lubricating hub motor internal freewheel

[Charliefox]

Has anyone got any ideas on what type of lubrication would keep the 2 locking balls of my Bafang rear hub motor from sticking. Last cleaned up in May, 2018 when broken nylon gear wheels were replaced. I soaked it in light engine oil for a couple of days. Got the gritiness out and the balls moved as they should. Yesterday they must have not operated as peddling without power became much harder. They released momentarily at one point on the way home but the problem came back. It would have been nice to have been able to order a new one along with the replacement gear wheels, but they were not in stock and since then that particular clutch is no longer made. So I will have to soldier one with the one I have or buy a new motor.
This time round I will wash it in hot white spirit ( heated by electric!!) or citrius cleaner, then let it dry and then what? Silicon spray, Graphite oil, engine oil again? Your thoughts please.

 

[PC2017]

How many mile has it covered?

 

[tonyw]

I would guess ordinary grease or teflon grease? It looks like water is getting in, so I would look at trying to prevent that if you can.

 

[Charliefox]

How many mile has it covered?

Covered about 1700 miles, in use from Spring 2015. I used heated up 5w30 engine oil as grease not so good to penetrate the small clearance round the centre spindle. Should work, it did last time.

 

[Charliefox]

I would guess ordinary grease or teflon grease? It looks like water is getting in, so I would look at trying to prevent that if you can.

No sign of any water ingress. The pic is of it before cleaning it up before replacing. I used Mobilith SHC 220 on the nylon gears and on the freewheel spindle. On opening it up after nearly 3 years it was still red and mainly just where I put it. Does not get flung about and is high pressure resistant.

 

[Charliefox]

Has anyone got any ideas on what type of lubrication would keep the 2 locking balls of my Bafang rear hub motor from sticking. Last cleaned up in May, 2018 when broken nylon gear wheels were replaced. I soaked it in light engine oil for a couple of days. Got the gritiness out and the balls moved as they should. Yesterday they must have not operated as peddling without power became much harder. They released momentarily at one point on the way home but the problem came back. It would have been nice to have been able to order a new one along with the replacement gear wheels, but they were not in stock and since then that particular clutch is no longer made. So I will have to soldier one with the one I have or buy a new motor.
This time round I will wash it in hot white spirit ( heated by electric!!) or citrius cleaner, then let it dry and then what? Silicon spray, Graphite oil, engine oil again? Your thoughts please.

Job done, soaked it in hot engine oil. Works smoothly now. Another 4 years or so before the next strip down! The rear tyres need replacing over this time period as a lot of weight on it.....battery too, no room in the frame triangle with the rear suspension. I did think of using an upside down battery case under the front tube but clearance on full fork compression is dodgy. At least front headers over the handle bar are almost impossible!!

 

[PC2017]

1700 miles is a small number to see failure, if you do buy new and something fails again try and get a replacement. Although mine isn't a Bafang front hub per se, I believe it was made by Bafang and branded Yose, mine has covered 10,000 miles+ since 2016, used on canal paths and woodland trails and been re-greased once, only because I opened it to check for water ingress.