Lubricant for spar pins

On Sunday, January 7, 2018 at 4:19:47 AM UTC-8, chuck wrote:
Jonkers is quite specific on their lube spec. From the JS1 Maintennance Manual:
-!Super Lube® Synthetic Grease with Syncolon® (PTFE) Multi-Purpose Lubricant.

I like Tri-flo, have used Lanox and all the usual suspects.
But that's a great recommendation.
Jim

On Saturday, January 6, 2018 at 11:44:13 PM UTC-5, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
Did a search of RAS and all the threads were quite old, so I thought I would ask what lubricant do you use when assembling your glider? I have noticed that the lube that comes with Schleicher gliders seems to have more friction and lube. Of course there is the old standby of white lithium, but any new ideas?

Wot? nobody pushing good old WD 40?
Seriously, surely the meticulous glider pilot must treat load bearing pins differently from spar locking pins.

And, of course, different specs for summer and winter.

I recall a case where none of these substances had been applied.
When responding to a call for someone who knows how to derig an
Olympia, I found it impossible to push, tap or hammer the taper pins out,
even when there were guys lifting the wing tips. You just could not
safely swing a sledge hammer standing in the cockpit; so we removed the
lifting pins without too much trouble, and removed the one piece wing.
Then one could really get a swing at those pins, which yielded to reveal
a coating of Fe2O3H20; rust! Last time it had been rigged was at a
repair facility!!

JMF

I have used 100% synthetic Mobil 1 grease for three gliders that I fly in the heat of summer and the very very cold winters. Does not get stiff in the winter or runny in the summer.

White lithium grease works fine on my Stemme year round, including wave
flying.Â* When the outboard panels are installed, there are no shear
loads on the pins and they slide smoothly in and out.Â* When they start
to feel sticky, I wipe them off with a paper towel and apply a fresh,
light coating of grease and smooth, easy installation is restored.Â*
There's really no need to use grease from Mars or Uranus...

On 1/7/2018 4:54 PM, wrote:
I have used 100% synthetic Mobil 1 grease for three gliders that I fly in the heat of summer and the very very cold winters. Does not get stiff in the winter or runny in the summer.

--
Dan, 5J

On Sun, 07 Jan 2018 15:35:29 -0800, john firth wrote:

Wot? nobody pushing good old WD 40?

Geez: don't ever think its a lubricant. Its a glue once it dries out!

Sure, use it to loosen frozen bearings, wing pins etc. but once its done
that magic, flush it out with a decent solvent and, if the bearing/pin/
etc needs it, re-lubricate with the appropriate grease or oil.

How do I know? Many years of flying competition free flight power models
in dusty places, that's how. After each flight in a dusty place (Taft or
Lost Hills for my US readers, Poitou and the Flevoland comps for the
rest) you need to blast the dust out of the clockwork engine + d/t timer
before the next flight, and a WD40 rattle can is a good as anything for
that. However, if you don't immediately strip and clean the timer after
the contest has ended, it will not run next time you go out to fly
because the WD40 solvent has evaporated, leaving sticky goo on all the
cogs in the timer.

Those of you who have flown F/F power models will know this, but it may
surprise the rest.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie
| dot org

At 23:35 07 January 2018, john firth wrote:
Wot? nobody pushing good old WD 40?
Seriously, surely the meticulous glider pilot must treat load bearing
pins
=
Tell me why? I am presently using WD40 specialist spray grease. Very slippy
and easy to apply.

Jim

On Monday, January 8, 2018 at 7:30:07 AM UTC-5, Jim White wrote:
At 23:35 07 January 2018, john firth wrote:
Wot? nobody pushing good old WD 40?
Seriously, surely the meticulous glider pilot must treat load bearing
pins
=
Tell me why? I am presently using WD40 specialist spray grease. Very slippy
and easy to apply.

Jim

I think most folks view WD40 as the "traditional" water displacement product in the blue can which is nothing like the WD40 Spray Grease you're using. If anyone really wants to do the work, you can look at some of the key tests that should be published on the Technical Data Sheets for whatever product you use to see how it performs. Things like ASTM D2266 2596 etc. define critical wear prevention properties.

