What type of motor grease can I use on my Bafang front HUB G311...

TimJohn

Active Member
Last year I noticed a weird noise coming out of my brand new front HUB motor so I took it apart. After realizing the motor was fine and it was just the alignment and a loose axle nut I reassembled the motor. BTW it was an easy and straight forward task. But I was wondering what type of grease do they use inside this thing. I am tempted to buy some synthetic grease (Li based) from a local auto supplier...lots of choices, Mobile, Shell, etc. Any recommendations?
 
NGLI #2 auto grease is too thick for gears in a hub motor IMHO. I pedal mine unpowered 80% of the time with my exhuberant 100 W. I don't need to be dragging around that heavy grease. The one way clutch is after the gears. The supply of lubriplate has ended, so when I had the cover off mine I used petroleum jelly. Lithium soap is to prevent liquifaction of grease at high temperatures, which would then leak out. That won't happend in the gears of a hub motor IMHO. What gets hot in a geared hub motor is the windings.
 
So I guess what I am thinking is not ideal then....I wait for recommendations then. I probably should contact GRIN technologies and ask them.
 
One function of the thickeners (soap) in auto grease is to keep the oil from squeezing out between the bearing surfaces because of the great pressure. There is no great pressure in a bicycle motor gear set.
Biggest problem in a geared hub motor is the grease slings out to the outside of the case and doesn't touch the gears. Taking the cover off my geared hub motor convinced me the designers hadn't done much to address that problem. The grease was nowhere near the gears.
 
So I read you used Petroleum jelly. The only time I remember this product was for moisturizing dry skin. Its a off white coloured product available at a local pharmacy. Right?
 
Yes, or baby aisle of grocery & dollar stores. I use it on the bearings in the bicycle wheels, also. Every 6 years or so.
 
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