Wing pin grease

On Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 12:32:08 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Just get some spray-on silicone lube - it really doesn't matter what you use (if everything is aligned you don't need any lube, just clean the grease off of the pins). Certainly don't use anything that is messy, i.e. stains your clothes.

Tom

Tom

I wouldn't use any lube with silicone; makes it hard to paint. Matter of fact, I agree with Tom that the problem isn't lubrication, it's the unnecessary close tolerances those (mostly) German engineers design in. What I do is take a Dremel with a small 1cm diameter sanding stone and shave off about 0.5mm of steel from the receiver holes. Makes assembly much easier and no lubrication means its better on the environment.

You are just kidding, right? I sure hope so!

Uli
'AS'

On 7/14/20 7:27 AM, AS wrote:
On Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 12:32:08 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Just get some spray-on silicone lube - it really doesn't matter what you use (if everything is aligned you don't need any lube, just clean the grease off of the pins). Certainly don't use anything that is messy, i.e. stains your clothes.

Tom

Tom

I wouldn't use any lube with silicone; makes it hard to paint. Matter of fact, I agree with Tom that the problem isn't lubrication, it's the unnecessary close tolerances those (mostly) German engineers design in. What I do is take a Dremel with a small 1cm diameter sanding stone and shave off about 0.5mm of steel from the receiver holes. Makes assembly much easier and no lubrication means its better on the environment.

You are just kidding, right? I sure hope so!

Uli
'AS'


Umm, I believe she was poking a bit of fun at Tom, who suggested
skipping the grease altogether. Possibly he was joking, but I'm afraid
he might have been serious.

If you post sarcasm on R.A.S. would anybody ever notice?

Fine, laugh all you want....and I was going to share with you my guaranteed final glide extender. As they say, "No clue for you!"

Fine, laugh all you want....and I was going to share with you my guaranteed final glide extender. As they say, "No clue for you!"....so I'll be waiting for you at the finish line if you can make it.

On Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 7:17:10 AM UTC-7, kinsell wrote:
On 7/14/20 7:27 AM, AS wrote:
On Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 12:32:08 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Just get some spray-on silicone lube - it really doesn't matter what you use (if everything is aligned you don't need any lube, just clean the grease off of the pins). Certainly don't use anything that is messy, i.e. stains your clothes.

Tom

Tom

I wouldn't use any lube with silicone; makes it hard to paint. Matter of fact, I agree with Tom that the problem isn't lubrication, it's the unnecessary close tolerances those (mostly) German engineers design in. What I do is take a Dremel with a small 1cm diameter sanding stone and shave off about 0.5mm of steel from the receiver holes. Makes assembly much easier and no lubrication means its better on the environment.

You are just kidding, right? I sure hope so!

Uli
'AS'


Umm, I believe she was poking a bit of fun at Tom, who suggested
skipping the grease altogether. Possibly he was joking, but I'm afraid
he might have been serious.

If you post sarcasm on R.A.S. would anybody ever notice?

No, I wasn't joking - most of the time I don't bother greasing the pins at all (it just doesn't make any difference).

Tom

I've got to agree with Tom on this one.Â* Cleaning off and reapplying
grease to the wing pins of all of my previous gliders seemed like such a
waste of time, especially since I stored the pins in lengths of plastic
tubing which had a diameter slightly larger than the pins and that kept
them clean.Â* My Stemme tells me when it needs the grease to be refreshed
by making the main pins resist ever so slightly being pushed home.

On 7/16/2020 11:09 PM, 2G wrote:
On Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 7:17:10 AM UTC-7, kinsell wrote:
On 7/14/20 7:27 AM, AS wrote:
On Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 12:32:08 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Just get some spray-on silicone lube - it really doesn't matter what you use (if everything is aligned you don't need any lube, just clean the grease off of the pins). Certainly don't use anything that is messy, i.e. stains your clothes.

Tom

Tom
I wouldn't use any lube with silicone; makes it hard to paint. Matter of fact, I agree with Tom that the problem isn't lubrication, it's the unnecessary close tolerances those (mostly) German engineers design in. What I do is take a Dremel with a small 1cm diameter sanding stone and shave off about 0.5mm of steel from the receiver holes. Makes assembly much easier and no lubrication means its better on the environment.
You are just kidding, right? I sure hope so!

Uli
'AS'

Umm, I believe she was poking a bit of fun at Tom, who suggested
skipping the grease altogether. Possibly he was joking, but I'm afraid
he might have been serious.

If you post sarcasm on R.A.S. would anybody ever notice?
No, I wasn't joking - most of the time I don't bother greasing the pins at all (it just doesn't make any difference).

Tom

--
Dan, 5J

I've got to agree with Tom on this one.Â* Cleaning off and reapplying
grease to the wing pins of all of my previous gliders seemed like such a
waste

Interesting, on my Ventus B, it seemed harder to assemble if I didn't replace the grease every other assembly. I haven't repeated the experiment on the Ventus 2. I felt that wiping out the grease and replacing was good insurance if also wipes out the dirt which is potentially abrasive. It's hard to argue with success if old grease is keeping your pins pretty.

I asked about grease because with the good ole' white grease, I was seeing a ring of dark stuff on the load bearing surfaces of the pins after flying. Thought it might be metal from the pin. Since then, I got out Mr. Starret and measured. Everything looks good, so perhaps the dark stuff was from the grease.

Perhaps resorting to digesting grease specs is an early warning sign of Covid cabin fever. Naa, the inner nerd would do it anyway. Cheers.

out west in the dust bowl that I fly in ( you name an airport in AZ that isnt one) it makes sense to clean and lube every assy. otherwise the paste mix that ensues wears in everything. I e replaced everything at least once even with cleaning and regreasing every time. But then Most people dont put the hours on their ships that I used to

At 03:48 18 July 2020, wrote:
out west in the dust bowl that I fly in ( you name an airport in AZ that
is=
nt one) it makes sense to clean and lube every assy. otherwise the paste
mi=
x that ensues wears in everything. I e replaced everything at least once
ev=
en with cleaning and regreasing every time. But then Most people dont put
t=
he hours on their ships that I used to


Most of the dust is near the ground, you should try flying a little
higher...

My observation is that grease makes a difference in reducing lift pin wear from fretting. It’s pretty much impossible to get the wings to fit tight enough to avoid the lift pins sliding in and out of the bearings when yaw forces are transferred between the fuselage and wings. It isn’t much movement, but over time it’s a significant cause of wear. The movement should be reduced as much as possible by inserting shims, but getting to zero movement makes assembly difficult. No free lunch.

Craig
JN