The grease selector below turns five answers into an NLGI grade and a short list of Zhongtian greases whose published operating range covers your conditions: where the grease goes, the coldest start-up, the hottest running temperature at the bearing, the load, and how much water it sees. Each result shows the product’s published range against yours, checks it against your load and water exposure where those apply, and explains why other greases were left out.
It is free, needs no sign-up, works on a phone, takes °C or °F, and gives you a link to the result that you can send to a colleague or a supplier.
A starting point, not a specification. Follow the equipment maker’s grease requirement where one is given, and confirm the final choice with the product data sheet or our technical team.
How the selector decides
The selector runs four checks on each of 30 Zhongtian greases, using the figures printed on each product page.
- Temperature. The grease’s published operating range must cover both your start-up and your running temperature. A grease with less than 10 °C of headroom at the top is flagged, because oxidation speeds up as a grease approaches its upper limit.
- Consistency. The NLGI grade comes from the application: NLGI 2 for general rolling bearings, softer grades for pumped and centralized systems, semi-fluid grades for grease-filled gearboxes. This follows the grade guidance in the SKF bearing grease selection chart and the NLGI consistency grades.
- Load. For heavy or shock loads, greases with a published four-ball extreme-pressure result rank first. The test is the four-ball method of ASTM D2596; our data sheets report it under SH/T 0202.
- Water. For splash or spray, greases rank by water washout loss, the method of ASTM D1264 (SH/T 0109 on our data sheets). The selector targets 8 % or less for splash and 5 % or less for direct spray.
The result is a starting point. Where the equipment maker names a grease specification, that specification decides, and the product data sheet is the final check before you order.
Which consistency for which job
| Application | Usual NLGI grade | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Rolling bearings, general machinery | 2 / 3 | NLGI 2 is the general choice. NLGI 3 holds better on vertical shafts, in large bearings and under vibration; NLGI 1 pumps and starts more easily in the cold. |
| Electric motors and high-speed bearings | 2 / 3 | Use a clean, low-noise bearing grease. Do not over-fill: motor bearings run hot when packed full. |
| Wheel hub bearings (trucks, trailers, cars) | 2 / 3 | Hub temperature, not air temperature, decides the grade: braking heat can push hubs well above ambient. |
| Pins and bushings (excavators, loaders, cranes) | 1 / 2 | Slow, heavily loaded, shock-loaded joints need extreme-pressure additives; MoS₂ helps where movement is small and oscillating. |
| Centralized (automatic) lubrication system | 000 / 00 / 0 / 1 | Check the pump and metering valves first: many systems accept NLGI 000–1 only, and long lines or cold starts need the softer end. |
| Grease-filled enclosed gearbox or reducer | 000 / 00 / 0 | Gear housings take semi-fluid grease that flows back into the mesh. |
| Open gears, chains and wire ropes | 0 / 1 / 2 | Exposed contacts need a tacky grease with a heavy base oil that stays on the tooth or strand. |
| Steel mill, kiln and furnace equipment | 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 | Combined heat, water spray and heavy load. Check the bearing temperature with a contact probe, not the ambient reading. |
| Constant-velocity (CV) joints | 2 | Inner and outer CV joints use different greases; match the joint type. |
Consistency depends mainly on how much thickener a grease contains, so one grease family is usually made in several NLGI grades. Choose the grade from the application and the pump or fitting, then the family from temperature, water and load.
Our greases by published operating range
All 30 greases the selector draws on, highest upper limit first. The ranges are the figures printed on each product page; ask for the current data sheet before you write one into a specification.
| Grease | Thickener | NLGI grades | Operating range | Dropping point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calcium Sulfonate Complex Grease | Calcium sulfonate complex | 3 | −30 °C to 230 °C | 300 °C |
| Extreme Pressure Lithium Complex Grease | Lithium complex | 2, 3 | −30 °C to 220 °C | 270 °C |
| Polyurea Grease for Industrial Applications | Polyurea | 2 | −20 °C to 220 °C | 260 °C |
| Heavy-duty Vehicle Wheel Hub Grease | – | 2, 3 | −30 °C to 200 °C | 280 °C |
| HP-2 Blue High Temperature Grease | Lithium 12-hydroxystearate | 3 | −30 °C to 200 °C | 260 °C |
| Blue High Temperature Grease HP-X | – | 3 | −30 °C to 200 °C | 270 °C |
| HEP Specific Blue High Temperature Grease | – | 3 | −30 °C to 200 °C | 300 °C |
| Rolling Mill Bearing Grease | – | 2, 3 | −30 °C to 200 °C | 302 °C |
| Caster Special Grease | Lithium complex | 0, 1, 2 | −30 °C to 200 °C | 252 °C |
| Grease for Sintering Machine | – | 0, 1 | −30 °C to 200 °C | 242 °C |
| Charging Roller Table Grease | – | – | −30 °C to 200 °C | 300 °C |
| Extreme Pressure Aluminium Complex Grease | Aluminium complex | 0, 1, 2 | −20 °C to 160 °C | 235 °C |
| Heavy-duty Open Gear Grease | Open gear grease, base oil 1,000–4,000 cSt | – | −30 °C to 150 °C | 220 °C |
| Special Low Temperature Grease | Polyurea | 2 | −60 °C to 140 °C | 250 °C |
| Lithium Base Grease FT108 | Lithium | 2, 3 | −30 °C to 130 °C | 146 °C |
| Construction Machinery Lithium Grease | Lithium | 2, 3 | −30 °C to 130 °C | 160 °C |
| Special White Grease | Lithium | 1, 2, 3 | −30 °C to 130 °C | 170 °C |
| Precision Bearing Grease | Lithium | 2, 3 | −20 °C to 130 °C | 175 °C |
| General Aviation Grease 7008 | Synthetic | 2 | −60 °C to 120 °C | 170 °C |
| Car Inner CV Joint Grease | CV joint grease | 2 | −40 °C to 120 °C | 190 °C |
| Car Outer CV Joint Grease | CV joint grease, MoS₂ | 2 | −40 °C to 120 °C | 188 °C |
| Automotive Multipurpose Lithium Grease | Lithium | 3 | −30 °C to 120 °C | 180 °C |
| Gear Reducer Grease | Semi-fluid grease | 00, 0 | −30 °C to 120 °C | – |
| Multi-purpose Lithium Grease | Lithium | 1, 2, 3 | −20 °C to 120 °C | 170 °C |
| Red MP3 Multi-purpose Lithium Grease | Lithium | 1, 2, 3 | −20 °C to 120 °C | 170 °C |
| Extreme Pressure Lithium Grease | Lithium | 0, 1, 2, 3 | −20 °C to 120 °C | 165 °C |
| Molybdenum Disulfide Lithium Grease | Lithium + MoS₂ | 0, 1, 2, 3 | −20 °C to 120 °C | 170 °C |
| Semi-fluid Lithium Grease | Lithium | 000, 00, 0 | −20 °C to 120 °C | 130 °C |
| Concrete Pump Truck Lithium Grease | Lithium | 000, 00, 0 | −20 °C to 120 °C | 130 °C |
| Calcium Based Grease FT109 | Calcium | 1, 2, 3 | −20 °C to 85 °C | 120 °C |
For bearings that run hot, high temperature grease compares the greases above 150 °C and what changes near the top of their range.