Ok to use Mobil XHP 220 motor bearing grease for bearings?
Any reason something like Mobil XHP 220 motor bearing grease wouldn't work for any bearing on a bike?
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What's the reason to pick that grease? It's what you have on hand? It's what you read was magic:)?
Unless the riding is going to be in conditions on the edges of the weather bell curve most generally available greases will do just fine. Until it becomes contaminated or washed out. Servicing bearings is like bathing. It's less about the soap brand then the fact you are doing some sort of cleaning routinely. Andy |
Originally Posted by Andrew R Stewart
(Post 22326039)
What's the reason to pick that grease? It's what you have on hand? It's what you read was magic:)?
Unless the riding is going to be in conditions on the edges of the weather bell curve most generally available greases will do just fine. Until it becomes contaminated or washed out. Servicing bearings is like bathing. It's less about the soap brand then the fact you are doing some sort of cleaning routinely. Andy |
The only issue I can see- if I read the data from Mobil correctly (odds are about 1 in 5), 220 is a NLGI 0 grease, that may be too thin. Don't get a 5gal pail before you get some of that grease in your hand to look at. Farm machinery, trucks, cars, grade 2 is the most common.
https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants/...x-pdsdatasheet https://www.nyelubricants.com/need-t...se-consistency |
Originally Posted by grizzly59
(Post 22326087)
The only issue I can see- if I read the data from Mobil correctly (odds are about 1 in 5), 220 is a NLGI 0 grease, that may be too thin. Don't get a 5gal pail before you get some of that grease in your hand to look at. Farm machinery, trucks, cars, grade 2 is the most common.
https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants/...x-pdsdatasheet https://www.nyelubricants.com/need-t...se-consistency Could something that holds up in commercial washing machine motors be inadequate for a bicycle? |
Originally Posted by MyRedTrek
(Post 22326139)
For myself I'm probably many years from using up my tube of Park Tool PPL-1.
Could something that holds up in commercial washing machine motors be inadequate for a bicycle? I still stand by my first reply that most any grease is fine and it's how frequently we service our bearings that is vastly more important than which lube we use. Andy |
Originally Posted by Andrew R Stewart
(Post 22326232)
Originally Posted by MyRedTrek View Post For myself I'm probably many years from using up my tube of Park Tool PPL-1. Could something that holds up in commercial washing machine motors be inadequate for a bicycle? I still stand by my first reply that most any grease is fine and it's how frequently we service our bearings that is vastly more important than which lube we use. Andy |
Originally Posted by MyRedTrek
(Post 22326275)
I wasn't even thinking about water intrusion which my understanding is should be avoided. I was thinking of the amount of stress and vastly higher RPMs washing machine motor bearings are going to be subjected to. Seems that lube should stand up to anything it's going to encounter in a bicycle.
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As Andrew R Stewart said you will be fine; higher NLGI grades are mostly for higher temperature and pressure applications which cycling is not. Cleaning and re-greasing periodically is far more important than whether your grease has the consistency of peanut butter or mustard.
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:deadhorse:
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Originally Posted by Sy Reene
(Post 22326400)
Originally Posted by MyRedTrek View Post I wasn't even thinking about water intrusion which my understanding is should be avoided. I was thinking of the amount of stress and vastly higher RPMs washing machine motor bearings are going to be subjected to. Seems that lube should stand up to anything it's going to encounter in a bicycle. |
Originally Posted by MyRedTrek
(Post 22327084)
Does any lube stand up well to water intrusion? I keep seeing people say to be careful when washing a bike to avoid it. As I understand it that's why boat trailers constantly have bearing failures, because people don't stay on top of re-lubing them after they're submerged.
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Originally Posted by MyRedTrek
(Post 22327084)
Does any lube stand up well to water intrusion? I keep seeing people say to be careful when washing a bike to avoid it. As I understand it that's why boat trailers constantly have bearing failures, because people don't stay on top of re-lubing them after they're submerged.
more than other lighter, faster types of grease, but the grease itself doesn’t ‘seal’ your hubs or BB, unless you fill the entire cavity. Those kind of bearing failures aren’t directly caused by submersion. A trailer wheel bearing, being backed down a boat ramp is a pretty low stress situation. If the bearing housing is full of grease, there will be nowhere for the water to go, and water won’t enter the hub. this is why boat trailer hubs feature zerk fittings, because you have to keep them ‘full’ as opposed to highway trailers, which can be ‘dry’ other than the actual bearing surfaces. leaving a void inside the hub, and filling it with water, then running it down the road will mix the grease and water, emulsifying it, and breaking down it’s lubricant properties. Let it go long enough, and you have a bearing failure. If you ride in the rain a lot, repacking your wheels and BB with ‘waterproof trailer grease’ should be more than sufficient for the kinds of conditions a typical bicycle sees. |
It isn't that most grease is water friendly and only some are "waterproof". Pretty much all greases are not going to dissolve away with water but that, as Ironfish653 said, the water and grease mix in an emulsion. At best the added water and thus added volume of the fluids will see some bleed out and reduce the actual grease amount in the bearing area. The water off the road isn't just water but contains chemicals not friendly to your bike and carries grit/grime, think of a polishing tumbler and its slurry.
Phil Wood long ago talked about how water and grease mix and how that leads to bearing failure. Back then it was known, with a wink and smile, that their claim of "waterproof grease" was a total marketing hook. It was their industrial bearing's better seals (compared to the metal dust caps common then) and proper preloading that made them last longer (and thus the dawn of "sealed bearing" began:)) Andy |
This is my go-to for bearings. Bel-Ray. I use Park Polylube 1000 and sometimes SRAM Butter for just about everything else.
