A Bearing Cleaning Suggestion

[showtime89]

Just wanted to throw this out there. After years of indoor and outdoor roller hockey and cleaning bearings to maximize life, I have come up with the following process. After removing the shields, I clean them with Automotive Break Parts Cleaner(wear latex gloves, it burns). Once they are cleaned and dry, lubricate them with Mobil 1 Synthetic Bearing Grease(Also Automotive). Pack it in there well. It is thick and slippery and lasts, well, forever. If for some reason you decide to clean them once you have applied the Synthetic Grease, the Brake Parts Cleaner will remove it. But normally I would go a season (15 games) between cleaning/lubricating (using normal skate bearing lube/grease), but I have gone about 100 games(2+ years) on the current cleaning and still going strong. Just as quick and quiet as new. Just a suggestion.

[whalercane]

interesting- makes total sense though.

Thanks.

[RichardGraham]

Automotive Break Parts Cleaner(wear latex gloves, it burns).

What's the effect of this cleaner on the environment?

I think that there are other cleaners that will get your bearings just as clean and dry without damaging nature.

Just sayin'

[RoadDoggFL]

Such as...?

I'm really considering giving this a shot because I've never played at a level where keeping my bearings in top shape was a concern but I'm definitely interested in doing it now. So if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

[RichardGraham]

Hi RoadDoggFL,

Well, I don't know all the ingredients, but my belief is that products like Sonic Turbo Wash

http://www.inlinewarehouse.com/descpage-STW.html

and Sonic Citrus Cleaner

http://www.skates.com/Skate-bearing-cleaner-p/30050.htm

would do the job and not harm the environment as much as stuff that burns your hands if you use it...

[showtime89]

You can get the chlorine free brake parts cleaner as well. A little won't burn you, but if you don't wash it off, it burns for a few minutes. Also, since the Synthetic Grease is so thick, it won't spin out through the shields.

[quick_dry]

a natural product can still give you a nasty chemical burn though Richard, and most things usually have a safe disposal method - how are people disposing of their dirty citrus cleaning solutions with gunk and oil dissolved in them?

Having used similar citrus cleaners that you agitate the bearings in, and having used sprayed on brake cleaner on car parts - no contest that a pressurised brake cleaner will blast the crud out way better than the more passive citrus wash.

I just wonder how well the grease lubricates the bearings vs other lubricants? particularly packed grease - or if this is the tradeoff method where the bearing is more resistant to contamination, but not the quickest spinup.

[Alvare71]

I have the ultimate solution.


One set for outdoor(does anyone really care what happens to them).

One set for indoor

Or one pair of skates for outdoor which you can find at play it again, probably almost the same price as a new set of bairings.

One pair for indoor..Spend Spend like the wind and then all you would need is to clean off the plastic dust from the sport court.

If the rink where you are skating at takes care of the floor, your bearings will never get dirty. So get on those rink owners they owe us.



I have had one pair for indoor for 10 years now I will never give up my Fish Bones I have not replace my bearings, only wiped them off since I recieved them.

Maybe thats why I am slow.....Na.

[showtime89]

My point of the indoor/outdoor was that I have played outdoor too, where you need to clean them more often, so through many trials of cleaning methods, this has worked the best. As for spin up speed because of the grease, yes it's thick, and maybe your first spin by hand might not be quick, but once the grease works it's way in, it's just as fast if not faster as anything else I have tried. Also, the pressure from the spray can, does help blast that crap out of the bearings. And any place that I have played doesn't keep the floors clean.


I have the ultimate solution.


One set for outdoor(does anyone really care what happens to them).

One set for indoor

Or one pair of skates for outdoor which you can find at play it again, probably almost the same price as a new set of bairings.

One pair for indoor..Spend Spend like the wind and then all you would need is to clean off the plastic dust from the sport court.

If the rink where you are skating at takes care of the floor, your bearings will never get dirty. So get on those rink owners they owe us.



I have had one pair for indoor for 10 years now I will never give up my Fish Bones I have not replace my bearings, only wiped them off since I recieved them.

Maybe thats why I am slow.....Na.

[Alvare71]

You are right there Showtime, I guess my lazy side somes out when it has to do with any cleaning.

It is easier if you get the bearings that are not sealed, I have tried everything in the book.

I guess I just got tired of trying thing because no inline hockey manufacture reallly makes anything and we don't even know if they care.

[DannyG]

just chiming in with 2-cents...

either I am an idiot, or my skating ability truly is negligible...I change out bearings about once a year, I skate over twenty hours each week, indoors, and its been about 7 years since I have ever bothered to clean a bearing...perhaps Mike or other knowledgable personage can enlighten me, but aren't "sealed" bearings actualy just that? ...and so, uh, why would they need to be cleaned? just asking...

[RichardGraham]

Hi Danny,

I'm with you on this one. I used to play outdoors at the beach in Santa Monica, and the only time I truly worried about cleaning my bearings was when they began to squeak like a mouse who'd stolen "the clear" from Barry Bonds.

I never forgotten the guy who showed up one day and could hardly skate... wearing $300 inline skates. I blame him for the "inline hockey recession" from which we're still recovering.

Yes, bearings sometimes need to be cleaned, but I'd worry more about playing my position (which I never do), working on my stickhandling and skating (my New Year's "Revolution"), and passing the damn puck.

Gee, David A., this champagne is not bad! :cool:

[Alvare71]

Yes most are sealed, they used to have bearings that were not sealed. Maybe I am showing my age.

[KEVIN88GT]

thanks for the info... does anyone know if Swiss Bones bearings can be taken apart... if so anyone have a picture tutorial?

[Alvare71]

Tihs will help you out, plus they have deals.


http://www.skates.com/Bones-swiss-bearings-s/26.htm

[Alvare71]

http://www.skates.com/Bones-Swiss-bearings-for-skates-p/brawbx816-lab.htm


Each labyrinth seal fits into a groove cut into the inner race without touching the walls or bottom of the groove, so that dirt and water must go through a "labyrinth" or "U" shaped path to get to the inside of the bearing. The labyrinth seals are still removable for cleaning, but the skate time between cleanings is greatly increased.

[KEVIN88GT]

great video on how to clean bones bearings...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgbWhXc6_SE&feature=related

but how to you clean the bearings that dont have rubber seals but metal sides?