Anyone know what kind of grease is in the Das Kit motors? I have over 2k miles on mine and I was going to open it up to just check on it. I want to have some grease handy though for when I do that. I keep seeing things about white lithium as kind of being the basic grease which is kind of surprising because I thought white lithium is petroleum based and that would be bad for nylon gears? If it really is ok maybe I'll still use it just because its easier to get around here. Others like Mobil SHC 100 and 28 sound better but more of a pain to find where I live.
Motor Grease
- Thread starter jkvt
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JRA
Well-Known Member
Seems like the go to grease in Asia is white lithium and over the years synthetic grease like the Mobil 1 red lithium has worked it's way into favor in the eBike world. I used it to good effect in my TSDZ2 mid drive motor that has a nylon/steel interface gear but upon teardown for other means later it seemed to be ok but very brown.
In some reading online I heard about Corn Head grease which is a John Deere product and maybe available at a local farm supply/parts store in your area and certainly online. Comes in a cartridge only as far as I know which will yield a lifetime supply. With an enclosed system you really don't need an over amount of grease and should last for a very long time.
I used it on my steel reduction gear mid drive motor and it did alot to quiet the motor as well as give me a more secure feeling that it is properly lubed over the what I considered to be a too small amount of white lithium.
In some reading online I heard about Corn Head grease which is a John Deere product and maybe available at a local farm supply/parts store in your area and certainly online. Comes in a cartridge only as far as I know which will yield a lifetime supply. With an enclosed system you really don't need an over amount of grease and should last for a very long time.
I used it on my steel reduction gear mid drive motor and it did alot to quiet the motor as well as give me a more secure feeling that it is properly lubed over the what I considered to be a too small amount of white lithium.
Gionnirocket
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I've seen white grease on plastic gears in electric drills... Don't know if it was lithium.
What ever grease you end up using... Make sure you remove as much of the original grease as possible as mixing incompatible greases can become a disaster.
What ever grease you end up using... Make sure you remove as much of the original grease as possible as mixing incompatible greases can become a disaster.
Thanks - so I ended up jumping on this today. Bottom line is I wish I had easy access to SHC100 or even 28, but I don't. Really not a fan of putting a petroleum grease on these gears so I looked for options. I found some red Amsoil synthetic NLGI 2 grease. I read the applications before I put it on and we'll see how it does. It's compatible with lithium grease, so while I did clean the grease that wasn't on the gears, I wasn't too worried about it. Can always swap it for something else. Very glad I did open up the motor though. The job was easy and the gear teeth seemed to be lacking grease. See the photos below. Lots of white lithium grease in areas that won't help a whole lot. Cleaned it up and put the new grease on like this Rize video, below, shows. Took it for a quick spin and so far so good. Motor is nice and quiet.
In case someone is looking at this thread and wants to know how to get the motor apart and do this, I did it nearly the same as in the Rize video (although I didnt fully remove the planetary gear assembly from the motor).
1) Take the wheel off.
2) Unscew the retaining bolt by the brake rotor
3) Flip the motor/wheel over. There's a spacer that will likely fall out from the rotor side. This just goes on the axle immediately behind the retaining bolt. Remove the screws on this side of the motor. I think there were 6 of them.
4) Make sure the electric line is coming out the slot on the side of the axle so it is protected, then put some pressure on that side of the axle. I just put that side of the wheel the the garage floor and gently pushed down. This pushed the motor out the side.
5) Inspect gears for any broken teeth (I didnt see any).
6) Wipe up grease that's not on the teeth, both on the planetary gear assembly and the interior of the housing near the gears.
7) Apply some grease to the gears inside the the housing (see the Rize video).
8) Gently put the motor back into the housing. If it doesn't want to go in the final 1/4 inch, then rotate the axle slowly just a bit while gently pushing it in. This will align the planetary gear teeth with the teeth in the housing.
9) Put the spacer and retaining bolt back on the rotor side and screw the screws back in on the other side.
In case someone is looking at this thread and wants to know how to get the motor apart and do this, I did it nearly the same as in the Rize video (although I didnt fully remove the planetary gear assembly from the motor).
1) Take the wheel off.
2) Unscew the retaining bolt by the brake rotor
3) Flip the motor/wheel over. There's a spacer that will likely fall out from the rotor side. This just goes on the axle immediately behind the retaining bolt. Remove the screws on this side of the motor. I think there were 6 of them.
4) Make sure the electric line is coming out the slot on the side of the axle so it is protected, then put some pressure on that side of the axle. I just put that side of the wheel the the garage floor and gently pushed down. This pushed the motor out the side.
5) Inspect gears for any broken teeth (I didnt see any).
6) Wipe up grease that's not on the teeth, both on the planetary gear assembly and the interior of the housing near the gears.
7) Apply some grease to the gears inside the the housing (see the Rize video).
8) Gently put the motor back into the housing. If it doesn't want to go in the final 1/4 inch, then rotate the axle slowly just a bit while gently pushing it in. This will align the planetary gear teeth with the teeth in the housing.
9) Put the spacer and retaining bolt back on the rotor side and screw the screws back in on the other side.
Attachments
I recently disassembled a Tongsheng TSDZ2 mid drive to make it coaster brake compatible. There was no lube on the motor shaft to blue nylon gear and minimal (almost none) lube on the steel reduction gear and main gear. I'm not sure how many miles on the motor but probably between 750 and 1000 on very hilly routes. There was no noticeable wear on the blue nylon gear despite lack of any lube so maybe it doesn't need any.
I ended up using Super Lube that I already had and lubed the blue nylon gear as well as the steel reduction and main gears. I didn't go crazy adding lube, the motor is extremely quiet, as before, despite having gone from spiral to straight cut gears for the steel main and reduction gears.
Super Lube is apparently very versatile, compatible with most greases, NLGI Grade 2 (can be used in automotive wheel bearings and U-joints etc.), is a dielectric grease so no need to have those small tubes of dielectric, temp range from -45 to 450 degrees, "excellent adhesion...outlasts conventional greases 3-4 times". Looked like a good choice to me and I already had it in the garage.
I ended up using Super Lube that I already had and lubed the blue nylon gear as well as the steel reduction and main gears. I didn't go crazy adding lube, the motor is extremely quiet, as before, despite having gone from spiral to straight cut gears for the steel main and reduction gears.
Super Lube is apparently very versatile, compatible with most greases, NLGI Grade 2 (can be used in automotive wheel bearings and U-joints etc.), is a dielectric grease so no need to have those small tubes of dielectric, temp range from -45 to 450 degrees, "excellent adhesion...outlasts conventional greases 3-4 times". Looked like a good choice to me and I already had it in the garage.
Gionnirocket
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Seems like you could leave a tube of this bedside as well... Grease gun optional
tomjasz
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FWIW some lubrication products can soften plastic gears. Gioni has the best advice here.
Gionnirocket
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You scared me for a second there Thomas...
For a moment I thought you were going to advocate Super Lube in the bedroom
tomjasz
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Without Midixafailen those generic blue pills I’m uselessYou scared me for a second there Thomas...
For a moment I thought you were going to advocate Super Lube in the bedroom
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