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Anything suitable for ball bearings is going to be fine. Oil would be fine if you could keep in the bearing. Grease is used when you can't. Even the wrong lubricant is better than no lubricant. There's no reason to seek out something like Mobil XHP 220 if you don't already have it.
I use Maxima waterproof grease (competitor to Bel-Ray) simply because it's a bearing grease that I already have lots of from working on motorcycles. I even saw it on the shelf at a LBS where I bought a bike earlier this year and that bike had it on the seatpost from when the shop assembled it. It shouldn't have since it was a carbon post in an aluminum frame, but that's another discussion. |
Great web page discussing this very subject.
https://bike.bikegremlin.com/1985/bi...ase-explained/ Mobil SHC 220 at the bottom of the page. |
although it probably doesn't matter for bicycle component applications -
don't mix lithium and molybdenum greases possibly the most significant impact of inadequate and incompatible lubrication (grease) : Alaska Airlines Flight 261 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alas...nes_Flight_261 . https://billingsgazette.com/news/wor...d19b057b8.html . https://products.kitsapsun.com/archi...robe_chec.html . Grease Incompatibility Caused Alaska Air Crash: Report | Aero-News Network . |
Originally Posted by MyRedTrek
(Post 22326048)
I saw elsewhere that someone was using it because they have some left over from a previous job. Seemed to me it should be fine - just curious if there's something I'm not aware of that might be a problem. If they've got a tub of it it'll probably last several lifetimes.
and whatever you do, don't get the stupid white lithium grease that hardens up, as at some point in the future you or someone else will curse it |
Originally Posted by t2p
(Post 22729574)
although it probably doesn't matter for bicycle component applications -
don't mix lithium and molybdenum greases
Originally Posted by t2p
(Post 22729574)
possibly the most significant impact of inadequate and incompatible lubrication (grease) :
Alaska Airlines Flight 261 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alas...nes_Flight_261 https://billingsgazette.com/news/wor...d19b057b8.html https://products.kitsapsun.com/archi...robe_chec.html Grease Incompatibility Caused Alaska Air Crash: Report | Aero-News Network Alaska Airlines’ use of Aeroshell 33 for lubrication of the jackscrew assembly, acme screw thread surface finish, foreign debris, and abnormal loading of the acme nut threads were not factors in the excessive wear of the accident acme nut threads. |
Yes - I have the link and report (all zillion pages lol)
Aeroshell 33 was not the problem (itself) - but compatibility issues still exist Although the grease combination did not meet industry standards - it was ruled out as a cause ( The cause was inadequate lubrication due to failed maintenance practices ) terrible tragedy 2.3.5 Summary of Possibilities Ruled Out as Reasons for the Excessive Acme Nut Thread Wear As a result of the findings discussed in sections 2.3.1 through 2.3.4, the Safety Board concludes that Alaska Airlinesí use of Aeroshell 33 for lubrication of the jackscrew assembly, acme screw thread surface finish, foreign debris, and abnormal loading of the acme nut threads were not factors in the excessive wear of the accident acme nut threads. Standardized grease testing conducted by the U.S. Navyís Aerospace Materials Laboratory on mixtures of the two greases indicated that the grease mixture did not meet the industry standard for compatibility at the 90/10 and 10/90 ratios. However, test results showed that the incompatibility had an insignificant effect on the lubrication performance of the grease. |
Mobil XHP220 is specified for high temp, Hi PRESSURE uses... your bicycle will not produce either in a bearing, as long as the bearings are properly adjusted.
the XHP grease is available in a range of NLGI specs... 2 or below is ok for bicycle use.... i've had best results using 0 or 1 grade in low load environments... better lube FLOWBACK is the reason for a thinner grease in a low temp. environment. Mobil Does Make some of the best greases i've used.... there was a Mobil Marine grease that was used on ExMark Mower blade spindles that was INCREDIBLE., but was WAY too thick for most applications.. it was specified for Valve shafts and threads in Undersea Oil Well capping use.... the mower shafts run in a high water and chemical bath environment... (FERTILIZER!)... most greases fail in a matter of weeks...that Mobil stuff made disassembly two years later just like the day it was assembled. |
Originally Posted by MyRedTrek
(Post 22327084)
Does any lube stand up well to water intrusion? I keep seeing people say to be careful when washing a bike to avoid it. As I understand it that's why boat trailers constantly have bearing failures, because people don't stay on top of re-lubing them after they're submerged.
Now, on a boat trailer that gets submerged in salt water - that's a different story entirely. Yes, regular maintenance with grease is required. And if you regularly do downhill competitions on bike and come off that last jump into a salt water pond with hot bearings, you might have to also. But routine Portland, OR winters of commuting 25 miles round trip, 3 days a week? I try to remember to look at the hubs every two years. (I pack them with all the marine grease I can stuff in, so it oozes out first roll.) |
As usual, the most important factor in grease selection is that it's always better to use grease than not use grease.
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Originally Posted by Dirty Dude
(Post 22729798)
"Moly" greases frequently are lithium soap-based greases. I would say just avoid moly grease on a bicycle altogether unless it's specified. I can't think of anywhere it would be needed.
The only places I can think of this grease being used in the bicycle world is the grease specified by Haberstock Mobility for lubrication of their Schlumpf drive 2 speed epicyclic crankset. The other place is the "special" Shimano grease for Shimano roller brakes. Though, I can't say for certain if the special Shimano approved super-secret-squirrel formula really is plain ol' Mos2 grease or not, it sure looks & feels the part. |
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