P3

At 14:13 08 January 2018, Papa3 wrote:
On Monday, January 8, 2018 at 7:30:07 AM UTC-5, Jim White wrote:
At 23:35 07 January 2018, john firth wrote:
Wot? nobody pushing good old WD 40?
Seriously, surely the meticulous glider pilot must treat load bearing
pins
=3D
Tell me why? I am presently using WD40 specialist spray grease. Very
slip=
py
and easy to apply.
=20
Jim

I think most folks view WD40 as the "traditional" water displacement
produc=
t in the blue can which is nothing like the WD40 Spray Grease you're
using.=
If anyone really wants to do the work, you can look at some of the key
t=
ests that should be published on the Technical Data Sheets for whatever
pro=
duct you use to see how it performs. Things like ASTM D2266 2596 etc.
def=
ine critical wear prevention properties. =20

P3


Datasheet says:

4-ball Wear Test 0.5 mm (ASTM D-4172) ,
Dropping Point Temperature 118°C (ASTM D566) ,
Corrosion Protection in salt spray test 0 % rust at 72h (ASTM B-117) ,
Temperature (Continuous) -20°C to +115°C as grease, then to +260°C as
liquid

Is that any good?

Jim

On Mon, 08 Jan 2018 16:23:43 +0000, Jim White wrote:

At 14:13 08 January 2018, Papa3 wrote:
On Monday, January 8, 2018 at 7:30:07 AM UTC-5, Jim White wrote:
At 23:35 07 January 2018, john firth wrote:
Wot? nobody pushing good old WD 40?
Seriously, surely the meticulous glider pilot must treat load bearing
pins
=3D
Tell me why? I am presently using WD40 specialist spray grease. Very
slip=
py
and easy to apply.
=20
Jim

I think most folks view WD40 as the "traditional" water displacement
produc=
t in the blue can which is nothing like the WD40 Spray Grease you're
using.=
If anyone really wants to do the work, you can look at some of the
key
t=
ests that should be published on the Technical Data Sheets for whatever
pro=
duct you use to see how it performs. Things like ASTM D2266 2596 etc.
def=
ine critical wear prevention properties. =20

P3


Datasheet says:

4-ball Wear Test 0.5 mm (ASTM D-4172) ,
Dropping Point Temperature 118°C (ASTM D566) ,
Corrosion Protection in salt spray test 0 % rust at 72h (ASTM B-117) ,
Temperature (Continuous) -20°C to +115°C as grease, then to +260°C as
liquid

Is that any good?

I notice that the "Super Lube grease with Syncolon" is available in the
UK in 90mm tubes from Amazon, so have decided that I'll have one before
my Libelle's next annual is due in March: I need to bbuy some grease
before then anyway.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie
| dot org

On Monday, January 8, 2018 at 11:30:06 AM UTC-5, Jim White wrote:
At 14:13 08 January 2018, Papa3 wrote:
On Monday, January 8, 2018 at 7:30:07 AM UTC-5, Jim White wrote:
At 23:35 07 January 2018, john firth wrote:
Wot? nobody pushing good old WD 40?
Seriously, surely the meticulous glider pilot must treat load bearing
pins
=3D
Tell me why? I am presently using WD40 specialist spray grease. Very
slip=
py
and easy to apply.
=20
Jim

I think most folks view WD40 as the "traditional" water displacement
produc=
t in the blue can which is nothing like the WD40 Spray Grease you're
using.=
If anyone really wants to do the work, you can look at some of the key
t=
ests that should be published on the Technical Data Sheets for whatever
pro=
duct you use to see how it performs. Things like ASTM D2266 2596 etc.
def=
ine critical wear prevention properties. =20

P3


Datasheet says:

4-ball Wear Test 0.5 mm (ASTM D-4172) ,
Dropping Point Temperature 118°C (ASTM D566) ,
Corrosion Protection in salt spray test 0 % rust at 72h (ASTM B-117) ,
Temperature (Continuous) -20°C to +115°C as grease, then to +260°C as
liquid

Is that any good?

Jim

If you're going to land out on the beach, then you've only got 72 hours :-)

I haven't played with a test rig for this in over 30 years (college was a while ago), but the 4 ball wear test is for sliding and friction (putting the pins in and taking them out ). There's also a 4 ball welding test that shows how the grease holds up under extreme pressure (e.g. getting smushed by the loading of the wings under bending). The thing that's most obvious to us who fly all year from cold winters to very hot summers is the temperature stability. Looks like the WD40 Grease is probably good enough.

Before anyone complains - yeah this thread has probably gone past its useful life. My sense is that the first step is using SOMETHING religiously to protect against wear and corrosion. Something that's convenient to use and relatively clean probably means you'll be more likely to use it religiously.