Using Graphite powder in the Single Speed Tranny and FLM case.
 

Anybody use the graphite powder for lubricant in their tranny? Graphite powder and lubricante don't seem to go together. I tried it in the plastic case and gears and it work fine. Looking at the gears right now (putting in the single speed today) all the gears look like new other then the black powder. Any thoughts on using it vs packing it with grease? Grease make it quiter?

I'll probably try it with the powder for a while. Easier to get all the powder out then the grease that is one plus.

Some sort of friction reducing product is a good idea. Sike uses lucas oil stabilizer in his trannys, with sealed bearings. He found that over 50mph the friction and heat caused the plastic output gears to soften/melt. I usually use some tamiya ceramic grease, enough to coat the gears.

Packing the entire tranny with grease would add a ton or resistance and performance would suffer. If you are having success with the graphite, stay with it.

The graphite powder works really good and I've had good luck with plain old green slime too.

I tried packing the tranny once like lincpimp said not to do and it ruined my tranny. It was white lithium grease and I could barely turn the tranny by hand. Just a little light coating now and I haven't had to rebuild one yet.

Packing the tranny with grease will do 2 things.... Add rotational resistance (just like packing a diff with grease or silicon fluid) and add useless weight. (And quite a bit)

Graphite power should be just fine. I have also had good luck with the dry silicon lube they sell in bicycle shops for chain and gear lubrication. (goes on wet but drys quickly to leave a silicon deposit.) Prevents things from sticking in the lube and doesn't fly off in high rpm.

So far I have used mine with only a little lube, and it runs smoothly, and have so far not caused any harm on the gears.

virgin teflon powder works better than graghite as it will not cake when moisture is added. They are both used to lube locks.

I find a light coat of Molybdenum grease works well on metal or plastic gears. Especially with mod 0.8 or larger it really quiets them down. I have tried oils as well as dry graphite but the "M" grease works best for me.

Moly greases with 60% + molybdenum disulfide content:
Honda Moly 60 paste, $9 for 3oz, pn 08734-0001 at your Honda dealer, or $8 from Kim Leong, STOC 3073, California Sport Touring.


LocTite Moly paste, 65% molybdenum disulfide. $20 for an 8oz tube from Enco, part #505-1197, 800-873-3626


TS-70 Moly Paste, 4 oz. ctg. $14 from TSMoly. (800) 508-5545



An alternative to moly is the new poly-flourinated lubricants made by DuPont called Krytox Teflon Bearing Grease. These chemicals are simply magic. They have almost no known solvents, are chemically inert, and don't burn at any temperature, even in a pure oxygen atmosphere. This is pretty clearly the only grease to use. See this article. Nascar mechanics have found that Krytox grease can reduce the temperature of spline joints on drive shafts by 150°. Also, this stuff lasts forever. It is, unfortunately, quite expensive.




Krytox is compatible with moly - in fact DuPont sells a high pressure Krytox which mixes the two. You may hear some horror story from some mechanic about mixing greases and the result turning radioactive or some such. Don't worry, it won't happen with moly or Krytox.

Krytox greases:
DuPont XHT-AC extra high temperature anti-corrosive Krytox. $30 for a 2oz tube, pn 10195K25; $113 for an 8oz tube, from McMaster Carr.


DuPont XHT-BDX extra high temperature extra bonding Krytox. $63 for a 2oz tube pn 10195K22; $230 for an 8oz tube pn10195K24 from McMaster Carr.


LocTite Krytox HyperLube, pn 29711. about $35 for two ounces.

That Krytox sounds pretty good apart from the prices. :surprised: