Best grease for gears?

[NyCityKId]

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best grease for gears inside gearboxes? We recently received the four GEM Planetary gearboxes from AndyMark and two of them came with a whitish grease that seems to work really well and the other two came with this green gunk that was so stiff that the gearboxes couldn't be turned by hand. If the white grease sounds familiar to you could you please tell me the name. Alternatively if you know the of any grease that works well in a gearboxes, we would love to know about it provided it is in accordance with rule <R02> and any other applicable rules regarding potentially hazardous materials.

[MrHance]

I believe the white grease is a lithium type grease, I am not sure about the green stuff.

I would go to an automotive parts store and look for the Lithium Grease in a Tube.

I have found this works best as you can control the amount and put it just where you want it.

Also, keep in mind that no substance can leak from the robot at any time, especially onto the playing surface. This is a definet NO-NO.

I hope this has been of some help to you.

[svenw]

To build on this question, what kind of lubricants are teams using for open gearboxes? Ive looked at some dry teflon lubricants, but i was just wondering what other teams use. I tried searching but could only find that team 254 used teflon impregnation for their 2007 gearboxes.

[sanddrag]

White lithium grease has been the typical grease teams use for gears in FRC applications.

I recently packed the wheel bearings in one of my vehicles with some Coastal brand EP grease containing Moly. It seemed like a really nice grease. Not sure if it'd be good for gears or not,

I know BaneBots recommends Mobil XHP 222 for their planetary gearboxes.

[big1boom]

We use White Lithium grease in all of our transmissions. For other locations (axle bushings, lazy susans, etc) we use spray graphite.

[Nathan Streeter]

1519 also uses an automative-purpose White Lithium Grease (comes in a tube) for our gearboxes. It's worked quite well in the past!

Our typical procedure for brand new gearboxes (particularly for the drive train) are to build and grease them, then run them under no load to break them in. We stick an ammeter to them every few minutes and stop running them when the current seems to have stopped declining. I'd recommend alternating the direction of the gearboxes while breaking them in. Then we take them apart, wipe out the grease (which normally has steel dust in it), and re-grease them. We typically have no reason to take them apart ever again. This works well and helps the gearbox wear better over the season - I'm not sure what other teams do! :-)

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by NyCityKId

We recently received the four GEM Planetary gearboxes from AndyMark and two of them came with a whitish grease that seems to work really well and the other two came with this green gunk that was so stiff that the gearboxes couldn't be turned by hand. If the white grease sounds familiar to you could you please tell me the name. Alternatively if you know the of any grease that works well in a gearboxes, we would love to know about it provided it is in accordance with rule <R02> and any other applicable rules regarding potentially hazardous materials.

The green stuff is probably an extreme-pressure grease, similar to Esso Unirex N. I've used it on gears when other stuff wasn't handy, but it's really for squirting into bearings and grease fittings. By contrast, white lithium grease (which I recommend) tends to have the consistency of yogurt at room temperature, but feels more like soft margarine. That works well in open gearboxes, but can splash a little if you overdo it, so be sure to run the gearbox for a while before putting it on the carpet, so as to get rid of the excess lubricant. Another good grease is the greyish molybdenum disulfide grease—for our purposes, it's pretty much equivalent to the lithium.

[sanddrag]

Regarding gearbox breakin:

I once had a gearbox that sounded awful, and was clearly binding. I put it on a power supply, and the meter showed the one CIM was drawing about 8 amps with no load on the gearbox. So, I took some car polishing compound I had on hand, squirted some in the gears, ran it for a few minutes adding a little more compound periodically, and watched the current draw drop to about 2.5 amps. Now that's more like it. Cleaned it out, greased it up, and it was good go. A mildly abrasive compound seemed to really break it in quite nicely. I'd be careful to keep it out of bearings though.

[hobbes20xxx]

Personally, petroleum jelly has always worked well, and is easily available...

[CrazyCarl461]

Originally Posted by hobbes20xxx

petroleum jelly has always worked well

Just toss a few of these in your next AM order. Grease to go!

[Henry Williams]

One thing we have used in open gearboxes that are already on the robot at competition is Loctite silicone spray lubricant. It goes on clear and doesn't come off in chunks like the white lithium can if you don't get the amount just right (not to put down the lithium because we do use it as well). Carl up there can attest to its effectiveness.

[NyCityKId]

Thank you all for your replies. The description of white lithium grease sounds pretty accurate. I took the advice on breaking in the gear boxes and I had some team members take care of that yesterday. I thought about getting the grease packets from AndyMark but they seemed really expensive. Not to mention the grease seems to be extremely viscous. The white lithium grease seems to be the best approach for our team since our gear boxes are closed up pretty tight we shouldn't have to worry about the leaking problem. As a matter of fact I plan to get some today.Thank you all for your help and good luck to all of you in LOGO MOTION.

[NyCityKId]

Hello again. I went looking for white lithium grease today and I could only find it in aerosol can form. I was wondering if there's any difference between the stuff in the can and the stuff in the tube. I would assume its the same but i didn't wanna go spending money if its not the same thing. Anyhow, my question is: Is there any significant difference between the aerosol and the tube form of white lithium grease as far as lubricating gearboxes goes?

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by NyCityKId

Is there any significant difference between the aerosol and the tube form of white lithium grease as far as lubricating gearboxes goes?

The spray is many times more expensive, on a mass basis. I imagine there's a propellant (probably propane), and maybe a few additives to keep it from separating, but I don't think any of that will be a problem.

Do you have an auto parts store nearby—they ought to have it. If they don't know what lithium grease is, just ask for grease, and see what their selection looks like. (I imagine AutoZone is your closest equivalent to Canadian Tire, which stocks the stuff in tubs of about 250 g.)

[NyCityKId]

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

The spray is many times more expensive, on a mass basis. I imagine there's a propellant (probably propane), and maybe a few additives to keep it from separating, but I don't think any of that will be a problem.

Do you have an auto parts store nearby—they ought to have it. If they don't know what lithium grease is, just ask for grease, and see what their selection looks like. (I imagine AutoZone is your closest equivalent to Canadian Tire, which stocks the stuff in tubs of about 250 g.)

I found little cartridges of lithium grease but i couldn't find cartridges of white lithium grease. I wanted white lithium because I've heard it was a thinner grease. I only looked in the local hardware store though. Tomorrow I'll go to an auto parts store and look for to see if I find the tubes of white lithium grease. if not then I'll just get the spray.

It is quite curious that i can only find aerosol cans of white lithium grease and no one seems to have the tube or tub of the stuff. Thank you very much for you reply though.