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Looking for Milwaukee Type Y Grease Equivalent

KDoug

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Feb 26, 2018
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388
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Southeast Texas
Hi,

I've got a Milwaukee circular saw I am refurbishing and I need something similar to the "Type Y" grease that they sell. It's kind of expensive for what you get and it's hard to find. Most of y'all are more familiar with different greases and their properties, so I figured it best to ask GJ.

I've dug up the following PDF, which should give you a pretty good idea of what I need. Milwaukee describes it as a Lithium 12 base grease with a NLGI #1 consistency:

http://documents.milwaukeetool.com/Tiy353.PDF

http://documents.milwaukeetool.com/TIY383 - Grease.pdf


Thanks for any help.
 
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6PTsocket

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Mar 12, 2014
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Hi,



I've got a Milwaukee circular saw I am refurbishing and I need something similar to the "Type Y" grease that they sell. It's kind of expensive for what you get and it's hard to find. Most of y'all are more familiar with different greases and their properties, so I figured it best to ask GJ.



I've dug up the following PDF, which should give you a pretty good idea of what I need. Milwaukee describes it as a Lithium 12 base grease with a NLGI #1 consistency:



http://documents.milwaukeetool.com/Tiy353.PDF



http://documents.milwaukeetool.com/TIY383 - Grease.pdf





Thanks for any help.
There are discrepancies between the chart and the general description. The description accompanying the ads says it is semi hard dark amber mineral base. And the chart says it is nlgi 1, soft. Greases are generally made of 2 main components: an oil of some petroleum type or a synthetic and a thickener. Lithium is generally a thickener, not the base oil. On top of that come all the additives. I am no lube guy and my research left me confused. Type Y seems to be under 20 bucks and if 6oz is enough for a fill I would bite the bullet. Alternately, Mobil makes a couple EP greases they recommend for gear cases but with the question about the actual viscosity I would stick with Milwaukee type Y, though I have called company tech lines and told them what my application was, and gotten a reccomendation. A sleeve of anything decent might be 7, 8, 10 bucks so you don't save a lot.

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KDoug

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Feb 26, 2018
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Location
Southeast Texas
There are discrepancies between the chart and the general description. The description accompanying the ads says it is semi hard dark amber mineral base. And the chart says it is nlgi 1, soft. Greases are generally made of 2 main components: an oil of some petroleum type or a synthetic and a thickener. Lithium is generally a thickener, not the base oil. On top of that come all the additives. I am no lube guy and my research left me confused. Type Y seems to be under 20 bucks and if 6oz is enough for a fill I would bite the bullet. Alternately, Mobil makes a couple EP greases they recommend for gear cases but with the question about the actual viscosity I would stick with Milwaukee type Y, though I have called company tech lines and told them what my application was, and gotten a reccomendation. A sleeve of anything decent might be 7, 8, 10 bucks so you don't save a lot.

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Thanks, the price doesn't bother me as bad as having to wait for it because nobody seems to have it in stock. A 1lb tub is around. $20-25. I've sort of taken on power tool repair/refurbishment as a hobby, so I'd use it again. I might call Milwaukee directly and order it from them if the pricing is similar to AceTool. I did that with another type grease.
 

kctyphoon

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I’m completely naive about this - but is there really that much of a difference between the milwaukee and something you could just buy off the shelf at HD to warrant waiting and ordering the Milwaukee?
 

Tallpilot

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Orlando
I’m completely naive about this - but is there really that much of a difference between the milwaukee and something you could just buy off the shelf at HD to warrant waiting and ordering the Milwaukee?

Who knows? I use Toyota gear oil in my differential because that’s what they specify. It’s about twice as much as ‘equivalent.’ So that amounts to an extra $30 or so every couple of years at the rate I drive the truck.

If I were rebuilding Milwaukee tools I’d spend $25 to use their stuff instead of ‘equivalent.’ A tub of grease should last a pretty long time.
 

PBCampbell

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Feb 2, 2009
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WV
Milwaukee's grease is someone else's grease that they relabel. No magical properties. I would source an NLGI 1 or 0 grease, maybe get an "EP" type if it makes you feel better. Thoroughly clean the gearbox first as you probably don't know what is in there grease wise right now.
 
