April 8, 20233 yr As a matter of routine maintence, i.e. every 1000 miles or so, I check out the Blue Gear for wear (none so far after 3,500 miles ish). So far I've just used Weldtite TF2 Lithium Grease* when needed, which I use on other parts of my bikes. Having recently found a Tong Sheng TSDZ2 Maintenace Manual, they describe the grease for this task as FT-EM50L A google search doesn't come up with a precise match with the nearest being Dow Corning Molykote EM-30L Synthetic Grease The same search also brought up a 'warning' if you like, about what grease type to NOT use on plastic - see pic below So I'm wondering what grease you might suggest for plastic gears in the environment e.g high revs and warm/hot temperatures, the Blue Gear operates in? *I use the same grease on the main gearwheel and pinion gearwheel.
April 8, 20233 yr FT-EM50L https://www.dupont.com/products/molykote-em-50l-grease.html Gears, gear boxes & pumps Plastic lubrication Rubber & elastomer lubrication
April 8, 20233 yr Author Thanks [mention=33660]guerney[/mention] - after posting my last, that link did come up but (a) it's in 1 Kg tubs (I'll have shed my mortal coil way before I use anything near that much) and (b) there doesn't appear to be a UK distributor. Searching ebay or Amazon for something like 'plastic gear grease' brings up some apparent options from the RC model world and some outlandishly expensive options from the USA. And then there's the greases used in things like ink jet printers and the like, but for all of the greases I've seen so far, it doesn't seem too clear on whether they'd be suitable for the Blue Gear. Ideally the grease needs to be water resistance, can withstand warm/hot temperatures and to stay in place as the gear whizzes around at goodness knows what RPM. So I'm looking for an easy way out and asking around to see if someone has already looked into this and found a suitable product.
April 8, 20233 yr I have a tube of aeroshell so that is what will get used , it was ok on the BBS . Edited April 9, 20233 yr by Nealh
April 9, 20233 yr Aeroshell 22: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144772450201?hash= The big tin (because I couldn't stomach paying £10 for a tiny tube, when 3kg could be had for £24 [at the time]) arrived in a thick clear plastic bag, which I used to make a rain hat for my DPC18 display: fold over with 2" overhanging every side, gaffa tape into position around the edges, cut off excess leaving about 1.5" overhang, with no seams or breaks in the clear plastic whatsoever: ... then edge with self-amalgamating tape, the soft rubber of which stretches, sticks to itself, and slowly droops flat into position on the clear plastic. A few displays have been posted about here over the past few months, which were probably borked by water ingress - it won't happen to mine! Well worth buying that Aeroshell. Umpteen usefulnesses around the home! And bike! 10m for less than a fiver, buy yours today! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290932267766 Edited April 9, 20233 yr by guerney
April 9, 20233 yr Been using this self-amagamating tape for decades, used to use it on aerial installations as a tv apprentice back in the late 1960's. The apprentices always got the shitty jobs, outside in the Winter doing aerials when it was pissing with rain and blowing a gale up the channel and inside a sweltering workshop in the Summer when the "real" engineers were swanning about at Sandbanks doing the tv's in all the holiday rental flats. So nice when I passed my exams and became a "real" tv engineer, I could tell the newbies to do the crappy stuff.
April 9, 20233 yr Author Thanls for all the comments and contributions to my original post and one thing I've learnt is that I know naff all chemistry, oils and lubricants. I mean, I would never have been concerned about putting good old general purpose grease on the Blue Gear if I'd not had anything else to hand. Then two things made me think - (1) - the Tong Sheng manual specifying the FT-EM50L grease for the Blue Gear and then (2) the 'rule of thumb' that petroleum greases are not good for plastic. Above [mention=9614]Nealh[/mention] and [mention=33660]guerney[/mention] have mentioned Aeroshell 22 -so off to get the spec sheet which I found HERE and what does it say about this grease? That it's properties include 'Synthetic Hydrocarbon' what ever that is? So it Synthetic Hydrocarbon petroleum based? The wiki HERE suggests that Synthetic oils may well be - jeez, I'm more confused than when I started!
April 9, 20233 yr https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pdf/aeroshell-book-5greases.pdf " COMPATIBILITY WITH MATERIALS When using greases containing a synthetic oil, particularly an ester oil, the compatibility with sealing materials, plastics or paints has to be examined. Greases with a silicone oil base should not be used when silicone elastomers are present. As a general rule Shell Companies do not make recommendations regarding compatibility since aviation applications are critical and the degree of compatibility depends on the operating conditions, performance requirements, and the exact composition of materials. In many cases the equipment manufacturers perform their own compatibility testing or have their elastomer supplier do it for them. Many elastomer suppliers do produce tables showing the compatibility of their products with a range of other materials. Therefore the information provided can only be considered as guidelines." Edited April 9, 20233 yr by guerney
April 10, 20233 yr For my BBS01b plastic gears, this is a greasing option sold by Greenergy Store "Official Authorized Seller". The white grease may contain PTFE, which I avoid using. My plastic gears look likely to be made of polyamide, so I'll probably use Aeroshell 22. I should have greased those gears by now. https://www.aliexpress.com/i/1005003372149991.html The following is from a long thread, text but not charts automatically translated into English: https://pojazdyelektryczne-org.translate.goog/viewtopic.php?t=8005&_x_tr_sl=pl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc "Original grease for TSDZ2 , all lubrication points/gears. Molycote EM - 50L - white plastic with high scuff resistance (1400 kg) and high noise attenuation. " Edited April 10, 20233 yr by guerney
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