Wipe
To smear the soft babbitt lining of a plain bearing when the oil film fails, ruining the bearing.
Shop verb, also used as a noun, for the failure in which a journal contacts its babbitt lining, heats it near melting and drags the soft metal around the bore, leaving a smeared, displaced surface. Causes include loss of oil supply, low viscosity, overload, misalignment and starting heavy machines without lift oil. A wipe shows up as a sudden bearing temperature spike and a shift in shaft position or vibration.
Lost oil pressure for maybe twenty seconds and it wiped both journals on the ID fan.
After a wipe, check the journal for scoring and the oil for tin or lead before simply swapping the bearing shell.
Also heard as
- wiped bearing
- wiping
- bearing wipe
Related terms
Babbitt
Soft tin- or lead-based alloy that lines plain bearings so they tolerate dirt and brief contact.
Oil wedge
Shop name for the tapered, pressurized film of oil that lifts a shaft off a sleeve bearing.
Hydrodynamic lubrication
Full-film lubrication in which motion drags oil into a narrowing gap and builds enough pressure to float the load.
Adhesive wear
Wear where touching asperities weld together and tear, moving metal from one surface to the other.