The Grease Thief supplements a number of the major concerns associated with grease analysis. Without disassembling the
component, the Grease Thief will fit into an electric motor drain port to replace the use of drain plugs.  In this case the Grease Thief is serving two purposes.  First, the Grease Thief allows for grease to purge from the drain port thus protecting the bearing shield and seal. Second, it provides a protective pathway for the grease to be captured and submitted to the lab for analysis.  The Grease Thief not only applies to electric motors, pillow block bearings and motor operated valves can also be tested using similar kits.

Grease Thief kits for Pillow Block Bearings are available and contain a spatula, syringe, Grease Thief and storage tube.  The double ended spatula can be used to scrap the non-representative grease away from the face of the pillow block and allow easy access to representative sample around the annular slot of the bearing.  Using the other end of the spatula the grease can be scraped away from the bearing and placed into the open end of the syringe.  The syringe can then inject the used grease into an empty Grease Thief.  The storage tube allows for easy shipping options to send to the lab for analysis.

Grease Thief sampling for motor operated valves requires a different approach when sampling.  The most accurate sample from an MOV comes from right near the gear.  The Type 1 Grease Thief used for electric motor and pillow blocks does not apply in this case.  For this reason, Grease Thief Type 2 was developed with a “stinger” probe on the end of the tool.  The Grease Thief Type 2 is hooked onto an extension handle where the operator is able to screw the Grease Thief into the end of the extension handle and plunge through the non-representative grease inside the gearbox.  Once the “stinger” on the Grease Thief hits the gear the “stinger” will compress and fill the Grease Thief with grease.  The Grease Thief can be wiped off and unscrewed from the extension handle and sent to the lab for analysis. Find out what the Grease Thief Measures here.