What is Klüber Klübersynth UH1 14-1600 Food-Grade?

Specification at a glance

Scroll the table horizontally to view all columns.

Source: Klüber product page for Klübersynth UH1 14-1600 and the Klüber product information sheet for article number 096038. Klüber publishes these values as guide values; confirm against the datasheet supplied with your delivery.

What the NSF H1 registration covers

H1 registration means the lubricant's ingredients are acceptable where incidental, technically unavoidable contact with food can occur, at up to 10 mg of lubricant per kg of food product under FDA 21 CFR 178.3570. It is an approval for incidental contact. It does not make the grease edible, and it does not replace the plant's own HACCP and GMP controls.

UH1 14-1600 also carries ISO 21469 certification, which looks beyond the formulation to the hygiene of manufacturing, from raw material receipt through packaging. For a plant audited against HACCP plans, both points are usually what procurement asks to see first.

Why a semi-fluid grease instead of a gear oil

An NLGI 00 grease behaves between an oil and a conventional grease. Inside an enclosed gearbox it distributes by splash and immersion the way an oil does, but the thickener network gives it three practical properties in hygienic plants: it stays on gear flanks during shutdown, it leaks less through worn shaft seals, and it resists draining away from elevated lubrication points in centralised systems.

The trade-off is heat: a semi-fluid grease churns more than an oil at high peripheral speeds, so gearboxes designed for oil with high pitch-line velocities may not suit it. The gear manufacturer's lubrication specification decides; when there is a conflict, that specification wins.

Where it fits in a food plant

Klüber documents the product for toothed gears, worm gears and chains in the food processing and pharmaceutical industries. Typical duty points are enclosed gear drives and chain drives in wet areas that get washed down, where a straight oil would either leak past ageing seals or need frequent top-ups. The aluminium complex thickener's adhesion and corrosion protection are the working properties behind that use.

For lubrication points that are greased individually, such as rolling bearings or cams, a stiffer H1 grease in the NLGI 1 to 2 range usually holds its position better than a semi-fluid product. The 00 grade earns its place where splash or immersion distribution is the mechanism.

Changeover and mixing

Drain the old lubricant and clean the housing where practicable before charging UH1 14-1600. PAO base oils are physically miscible with mineral oils, so leftover mineral gear oil will not form a gel, but the mixture loses part of the synthetic formulation's oxidation stability and low-temperature behaviour. Mixing with polyglycol products should be avoided, because polyglycol and hydrocarbon oils are generally not miscible and can separate into phases.

Storage and stock rotation

Store unopened containers in a dry, frost-free place and rotate stock first in, first out. Use opened containers promptly and keep lids closed, because dust and washdown water in a reservoir end up in a gearbox. KOEED lists the product in 370 g cartridges and 1 kg cans; ask for the current pack size list with your quotation.

Common questions

What is the difference between NSF H1 and NSF H2 lubricants?

H1 lubricants are formulated for incidental food contact at limited concentrations. H2 lubricants may only be used where no contact with food is possible at all. If a lubrication point sits above open product, H1 is the category to specify, and the registration should be verified in the current NSF White Book.

Can UH1 14-1600 replace a conventional gear oil?

Sometimes, and the gear manufacturer's documentation decides. Semi-fluid greases suit splash or immersion lubricated enclosed gears and chains at moderate speeds, particularly where leakage or drain-back is a problem. High-speed gearboxes designed around an oil's cooling and churning behaviour may not be suitable. Check the fill level guidance too: grease fills are specified differently from oil levels.

What does an FZG scuffing load stage of 11 or higher mean?

The FZG test runs standardised gears under increasing load stages and reports the stage at which scuffing damage appears. Klüber documents a scuffing load stage of at least 11 for this product in the FZG test. A higher stage means the lubricant withstood more load before scuffing in that test; it is one input to gear oil selection, alongside viscosity and the gear manufacturer's specification.

Can I mix it with the mineral gear oil already in the housing?

A small residual amount will not form a gel, because PAO and mineral oils are miscible, but the blend gives up part of the synthetic formulation's service life advantage. Drain and clean where practicable. With polyglycol products, mixing is not an option at all; flush the system before changeover.

How does it compare with other UH1 greases?

The UH1 line covers H1 greases with different consistencies and base oil viscosities. The choice within the line follows the lubrication mechanism: splash or immersion lubricated gears and chains take the semi-fluid 00 grade, while individually greased bearings and slides usually take an NLGI 1 to 2 product. Compare the current product information for each variant rather than assuming interchangeability.