The few minutes it takes to go through daily maintenance is simple but significant to prolong the life of your drilling equipment. It’s important to know what to grease and how often — this minimizes the risk of equipment malfunction. Whether sampling soil or drilling water wells, the following guidelines to regular greasing and cleaning will help preserve your drilling rig and increase your efficiency:

1. Catch Now, Prevent Regret Later

Start your daily maintenance by checking grease levels because doing so will lead you around most of the drill’s major components, including the drive chain and water swivel. While greasing, inspect the drive chain for any slack that needs to be removed and clear slip plates of grease and soil. Also, tighten any loose bolts.

2. Use the Right Grease

Be sure to use a molybdenum-based grease because it remains viscous even at high temperatures, meaning it stays inside the fitting longer than oil.

3. Drawworks to the Mast

Use a grease gun to inject two to three pumps into the fittings before starting the drill and every few hours while the drill operates. The slip pads on the drawworks and mast need to be cleaned and lubricated with a light film of silicone spray after about eight hours of operation so the drill can lift the drivehead smoothly and quickly.

4. Locked and Loaded

Like the drawworks and mast, the water swivel needs routine greasing and maintenance. Since it’s already preloaded with grease, add more after about four hours of operation while the drill stem rotates slowly — less than 10 rpm. Grease again immediately after operating, while the drill is still warm, so heated grease can flow into the wear areas.

5. More Isn’t Always Better

Take care to not over-grease the water swivel because it might prematurely wear its swivel shaft. To avoid this, only pump grease into the water swivel until it resists additional grease. If the water swivel seizes while lubricating, use a sharp object, such as a flat screwdriver head, to depress the ball check in the grease fittings and release extra pressure.

Routine greasing is a surefire way to keep things in top condition, but working with a reliable manufacturer is the best way to minimize downtime if a serious operating issue occurs. If there’s no solution in the operators’ manual, having someone you can contact ensures that a solution is on its way — be it a spare part or from a product engineer.

For more maintenance information and tips, check out our entire maintenance series on our YouTube channel for in-depth guides to keep your drilling equipment in tiptop shape.