Author Topic: Can someone explain grease to me...?  (Read 29718 times)

Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #50 on: 26 January, 2015, 10:08:13 am »
the red stuff can be bought in a concertina container with a thin nozzle.

great for:

1) inserting clean grease exactly where you want it

2) building forearm muscles like popeye

Seriously, I don't exactly have weak hands, I've broken my fair share of pliers and can crack walnuts in one hand - but I struggle to get grease out of these bloody things. Maybe better if they are warmed up. However the grease outlasts normal castrol stuff, you can see where you've put it. The red colour means you can tell when it is getting filthy with iron particles. It's good stuff.

I bought some eco grease. Recommended by etc, etc. Smells like face cream, looks suspiciously thin and washes off in 5 min. Not recommended.
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LEE

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Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #51 on: 26 January, 2015, 03:37:14 pm »
I've owned a tub of Castrol grease for about 25 years, I mean the SAME tub.

You push down on an internal plate and grease oozes out of a hole on the middle (so it keeps the contents clean).

It has about 1/3 remaining which could keep me going until retirement.

It's just the perfect viscosity to hold ball-bearings in the race until you can get an axle in there.

Every bolt ever refitted on any of my bikes received a dab.

Blimey. Not just me then.

Not just you Nicknack.
I would date my 500g tub of Castrol LM ~ 1986 / 1992, it having been acquired for car and motorcycle duties - (I wasn't cycling then)
It has an 01 telephone number prefix on the £2.99 price sticker from Midnight Auto Spares in Harrow.
Heady days...
In an uncharacteristic fit of generosity on my part,  Pippa OTP has been the recipient of more lubricant from this tub than she is likely to need in her lifetime.
I think it was decanted into a curry paste tin, and I fabricated the plate with a hole in it from styrene or acrylic - I forget which.
What remains in the tub for me, is more grease than I am ever likely to need.
Assuming, of course, that someone fixes my spaceship and I am able to go home at the earliest available opportunity.

Mine dates from when I motorcycled.
The last bike I had was in 1978.


And you try telling the kids of today that and they won't believe you!

[/4yorkshiremen]
Some people say I'm self-obsessed but that's enough about them.

Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #52 on: 28 January, 2015, 01:53:45 pm »
I've owned a tub of Castrol grease for about 25 years, I mean the SAME tub.

You push down on an internal plate and grease oozes out of a hole on the middle (so it keeps the contents clean).

It has about 1/3 remaining which could keep me going until retirement.

It's just the perfect viscosity to hold ball-bearings in the race until you can get an axle in there.

Every bolt ever refitted on any of my bikes received a dab.

Blimey. Not just me then.

Not just you Nicknack.
I would date my 500g tub of Castrol LM ~ 1986 / 1992, it having been acquired for car and motorcycle duties - (I wasn't cycling then)
It has an 01 telephone number prefix on the £2.99 price sticker from Midnight Auto Spares in Harrow.
Heady days...
In an uncharacteristic fit of generosity on my part,  Pippa OTP has been the recipient of more lubricant from this tub than she is likely to need in her lifetime.
I think it was decanted into a curry paste tin, and I fabricated the plate with a hole in it from styrene or acrylic - I forget which.
What remains in the tub for me, is more grease than I am ever likely to need.
Assuming, of course, that someone fixes my spaceship and I am able to go home at the earliest available opportunity.

Mine dates from when I motorcycled.
The last bike I had was in 1978.


And you try telling the kids of today that and they won't believe you!

[/4yorkshiremen]

I also have a tin of castrol grease with a plate in it, I however inherited mine from my grandfather who was a toolmaker so the tins been pretty used up. I'm currently working through a plain white tin marked lithium grease in black letters (no other markings at all) that fell out the back door of the Dowty Mining Stores when they shut the factory in the early nineties.

D.
Somewhat of a professional tea drinker.


Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #53 on: 28 January, 2015, 01:59:27 pm »
I have various types of grease from Catrol LM to specific bike greases. But my favourite is a black grease designed for smearing over exposed outdoor gears and moving parts. It is incredibly messy - blackens anything it touches - but is very soft, coats all surfaces, and seems ideal for any slow-moving, less-than-perfectly-sealed bearing. I use it with a needle grease gun to minimise mess.

Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #54 on: 28 January, 2015, 02:44:14 pm »
Having just run out of Weldtite red grease I was on point of buying a 50gm Finish Line tube  " this is the best grease you could possibly get blah blah ...." type product when friendly mechanic @LBS says I use Morris water resistant K99 grease all the time now ;)

So off I goes and orders a 500gm pot of Morris K99, being happy that as it comes from Shrewsbury it must be good ::-)

Said 500gm pot cost a tenner and is now getting much used, said Finish Line tube also would have cost a tenner.............
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #55 on: 29 January, 2015, 07:51:26 am »
I've owned a tub of Castrol grease for about 25 years, I mean the SAME tub.

You push down on an internal plate and grease oozes out of a hole on the middle (so it keeps the contents clean).

It has about 1/3 remaining which could keep me going until retirement.

It's just the perfect viscosity to hold ball-bearings in the race until you can get an axle in there.

Every bolt ever refitted on any of my bikes received a dab.

Blimey. Not just me then.

Not just you Nicknack.
I would date my 500g tub of Castrol LM ~ 1986 / 1992, it having been acquired for car and motorcycle duties - (I wasn't cycling then)
It has an 01 telephone number prefix on the £2.99 price sticker from Midnight Auto Spares in Harrow.
Heady days...
In an uncharacteristic fit of generosity on my part,  Pippa OTP has been the recipient of more lubricant from this tub than she is likely to need in her lifetime.
I think it was decanted into a curry paste tin, and I fabricated the plate with a hole in it from styrene or acrylic - I forget which.
What remains in the tub for me, is more grease than I am ever likely to need.
Assuming, of course, that someone fixes my spaceship and I am able to go home at the earliest available opportunity.

Mine dates from when I motorcycled.
The last bike I had was in 1978.


And you try telling the kids of today that and they won't believe you!

[/4yorkshiremen]

I also have a tin of castrol grease with a plate in it, I however inherited mine from my grandfather who was a toolmaker so the tins been pretty used up. I'm currently working through a plain white tin marked lithium grease in black letters (no other markings at all) that fell out the back door of the Dowty Mining Stores when they shut the factory in the early nineties.

D.

My pot of Rocol fell out of the back door of SAGEM Automotive Electronics Engine Management Systems when they folded in 2012.
I think the variety would be Rocol Sapphire.

Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #56 on: 29 January, 2015, 04:44:48 pm »
What would folks recommend for greasing squeaky rollerbrakes? All I've got kicking about at the moment's a tube of shimano grease, which seems a bit thick to squeeze into the grease ports; is there anything more fluid that might be easier to get in, but that won't contaminate the brake shoes? (Is this a risk with rollerbrakes? I realise I'm ignorant of the internals.)

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #57 on: 29 January, 2015, 04:58:52 pm »
I thought Shimano had a specific grease for roller brakes that worked very well. I don't know what it is relabelled from.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Tim Hall

  • Victoria is my queen
Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #58 on: 29 January, 2015, 05:23:00 pm »
What would folks recommend for greasing squeaky rollerbrakes? All I've got kicking about at the moment's a tube of shimano grease, which seems a bit thick to squeeze into the grease ports; is there anything more fluid that might be easier to get in, but that won't contaminate the brake shoes? (Is this a risk with rollerbrakes? I realise I'm ignorant of the internals.)

As LWaB say, Shimano roller brake grease is the stuff to use.  Counter intuitively, the grease does get between the brake shoe and the drum. It's meant to and Bad Things will happen if you run the brake without the grease.  Bad Things will also happen if you use the wrong grease.
There are two ways you can get exercise out of a bicycle: you can
"overhaul" it, or you can ride it.  (Jerome K Jerome)

Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #59 on: 29 January, 2015, 05:50:08 pm »
Probably as well to read Sheldon on the subject as an introduction: he links to various Shimano tech pages.

The pukka grease seems readily available: Chain Reaction has it but even my desultory search threw up a couple of places that sell it a little cheaper.

Gattopardo

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Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #60 on: 04 February, 2015, 11:17:43 am »
Normal greases are a soap base that holds the oil, waterproof grease means that the saop base is water proof.

