or other device), factors that the manufacturer can neither predict nor control will govern the lubricant’s useful life. Therefore, the onus falls upon the end user to establish a different database regarding a lubricant’s storage and operating life.

In order to establish appropriate control procedures at AST Bearings, we retained the consulting services of a leading “Tribologist”. Using this advice, we established internal control procedures to conduct age-related testing after a lubricant or lubricated bearing is (at least) two years old. This is a scheduled time for testing and does not presuppose that the lubricant has aged beyond its usefulness. It should be noted that any of the lubricants or bearings that we have in stock are inventoried in a controlled environment in sealed containers.