Grease repacking ? Any opinions ?

Mary B

Mary B

New member
I would like to replace the grease in my polishers,
with some good quality high temp. grease.
The only info I have is YouTube`s....
My new Flex mini DA runs a bit warm, and it has a small amount of oil like clear liquid that dripped out of the top handle, when it sat BP side up, for a couple hrs. after use.
Thinking a good high temp. water resistant grease. Maybe this is something I should do to all my polishers ?

Some that I`ve considered
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This one looks very good.
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Mary B:
When you do decide what grease you will be using and how you disassemble your polisher and pack the grease, could you post some pictures??
My opinion about using automotive bearing grease is that that it MAY be too heavy/viscous for a machine tool bearing. Those bearings, I assume, are very precision type and small and require a grease suitable to its tolerance spec (AKA, precision), load and rotational speed limits. That`s just the mechanical designer in me speaking.
The reality is there are good (expensive) bearings and there are not-so-good (cheap)bearings being manufactured. This is one case where you get what you pay for. The good one`s have manufacturer`s name, Part number/model number, and tolerance specs stamped on them; the cheap one`s do not. The REAL problem is there are few good bearing manufacturers left in this industry anymore (SKF comes to mind). As manufacturing has left the United States, so have the industries that support them; bearing manufacturers being one of them. I know this trying to find replacement bearings in old paper converting and packaging machines that I retrofitted new designs into or just plain rebuilt or refurbished. Sometimes it required housing adapters, shaft sleeves, or shims under bearing block housing mounting to "fit " the new replacement bearing for the old (and unavailable obsoleted) OEM bearing properly.
And speaking of grease, I worked for a small company that made drying equipment for the printing and coating industry. Needless to say, heat was part of that process. One design (not mine, it was the owner`s, who is also the design engineer) had bearings used in rolls guiding a web though a dryer. The higher heat burned out the "standard OEM" grease packed in these bearings and I was assigned the task to ask the bearing manufacturer to give us a solution as to what replacement grease could be used. Never got an answer from them and was subsequently let go from this company. When you buy 16 bearings ONE time from a manufacturer, it is hardly worth their effort to research and find a grease for your unique application. What should have been done was to ask the bearing manufacturer what is the max temperature environment this bearing`s OEM grease could withstand and IF there was a hi-temp grease packing option from the factory, which was missed in the original design process. Obviously, the owner/engineering did not agree with or like this analysis and observation.
Another company I worked for making plastic film converting machinery, the standard grease in bearings using in web guide rolls provided TOO much resistance and the roll would not turn easily and would break the thin, somewhat clingy plastic web. These bearings were disassembled, cleaned of the OEM grease, and sprayed with a Teflon lubricant (I think is was Remington gun`s Rem-Oil), reassembled, and installed in the rolls. Worked like a charm.
As in vehicle detailing, overlooked small details can lead to (much) bigger problems.
 
Timken Bearings is an old bearing manufacturer from before a lot of you guys/gals were born.. :)
Dan F
 
TheMeanGreen said:
I`d go with a Lithium Complex grease.

Here`s some reading:

https://www.efficientplantmag.com/2009/09/grease-basics-part-ii-selection-a-applications/

https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/28381/grease-lithium-production-resistance

https://www.engineersedge.com/lubrication/dropping_point_grease.htm
Click to expand...

Whew !!! Made it through, and learned a whole lot. I should be able to pick out the right grease now.
THANK YOU !

The Guz said:
Click to expand...

Thanks Guz
That is a great Vid. Brian shows everything as he teaches how to crack open the polisher.
A couple weeks ago, when I got my Flex Mini DA.
I asked if he could show how to repack the grease on the Flex XFE7-12 and VOILA ! SHOUT OUT to Brian at APEX !!

The grease he`s using is selling at 10 tube bundles, far more than what I would need.

Here are 2 that I found .
NGLI 2,
Lithium Complex EP
High temp.
Water resistant

Now just getting up the courage to try it ;)
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Stokdgs said:
Timken Bearings is an old bearing manufacturer from before a lot of you guys/gals were born.. :)
Dan F
Click to expand...

I have a number of old bearing manufacturer`s catalogs (yes, those archaic and now outdated media formats printed on PAPER) from my days in mechanical design. I kept them just for the engineering information and bearing specs. Timken made a lot of the cone or tapered bearings used in automotive applications, like wheel bearing or rear end axles.
Torrington was another well known bearing manufacturer. INA, Inc and RBC are others.
Most of the bearings a paper converting company I worked for used Seal-Master, as these were bearings mounted in cast housings (sometimes referred to as pillow block or 4-bolt cartridge).

By the way, if you ever need a replacement bearing for an older vehicle that may be obsolete or no longer in production, you can use what is called a bearing interchange chart. Many offshore (think China or Taiwan) bearing companies make "replacement" bearings for these, but the quality may not be identical to the original. BUT, it is better than not finding one at all.
Old obsolete OEM bearings from any machine, engine, tool or vehicle manufacturer in the manufacturer`s box or bearing company box can command big dollars.
When GM was forced to close a number of its dealerships in the late 2000`s due to its government bailout restructuring, a lot of their parts inventory was sold, including OEM obsolete bearings. Not sure who bought it but you might find it on E-bay or the like.
 
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