There is a logic to grease, in automotive terms.  Copper grease does dry out and leave the copper residue which is the anti slip bit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grease_%28lubricant%29

Gattopardo

  • Lord of the sith
  • Overseaing the building of the death star
Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #61 on: 04 February, 2015, 11:29:00 am »
For bolts you should use a thread locker/sealant the kind that coat the thread to stop galvanic corrosion or just corrosion.

Biggsy

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Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #62 on: 04 February, 2015, 12:22:46 pm »
For bolts, I normally use ordinary grease if it's going to be redone within a couple of years, otherwise copper grease or threadlocker.  You don't want threadlocker on every bolt.
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rogerzilla

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Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #63 on: 16 February, 2015, 09:12:07 pm »
A newbie question that I've been failing to get round to asking for a while.  In my defence, I'm more inclined towards the software and soldering iron end of the engineering spectrum, and only pretend to know what I'm doing with a spanner.

So yeah: grease.  I understand that it tends to be used for one of three main functions: To lubricate moving parts so they run smoothly with less wear; to protect things from corrosion; and to encourage parts to fit together more consistently and/or eventually come apart with lesser degrees of Persuasion.

Supplemental to that, I'm aware that in comes in all sorts of flavours, the subtleties of which may or may not be important for a given application.  Thermal grease I understand.  Copper grease to prevent parts from seizing makes sense (indeed, I've got a tube of it somewhere, which I use as a talisman to ward off stuck pedals and freewheels).  That high-speed moving parts are going to make specific demands in terms of temperature stability and viscosity makes sense, as does the fact that you don't get such high speed moving parts on pedal cycles.  I can imagine gear hubs are quite fussy about viscosity, though.  I'm also vaguely aware that some recipes are better for keeping water out of stuff (which *does* seem desirable on a bike), that some may not get on with certain plastics, that lithium is what you need for manic-depressive bearings, and I read on a newsgroup that the there's this stuff called molybdenum disulfide that when applied to your chain will allow you to climb hills like Lance Armstrong.

Up until now, I've been lubricating my mechanical bits (chiefly screw threads, but also the odd headset bearing, suspension part or brake pivot) with a small tub of "bicycle grease"[1] that was cheap on Wiggle when I didn't really know what I was doing.  It's almost run out, so I probably ought to invest in something else.

So, what do I need, guys?  (Answers of the style "get a litre of this from your local chandler for a fiver and use it for everything except hub gears, and it should last you until you're getting birthday cards from the queen" strongly preferred.)


[1] It's white, and tastes bad.
Copper grease is really an unscrewing paste, which is what Shimano call it.  Not a lubricant for moving parts.

Lithium grease (may be white, red, or just a big tub of yellow Castrol LM) is your all-purpose stuff.  Fairly waterproof and good for bearings.

Calcium grease (Castrol CL)  is the most waterproof.  May not lubricate quite as well but good for lake jumping, floods etc.

Polyurea grease is the blue smelly Park stuff. Supposed to be best for bearings.

Weird greases: Sturmey-Archer internal gear hub grease is a very thick brown oil.  SRAM internal gear hub grease is like a pale yellow version of Colgate Blue Minty Gel.

And then there's that carbon seatpost stuff, which I think is a plastic-friendly grease with little plastic balls in it for friction.

Roller (or coaster) brakes need to run in grease to stop the metal shoes melting, which would give pretty much zero friction.  There are special greases available but they're generally molybdenum sulphide greases; horrid black sticky stuff.  My SA coaster hub has Ceratec automotive disc brake grease in the brake end.  It's rated for 1000 deg C, intended for the back of car brake pads, and works well.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #64 on: 17 February, 2015, 07:06:59 am »
Don't forget Permatex Anti-seize lubricant compound. Coat all your threads.

Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #65 on: 17 February, 2015, 11:28:06 am »
I wonder how useful Hylomar would be in those applications where you might otherwise use Copaslip - given that Hylomar never hardens or sets. I'm thinking of BBs and pedals.

Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #66 on: 17 February, 2015, 11:30:35 am »
copaslip conveys benefit even when all the grease has washed out. A thin film of copper remains.

