“No lubrication” is not the same as “no maintenance.” The absence of a grease routine simply changes what you inspect. Alignment, hub position, fastener or retention condition, and the flexible ring become the main visible checks.
Build inspection around the machine’s duty.
A continuously running clean service may justify a different inspection interval from a machine with repeated starts, vibration or contamination. Use your plant maintenance practice and the actual operating history rather than a fixed interval copied from an unrelated machine.
Look for patterns, not only damage.
Check whether elastomer wear is even around the coupling, whether the hubs have moved on the shafts, and whether there is fretting or dust around the bore/keyway interface. Repeated one-sided wear is a reason to verify alignment. A damaged element should not automatically be treated as the root cause.
After a replacement
Confirm the correct NM size, re-check the axial S gap and shaft alignment, and verify that the guard does not contact the coupling. After the machine returns to service, make an early follow-up inspection if the previous element failed unexpectedly.
