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Recommendation for solvent to clean dried grease out of Ft. Wheel Bearings
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 2:15 pm
by Don D
I am going to attempt to clean and restore several front wheel hubs. I have a combination of ball and roller bearings. All are old, some loose grease and some dried grease. I need to clean and inspect all the components. I'd like to determine which bearings and races should be replaced. So the key questions are what solvent would you recommend for this project? Would the use of an Ultrasonic cleaner be too aggressive? What are next week's winning lottery numbers? (sorry - got carried away)
Thanks is advance for the assistance.
Dom
Re: Recommendation for solvent to clean dried grease out of Ft. Wheel Bearings
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 2:34 pm
by John kuehn
Soak for a while in mineral spirits, diesel, or some type of degreaser. Kerosene use to be widely used but now it’s to expensive.
You can go to WalMart and get some mineral spirts and it will do fine.
Nothing complicated here. Just a good solvent and several old rags.
Re: Recommendation for solvent to clean dried grease out of Ft. Wheel Bearings
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 6:50 pm
by Burger in Spokane
Mineral spirits and a bit of patience will do the trick. Hotter solvents will evaporate
rapidly, defeating the soaking process. Patience seems to be a hard commodity to find
these days, but it is often the key ingredient to success in many operations involving
things of the old and cool variety.
Re: Recommendation for solvent to clean dried grease out of Ft. Wheel Bearings
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 9:28 pm
by DHort
I use Kerosene. Only $4-5 here per gallon.
Mineral Spirits is about $7 a gallon.
Re: Recommendation for solvent to clean dried grease out of Ft. Wheel Bearings
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:52 pm
by RichardG
I VOTE FOR KERO, IVE USED IT FOR MANY YEARS, LIKE ANY SOLVENT IT GETS DIRTY, BUT DON'T BE IN A HURRY TO TOSS IT, AFTER USE LET IT SET --THE CHUNKS WILL SETTLE TO THE BOTTOM IN A DAY OR TWO, THE BLACK COLOR IS OILS FROM THE GREASE--NO HARM TO PARTS, DRAIN IT THROUGH A RAG AND ITS READY TO USE NEXT JOB. AND IT DON'T EVAPORATE. LIKE OTHER SPIRITS. ALSO HAS A VERY HIGH FLASH POINT UN LIKE GAS AND STUFF LIKE THAT. WHEN I FINNISH WITH A CLEANING AND AFTER IT SETTLES I POUR THE STRAINED FLUID BACK IN THE 5 GAL JUG TILL NEXT TIME . ON WHEEL BERING'S AND RACES I FLUSH WITH CARB CLEANER AND A AIR BLAST, AFTER, KERO WILL LEAVE THE METAL SLIPPERY, AND HARD FOR THE GREASE TO COLLECT WHERE ITS NEEDED. CAREFUL NOT TOO HIGH PRESSURE HERE IVE SEEN A NIT WIT ZING A BERING TO ITS POINT OF FLYING APART. AND THEY FLY LIKE A BULLET , JUST DON'T USE THE USED KERO IN THE DASH LIGHTS, IT WORKS BUT IT SMOKES SOME.