I had to strip down my rear wheel bearings on Sun (not ridden the bike in ages). It felt rough and like it was binding.

Left-hand Cone worn, quite badly. No idea how many miles the bike has done, under 10k. There was plenty of grease in there.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #67 on: 17 February, 2015, 12:12:05 pm »
I have an ancient (> 15yo) tub of Halfords LM grease that I use for everything - wheel bearings, bottom bracket threads, headset bearings, pedal threads etc.

I've often looked at some other greases in fancy colours and wondered if I should be using one of those instead, consensus seems to be not. Correct me if that's wrong!

Wondering if I should at least use copper grease for thread applications, BB & pedals in particular, thoughts?

In other news... I use olive oil to lubricate door hinges, works a treat.
Up the hills and round the bends

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Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #68 on: 17 February, 2015, 12:31:08 pm »
Wondering if I should at least use copper grease for thread applications, BB & pedals in particular, thoughts?

At least, copper grease is a good idea for tight parts that you're going to leave alone for a number of years.  The metal flakes remain forever to assist loosening.
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Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #69 on: 17 February, 2015, 12:55:50 pm »
There is a school of thought which says that Copper grease should never be used on Aluminium.

There's quiet a lot of disagreement on that on t'Internet.

Biggsy

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Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #70 on: 17 February, 2015, 03:19:19 pm »
Some manufacturers of copper grease have said it's for all metals, so I'm not a subscriber of the theory myself, but an alternative for those who believe it's bad to use copper grease on aluminium is aluminium anti-seize grease.  The key is the relatively big flakes of metal (big compared to any other particles in grease) - be they copper, aluminium or whatever.
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Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #71 on: 17 February, 2015, 05:38:11 pm »
Some manufacturers of copper grease have said it's for all metals, so I'm not a subscriber of the theory myself, but an alternative for those who believe it's bad to use copper grease on aluminium is aluminium anti-seize grease.  The key is the relatively big flakes of metal (big compared to any other particles in grease) - be they copper, aluminium or whatever.

I bought some copper grease today  :thumbsup: (and some araldite). I had thought idea of a copper grease was to reduce Al / steel interfaces bonding by galvanic corrosion type effect? eg this :

Before bolting alloy wheels to the vehicle hub a light smear of copper grease should be used where the alloy will come into contact with the steel hub: otherwise corrosion between the dissimilar metals of the steel hub and the alloy wheel can cause the wheel to seize on to the hub
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #72 on: 18 February, 2015, 10:52:31 am »
It is theorised that copper in contact with the aluminum can cause faster corrosion of the aluminium.
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Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #73 on: 18 February, 2015, 11:35:12 am »
It is theorised that copper in contact with the aluminum can cause faster corrosion of the aluminium.

Yes I`ve noted that too!! BUT all performance car sites indicate its useage to avoid corroding of Al onto steel. I also came across an article about copper plate sheets coming off as hip`s hull as the use of iron nails caused galvanic corrosion of the nails which rusted away---but that is just two metals in contact; with Cu grease there is an electrochemical series of Al / Cu / Fe involved and is the Cu component being the `sacrificial` one to avoid a corrosion between Al / Fe?
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

Wowbagger

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Re: Can someone explain grease to me...?
« Reply #74 on: 18 February, 2015, 11:43:06 pm »
I too have the prerequisite tin of Castrol LM (Castrol Limited, Swindon, Wilts, England, so pre-dating postcodes), about half of which is still left. I would guess that the bulk of it was used on the hub bearings on my old Claud Butler, acquired in (I think) 1979). I would imagine that the grease is the same vintage.

I must amend my will so that I leave my grease to a deserving YACFer. Kim? It's your thread, so you clearly need to grease it.

Actually, it is by no means impossible that this tin was purchased for the lubrication of vital parts of my BSA Bantam motor cycle, which was acquired in about 1970. There is a label on it but it is so covered in dried-on grot that it's totally illegible. It could well be pre-decimalisation.

Edit: Dez is cleaning the tin in order to try to remove the label and read it. He has successfully removed the label but that hasn't improved its legibility.
Quote from: Dez
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