Originally Posted by Crius
I can't believe none of the old timers have chimed in on this. The standard for most guys that have been around a while is white lithium grease. I prefer Lubriplate, but CRC also makes a good white lithium. It sticks well, and starting out white you can gauge use by how dirty it gets. You'll also want some kind of shield to prevent spatter, but as you'll see in this video, that's no big deal at all. For bearings I use a drop of light sewing machine oil, or even good old 3in1 Oil.
There's also a method for breaking in gearboxes, some guys use it and some don't, but I'm one that does. I break in my GBs with 50 weight oil, then clean with mineral spirits before final greasing. I've had a couple where the gears where tight and I used a bit of lapping compound to run them in together and that works well, but you can't run that stuff in there for long and you have to thoroughly clean them with spirits to make sure and get all the lapping compound out. Now-a-days that's not really necessary, as gearboxes have advanced quite a bit in the last five years, so a lot of guys no longer bother with the break-in, but I still do it to every set of gearboxes. Those videos are also at my youtube channel.
Hope that helps.
I’m just glad that the old-timer who finally chimed on this, is you Crius. You welcomed me on my first “Hi I’m new thread” and always am grateful whenever you appeared on the threads. With a knowledge base that seems unlimited, as a newbie and relatively new tanker, I thank you greatly for sharing with the younger and the less experienced ones, your knowledge.
Searching around the internet, yes, white lithium grease is the name of the game apparently with its potential numerous applications. But like you said in your post, you’re using 3 in 1 oil, sewing machine oil in your stuffs. I’d never thought of that but one day, I definitely will give it a try. We live in a day and age where greases with fancy brand names are labelled “RC Grease” packaged and sold at a 200%-300% selling price, it’s a little crazy to really filter out which ones work and which ones don’t.
I hovered over the idea of a covered gearbox for a little while. I’m using Mato’s Tiger Is and they can be handful to maintain and keep up running at times. I ultimately abandoned the idea of a cover gearbox and instead, use less grease to decrease the “mess” it made down the road. Not having access to heavy duty machining equipment and all those gizmos I had to find another way to not ruin my tigers. My matos aren’t exactly shelf queens and once mud, sand, grass, dirt meets grease... oh boy. Not pretty. But I have to say, your particular method of breaking in your motors and gearbox is interests me and thanks for linking your YouTube channel as well! Mighty fine bonus! Count me in as a regular viewer. Always a pleasure to see you and your responses on the threads Crius, especially one on my threads. Once again, thank you so much for the inputs on the relatively subjective part of RC; greasing! Cheers.
Shark