What oil to lubricate floor pump?
03-17-22, 06:21 AM
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What oil to lubricate floor pump?
My Bontrager floor pump started to feel off - it got crunchy toward the bottom of its travel and it started to squeak and felt less smooth - so I took it apart and found the plunger end with the plastic fitting holding the O-ring was covered with grime. I looked inside the tube with a borescope and the bottom piece set into the end of the tube was filthy as well so I shot some carb cleaner inside until it ran clear coming out the bottom. But there also appeared to be some kind of oil inside, so there's obviously lubrication - what oil do you recommend and how liberally should it be used?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Last edited by MyRedTrek; 03-17-22 at 10:03 AM.
03-17-22, 07:10 AM
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Since you've got it disassembled, put some grease on the O-ring. Whatever you've got is probably fine.
Without taking the whole thing apart, I'll use whatever oil/chain lube I have handy. Phil Wood oil, Finish Line Wet, super-duper secret mix of 30W motor oil thinned with mineral spirits...
Without taking the whole thing apart, I'll use whatever oil/chain lube I have handy. Phil Wood oil, Finish Line Wet, super-duper secret mix of 30W motor oil thinned with mineral spirits...
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03-17-22, 07:48 AM
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Silicone greases are recommended for rubber and plastics.
I personally use Napa sil glyde, Honda Shin-Etsu, or Dow molykote 55 on o rings and rubber seals
I personally use Napa sil glyde, Honda Shin-Etsu, or Dow molykote 55 on o rings and rubber seals
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03-17-22, 08:14 AM
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Without taking the whole thing apart, I'll use whatever oil/chain lube I have handy. Phil Wood oil, Finish Line Wet, super-duper secret mix of 30W motor oil thinned with mineral spirits...
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Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
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03-17-22, 10:02 AM
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What I want to know is how did *sand* get in there? With the borescope I could clearly see sand in the bottom of the tube and some stuck to a dowel I stuck in there - but it's basically a sealed unit, from what I see air gets drawn in from the top via the side tube. That's odd.
03-17-22, 10:41 AM
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My current floor pump has been in service for ~7 yrs, and is used to top off the psi before just about every ride (Strava says 1,414 rides to date), and I haven't yet but I've considered re-lubing it at some point, but I always figured if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Maybe some Park grease is in its future.
BTW I didn't know the brand of the pump off the top of my head (not there now) so I searched for "Orange Pump" and got this result...it might increase your blood pressure, but doesn't do a thing for your tire pressure...
BTW I didn't know the brand of the pump off the top of my head (not there now) so I searched for "Orange Pump" and got this result...it might increase your blood pressure, but doesn't do a thing for your tire pressure...
03-17-22, 05:36 PM
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Since you've got it disassembled, put some grease on the O-ring. Whatever you've got is probably fine.
Without taking the whole thing apart, I'll use whatever oil/chain lube I have handy. Phil Wood oil, Finish Line Wet, super-duper secret mix of 30W motor oil thinned with mineral spirits...
Without taking the whole thing apart, I'll use whatever oil/chain lube I have handy. Phil Wood oil, Finish Line Wet, super-duper secret mix of 30W motor oil thinned with mineral spirits...
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03-17-22, 07:29 PM
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Back in the day of steel pump cylinders and leather pressure cups we would unthread the cylinder's top can and wipe some grease on the inner walls to keep the rust at bay and keep the leather supple.
Compressing air has a lot more going on than most think. The air flow into the cylinder can be greater than one might think. Moisture in the air will condense out on cooler surfaces, like a pump base that sat on the floor (garage, car trunk...) all night. Moist surfaces tend to better allow dust/grit to cling to them. With the advent of plastic pumps some of the rust issues are lessened but the rest still happens and the easy to service the pump also is lessened.
While I agree with the pursuit of the why/how as a service guy I have had to learn to move on and deal with the results regardless of the why/hows. I suggest accepting that in the future the grit will reenter the pump and learn to service it more often. Or just but a new one, which is what 98% of the public would do
Andy
Compressing air has a lot more going on than most think. The air flow into the cylinder can be greater than one might think. Moisture in the air will condense out on cooler surfaces, like a pump base that sat on the floor (garage, car trunk...) all night. Moist surfaces tend to better allow dust/grit to cling to them. With the advent of plastic pumps some of the rust issues are lessened but the rest still happens and the easy to service the pump also is lessened.
While I agree with the pursuit of the why/how as a service guy I have had to learn to move on and deal with the results regardless of the why/hows. I suggest accepting that in the future the grit will reenter the pump and learn to service it more often. Or just but a new one, which is what 98% of the public would do
Andy
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03-18-22, 07:08 AM
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There's other ways to use it up. I use it on auto brake jobs, weather stripping, door/hood bumpers, mounting vehicle tires, any place rubber interfaces with other materials. Like any grease a tube can last a long time when "a little dab will do you"
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03-18-22, 07:42 AM
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I suspect that's more a theoretical concern than a field observation. I've been dripping various oils in pumps for decades so I don't have to disassemble and reassemble the pumps, and I've never seen an inner tube fail because of aspirated oil. There's too much surface and thickness to the butyl rubber to rot it through before prospective patch #24 won't hold.
03-19-22, 01:06 PM
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I suspect that's more a theoretical concern than a field observation. I've been dripping various oils in pumps for decades so I don't have to disassemble and reassemble the pumps, and I've never seen an inner tube fail because of aspirated oil. There's too much surface and thickness to the butyl rubber to rot it through before prospective patch #24 won't hold.
03-21-22, 08:01 PM
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You may not want to make a warranty/replacement claim but Bontrager is supposed to have a lifetime no cost replacement policy for their pumps. While on vacation a few years ago I purchased a Bontrager "Charger" floor pump as a replacement for a cheap travel pump that broke. The shop owner who sold it to me said if anything happened to it Bontrager would replace it at no cost forever.
