Steve B in Vegas
+11mm Kyosho Hubs on the Mojave.
So in our lovely desert climate, the fine dust really does a number on bearings, and my passion for racing around wet soccer fields doesn't help. Even with the sealed bearings, they are still showing drag much sooner than I would like. So I have been experimenting with a cleaning technique. Works better on the standard bearings than the sealed F Eddie bearings.
So I start with wiping down the bearings after a dirty run. Then I toss them into a small wire basket. Into my ultrasonic cleaner with 1 part Simple Green to 2 parts distilled water. Run with heat for 30 min. Remove and toss into plastic strainer and blow them out with an air hose. This takes a bit of time to do right. I end up holding each bearing in the middle and getting it spinning with the nozzle and hit the sides.
From there I drop them into a plastic container with Lock Ease. This is a graphite suspension. Let them sit for 10 min, and during that time shake them around a bit. After that I pluck them out with forceps and drop them on another wire basket to drip dry. After 15 min, I wipe off the remaining and reinstall them into the car.
So far I have about a 80% success rate. Some bearings are damaged inside and the steel balls no longer spin freely, and they can't be salvaged.
I have three full sets of factory bearings and 2 full sets of FE bearings, so as they tighten up from use, I just toss them into a plastic container until I have a good number to clean.
I have tried to remove the plastic cover on the FE bearings, but I destroy half of them so I stopped messing with that.
Anyhow, figured it might be of some interest to you guys.
s
So I start with wiping down the bearings after a dirty run. Then I toss them into a small wire basket. Into my ultrasonic cleaner with 1 part Simple Green to 2 parts distilled water. Run with heat for 30 min. Remove and toss into plastic strainer and blow them out with an air hose. This takes a bit of time to do right. I end up holding each bearing in the middle and getting it spinning with the nozzle and hit the sides.
From there I drop them into a plastic container with Lock Ease. This is a graphite suspension. Let them sit for 10 min, and during that time shake them around a bit. After that I pluck them out with forceps and drop them on another wire basket to drip dry. After 15 min, I wipe off the remaining and reinstall them into the car.
So far I have about a 80% success rate. Some bearings are damaged inside and the steel balls no longer spin freely, and they can't be salvaged.
I have three full sets of factory bearings and 2 full sets of FE bearings, so as they tighten up from use, I just toss them into a plastic container until I have a good number to clean.
I have tried to remove the plastic cover on the FE bearings, but I destroy half of them so I stopped messing with that.
Anyhow, figured it might be of some interest to you guys.
s
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