[TowerTalk] Rotator Lube

[Grant Saviers]

I agree that SuperLube is terrific for the rotator main ring ball 
bearings and gears in rotators, plus many other applications.

For supposedly "life time lubricated" sintered bronze sleeve bearings I 
use a few drops of 5w30, which is probably as good as anything to 
refresh the oil in the porous bronze, but not much will get in unless 
submerged in oil and then a vacuum pulled on it to remove the air so the 
oil will go back into the pores at atmospheric pressure.  There are 
dozens of oils made specifically for sintered bronze, but probably 
supplied only in 55 gal drums.

For ball bearings that are open, I flush them with a solvent spray, dry 
(not with compressed air btw), and regrease with a grease without 
fillers, although SuperLube is an alternative on low speed shafts even 
with its TFE additive.  Cleanliness is everything for bearing life.  For 
high speed shafts I use a ball bearing grease and a synthetic is the 
best choice e.g. Mobilith SHC 100.  There are exotic greases for 
precision bearings such as ABEC 7 and 9 grades used in machine spindles. 
$20 per ounce and up.  For sealed (rubber seals) or shielded (metal 
covers) ball bearings I have "resuscitated" a few for a while with a 
hypodermic insertion of oil (sealed) or a vacuum impregnation (shielded) 
of oil, as an emergency measure.  A decent brake line purging hand 
vacuum pump works ok if you don't have a motorized vacuum pump.

Greased ball bearings are usually specified to have a grease life of 5 
years, but 10 years can happen, and beyond that it's all luck as the oil 
evaporates leaving behind the oil carrier as hard lumps. Synthetic 
greases last longer than petroleum oil based greases.

Grant KZ1W

On 4/26/2016 12:56 PM, Wayne Kline wrote:
> Hi Wl
>   
>   
>    I use Super Lube synthetic grease  You can get 3 ox tubes at most box HW stores. I like it because it's same viscosity
> at ALL temperatures ...
>   Wayne W3EA
>   
>> From:infomet at embarqmail.com
>> To:towertalk at contesting.com
>> Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2016 15:36:54 -0400
>> Subject: [TowerTalk] Rotator Lube
>>
>> What’s the recommended oil for the motor bearings in Hygain rotators?
>> WL
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