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One old rule-of-thumb was oil for rotating shafts and cams, grease for sliding interfaces and parts that experience intermittent motion. Grease is also recommended for parts that are typically not in contact as there is no capillary effect to retain liquids like oil.
I fully expect to get excommunicated by half of my readers for even suggesting that grease might be appropriate in some situation.
When grease is called for, I like the Mobil1 "Red, Tacky" synthetic grease. For oil, well....that's a whole 'nother story!
ReplyDeleteI had ummm, acquired some tubes of grease from an employer. Heavy equipment grease, skid steers, excavators, etc., we went through the stuff by the case. Surely one or two tubes would not be missed?
DeleteThe mobil synthetic stuff I had assumed was best quality. After sitting in my shed for a year (freeze/thaw/heat), the mobil leaked... something, looked like mineral oil, and what was left in the tube had the consistency of paste. The Shell Oil branded equipment grease (dunno flavor, is blue colored), did not separate and maintained its consistency after 1 year in storage.
#22 has performed quite well for me here in the hill country of north central Ohio. I find that it does not attract hay and straw nearly as much resulting in fewer cleanings for my old trusty well worn Ruger P90 dental drill . Hard to upgrade us old boomers after pulling a few hundred thousand rounds of molars over the last twenty years of hill country dental expertise .
ReplyDeleteYou will find that it reduces slide velocity (on handheld dental drills) at extreme low temps. Yes, it claims to be good at very low temps, but your Dental drill won't like it below about 10F.
ReplyDeleteYMMV and all that, but I did some experiments a few years ago.....It is surprising how quickly a firearm carried in-waistband will cool off in cold temps, and how the cold affected the performance. Lighter oils worked best at cold temps. Again, YMMV. AR style dental drills also were affected by the cold with low temp grease. Reliability suffered.
For warmer temps, I am sure it would be fine.
But if your life depends on that Dental Drill working, I'd use something other than grease when it is cold.
As for when to use what lube, it depends a lot on the pressures the bearing surfaces will be under. Purely rotating shafts are often good with oil (or ones with large bearing surfaces), shafts with high pressure (like the ones in the lift arms of a loader) that have high pressure and little surface area often need grease.
It largely depends on the design of the bearing. Pressure lubricated bearings such as in a car engine are a different thing also. May older boxcars/traincars used oil soaked wicks to keep the bearings happy. Sliding or rotating really matter little, it moreso depends on pressure and speed.
But, again, I have found that temps greatly affect what type of lube to use on those dental drills. Experiment *before* you need it to work, if you get my meaning.
At those temps, I'll go with a "dry" lube. I've been using Eezox for some years now. It's A CLP product. It has worked well on every sort of drill I've used it on, even the ones that supposedly only run well "wet". I've seen no signs of unusual wear on any drill.
DeleteThat said, I have laid in supplies of alternatives, such as the Superlube brand grease and Royal Purple's synthetic grease. I always have plenty of synthetic oil around as I use it for all my lubrication needs. If the supply chains get totally broken, I'll be good for as long as I'll be able to drill.
If the moving parts are exposed to much open air that is dusty then oil is likely better. Grease will retain the dirt and the two become a cutting agent. Oiled parts can often be flushed clean by just adding more oil.
ReplyDeleteThere are an infinite amount of variables on this topic though.
Glock recommends greasing the slide rails on their wireless protection devices. I use a tiny dab of grease on the sear/hammer interface of my 10/22s and Ruger Mark hole punchers.
ReplyDeleteI've used Super Lube multi-purpose synthetic grease for over 30 years. I got my first tube at Radio Shack. It contains PTFE (aka Teflon) and is dielectric and also food grade (NSF H1 registered). I haven't used it for automotive, but have used it for numerous household & electronic jobs. It does work nicely for connectors and bulb bases including in cars. Works very well in small electric motor bushings and bearings also.
ReplyDeleteI have never had an issue with it breaking down in storage. The tube I carried in my automotive toolbox was still fine after 15 years. I recently bought a new tube for household use, so it is still available. This, 3 in 1 oil, & WD40 are three must haves for me.
Meant to say haven't used it MUCH for automotive. I do use it for non-chassis & drivetrain such as electrical connections.
ReplyDeleteI have been very impressed with FLUID FILM for any numbe5r of applications. It does not freeze (used it for fan motors in my freezer) and kills corrosion on aluminum like no other. Only drawback is it smells l8ke lanolin.
ReplyDeletePlease excuse the fat finger spelling.
ReplyDeleteSqu3lling 3rrs? 3ye dinnt s33 know squ3lling 3rrs.
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