Wing root bearings hard to align/rotate to correct position.

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The wing root bearings on my Ventus are difficult to align and require force to rotate to the right position of parallel to the face of the spar.
Tried greasing, but suspect it needs a clean up first.
What would you use to clean and free them ?
Dan

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On Friday, June 5, 2020 at 11:25:15 AM UTC-4, wrote:
> The wing root bearings on my Ventus are difficult to align and require force to rotate to the right position of parallel to the face of the spar.
> Tried greasing, but suspect it needs a clean up first.
> What would you use to clean and free them ?
> Dan

Light oil, like 3 in 1, apply, exercise, wipe crap, repeat until free.
Then carefully inspect.
Good luck
UH

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I had two issues with mine.

For the outer ball rotating in socket bearing, I used wooden dowel to help move the bearing to get it loose. Some oil, and scraping with something plastic, then rotated it inside out to get the back side. I was careful to keep track of which was inside and outside. Lubed with grease after cleaning.

For the inner hole where the pin slides in, there were some burs on the outside front of the alignment taper. These I honed off with a fine, round stone. Didn't grind inside the the hole where the pin mates and cleaned out the grit afterwords.

My pins were ok, so the result assembled well as long as I wiped off and lubed the pins and sockets at least every other assembly.

Similar story for the pin sockets for the mian pins, except I don't think I remember being able to rotate them backwards?

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On Friday, June 5, 2020 at 11:50:34 AM UTC-4, wrote:
> On Friday, June 5, 2020 at 11:25:15 AM UTC-4, wrote:
> > The wing root bearings on my Ventus are difficult to align and require force to rotate to the right position of parallel to the face of the spar.
> > Tried greasing, but suspect it needs a clean up first.
> > What would you use to clean and free them ?
> > Dan
>
> Light oil, like 3 in 1, apply, exercise, wipe crap, repeat until free.
> Then carefully inspect.
> Good luck
> UH

What damage would you look for in the bearings ?
Dan

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Some spherical bearings have a slot in the cage that surrounds and supports the ball. The ball is rotated 90 degrees and aligned with the slot, permitting removal for cleaning and lubrication. Don't know if Schempp-Hirth bearings have this feature. Take a close look at the collar to see if there are any gaps in the ring.

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On Friday, June 5, 2020 at 9:01:15 PM UTC-4, wrote:
> Some spherical bearings have a slot in the cage that surrounds and supports the ball. The ball is rotated 90 degrees and aligned with the slot, permitting removal for cleaning and lubrication. Don't know if Schempp-Hirth bearings have this feature. Take a close look at the collar to see if there are any gaps in the ring.

Aha, I will certainly check that !
Thanks !
Dan

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I had to change mine in a Ventus B after they got alittle too loose. On the new ones if your careful they stay aligned when disassembled but if I needed to realign them just a small screwdriver would suffice. I considered that as long as they are tight they dont get much wear and means they are still good.