UE Systems Ultraprobe 401 Digital Grease Caddy Pro

The UE Systems Ultraprobe 401 Digital Grease Caddy Pro is an ultrasound instrument that clips onto a grease gun so the technician can hear the bearing and watch decibel levels while lubricating. It shows when enough grease has gone in, which helps avoid the two common faults of too little and too much.

Ultrasound-guided greasing for bearings

As the lubricant film in a bearing thins, friction rises and so does ultrasound. The 401 translates that ultrasound into the audible range, letting the user hear the bearing, while the display shows decibels and a 16 segment bar. The brochure describes a method where a rise of more than 8 dB with no change in sound quality identifies a bearing that needs lubricant, and the user stops adding grease when the level returns to its baseline.

This moves lubrication from fixed schedules to condition-based practice and reduces over-lubrication, a frequent cause of bearing and seal damage.

Technical specifications

Using the grease caddy in a lube route

The unit stores data in 400 locations and can upload and download route data. Baselines from an inspection instrument such as the Ultraprobe 9000, 10,000 or 15,000 are loaded as a lube route, and lubrication data can be sent to the Ultratrend data management system to build a history for each bearing. Eighteen setup menus allow settings to be customised.

Practical features include a built-in lamp for dark areas, a swivel base for awkward angles, a magnetically mounted transducer with docking station, heavy-duty headphones for noisy plants and a belt holster. The 0.57 kg unit attaches to most standard cartridge grease guns; the grease gun itself is not included in the specification.

A typical workflow is to take a baseline reading with the inspection instrument, load the route, check each bearing for a rise in decibels before greasing, and then add grease slowly while watching the display. If the level does not fall after lubrication the bearing may have another problem, and the trend history helps show whether it is worsening.

Documents and quotation

The linked PDF is the UE Systems Ultraprobe 401 Digital Grease Caddy Pro brochure. The manufacturer’s web page names the product the Ultraprobe 401 Digital Grease Caddy; the brochure adds Pro. Our photograph is the manufacturer’s image of the caddy mounted on a grease gun, without a model label. Before ordering, confirm the grease gun type, the baseline instrument you will use, software requirements and the kit contents you need. Send us the model, quantity and delivery location and we will prepare a quotation; Seven Star LLC supplies from Muscat as an independent supplier. See our Portable Test and Measurement range and the Fluke 810 handheld vibration tester for other condition-monitoring instruments.