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KDoug

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Feb 26, 2018
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Southeast Texas
Here's a picture of what's in there now, it does smell like a lithium grease. I realize there is nothing wrong with the grease that's there, but if you look hard enough you can see that the gearcase is cracked where somebody tried to engage the blade lock while the saw was still spinning. Thinking about ordering a new gearcase.
 

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Farmall450

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Milwaukee's grease is someone else's grease that they relabel. No magical properties. I would source an NLGI 1 or 0 grease, maybe get an "EP" type if it makes you feel better. Thoroughly clean the gearbox first as you probably don't know what is in there grease wise right now.

This. Milwaukee isn't in the grease business, although I'm sure they specify a quality product.
 

6PTsocket

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This. Milwaukee isn't in the grease business, although I'm sure they specify a quality product.
Usually you can find out who makes chemicals for non chemical companies by looking at the SDS. The chemical company's name and phone number are usually at the top. Not this time. Only Milwaukee's name is on the SDS. They must have some old guy in the basement stirring a giant vat of grease. LOL.

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MattT

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Feb 20, 2010
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I’m completely naive about this - but is there really that much of a difference between the milwaukee and something you could just buy off the shelf at HD to warrant waiting and ordering the Milwaukee?

There are significant differences between greases with the same NLGI consistency number. And those differences can cause a large increase, or decrease, in the life of the equipment the grease is lubricating.

Without knowing exactly what that Milwaukee grease is I'm guessing it's better suited to the application than the generic bearing greases sold at big boxes and parts houses.
 

gezn2

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Joined
Oct 27, 2011
Messages
240
Location
SW WI
Hi,

I've got a Milwaukee circular saw I am refurbishing and I need something similar to the "Type Y" grease that they sell. It's kind of expensive for what you get and it's hard to find. Most of y'all are more familiar with different greases and their properties, so I figured it best to ask GJ.

I've dug up the following PDF, which should give you a pretty good idea of what I need. Milwaukee describes it as a Lithium 12 base grease with a NLGI #1 consistency:

http://documents.milwaukeetool.com/Tiy353.PDF

http://documents.milwaukeetool.com/TIY383 - Grease.pdf


Thanks for any help.

Those PDFs lay it out pretty well, you're probably stumbling over the same problem I had hunting for NLGI '0', either your salesperson looks at you with blank incomprehension and starts trotting out the chassis grease, or they do understand you however they never stock it but would be glad to sell you a case of pipes or a five-gallon pail to be delivered in a couple of weeks...
My eventual solution was finding an industrial supplier with 400 gram packages they'd sell by the each, lighter EP greases get used as way lube in some machine tools, it's not the cheapest solution but I don't have decades worth of extra handing around to mystify whoever cleans out my shed...
As it happens they also have NLGI #1.
https://cnc-specialty-store.com/gre...shi-citrax-ep1-grease-400-gram-accordion-tube
Some cheaper choices...
https://cnc-specialty-store.com/gre...rtridge-14oz?zenid=9t2arojuo5rq18bomv06u2dft6
https://cnc-specialty-store.com/grease-lubrication/mobil-ep1?zenid=9t2arojuo5rq18bomv06u2dft6
 
Last edited:

ndfan77

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Apr 21, 2022
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1
For anyone else that finds this thread (like me), even though it's three years later -- the most cost-effective source I could find after quite a bit of searching was Biedlers: $25 for the 1 lb. tub (49-08-5275) with $7 shipping. Acetool wants $20 to ship the 6oz tube (49-08-5270), which would be $38.80 total (and IMHO is ridiculous).

FWIW...
 

dnschmidt

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Oct 3, 2014
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7,271
Location
Phoenix, AZ
The John Deere corn head grease is what I use in my grinders and polishers. It has the additional advantage of being thixotropic which means that it turns into a liquid under load and reverts back to a thin grease when cooled. The problems with normal grease in gear cases is that all of the grease is thrown onto the rim of the gear case and nothing remains on the gears. That doesn't help much.
 
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