Planetary gearbox- (electric gates) what grease to use?

trevortron

trevortron

VIP Member
VIP Member
Premium Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
3,033
Reaction score
3,905
Location
Somewhere else
This is a long shot I know. House came with electric gates fitted, all working fine, but the actuators started to sound a bit 'rough'. I am a true believer in "A stitch in time saves 9" theory, so I opened up the telescopic 'ram', and soon found a planetary gearbox (like what you'd find in an electric screwdriver only bigger!) and its grease was looking a bit dry. I cleaned it out (filthy job) and packed it up with some general purpose grease I had lying around the workshop. It all went back together and is working away and sounding a lot smoother than it did.
But it did get me thinking- is there a specific type of lubricant I should be using? All except the sun gear are plastic (nylon?) so I don't want to risk damaging them with inappropriate grease..
Expert opinions gratefully received!
pn_gear.gif
 
General purpose is probably alright, I use silicon grease on nylon.
 
Thanks for quick reply Spectre. I am always a bit nervous with silicone grease on moving plastic parts, I believe it has very small molecules which can be absorbed by the plastic, causing it to swell. Not that this would be a major worry in my instance, as there is a fair bit of play (might even be of benefit), but I'm sure I seized up an idler on old VHS once upon a time with the stuff. Or was it a Betamax....?
I might just give it a try on the other gate (I've not attacked that one yet), see how it goes :)
 
Silicone lubricants should be compatable for these plastic cogs, but apparently the best types of oil for plastic cogs are Synthetic Hydrocarbon oils (PAO - Polyalphaolefins) which I am fairly certain is the type of lubrication sold by Durex !!!
 
Thanks for the helpful suggestions, should've known it would end up with a choice of more than one! As I have some silicone grease, I'll prob give that a bash first. The lithium suggestions rings a bell, I'm sure that's what I should have used in that VCR all those years ago.
As for the Durex-type stuff, do you think the shop assistant will believe my story?
 
I know the Durex type stuff sounds a bit like a joke but it is true honest, have a search on the net for PAO oils and I'm certain you will find some reference to them being used as sexual lubricants as well as for mechanical use.
 
I didn't think for a minute you weren't being serious! Out of interest.... what was your application for PAO? (Glad I'm not asking @craigneuk this question LOL!)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
trevortron said:
I didn't think for a minute you weren't being serious! Out of interest.... what was your application for PAO? (Glad I'm not asking @craigneuk this question LOL!)
Click to expand...
@D 8 RCS well i have got to answer, It was for his wifes christmas last year and it was a.........................

an under rumper thumper stumper ! lol

@trevortron Details posted in fun and laughter Adult Section if you would please gentlemen..............cum this way lol
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Basically I found this out because of the same sort of reasons, I had stripped down a motor that was a clogged up mess and had plastic cogs. So I wanted to know what would be the best lubricant to use that would stop it becoming that sort of mess again, enter Google and a bit of research and a few belly laughs when I read some of the uses. I also found out that if you only want a small amount of PAO on the retail market then the cheapest option was..............ScrewFix !!!

:roflmao:

Sorry, I just could not resist that last remark.
 
White lithium grease is usually a good idea if you are worried about reactions with an unknown type of plastic though I haven't heard of people having issue with using silicone based grease on these types of gears.
 
professorcrey said:
White lithium grease is usually a good idea if you are worried about reactions with an unknown type of plastic though I haven't heard of people having issue with using silicone based grease on these types of gears.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that @professorcrey- Lithium grease is certainly easier to get hold of than the erm 'prophylactic' type mentioned earlier. I am a bit wary of silicone-based ones, because I've heard that some plastics can absorb the small silicone molecules, causing the gears to swell & actually seize. Mind you, with the amount of play in my application, there's little chance of that!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top