Many solvents work to remove the grease. I have used acetone and xylene with good success. Per lostchild, you are essentially “washing” out the grease so several passes may be needed, discarding the solvent in between. Agitation is important so dunking them and then rotating the outer race vs the inner helps work the grease out. I have made home grown versions of the bones bearing cleaning kit by poking a bolt that fits the id of the bearing through the lid of a jar. This allows you to space/ suspend the bearings on a shaft within a shakable jar for excellent agitation .
These smaller bearings have much less drag on them then the larger ones did. I may try them without cleaning out the lubrication first. Initial tests have been better than the larger bearings already.
But first I am trying to lubricate the gears. The bearings may be completely unnecessary. They are just to reduce friction where the axle pivots in the frame, and the graphite appears to be doing its job there.
I like the contrast that the gears have now. I also finished trimming the last rod and installed the cap on the pendulum; no more brass rod sticking out the front of the clock anymore.
The clock is stopping every 1 to 2 hours again. I feel like the Dry Moly just needs to be worked into the gears a bit. If I touch the clock (or if the wall shakes) it starts again. I have not been able to find a source to the problem, no bound gears, or hung cord. I will let it break in and see what happens.
Should I have applied more than one coat of Dry Moly? I just applied a single coat, but now I am noticing that is not entirely even. I have never used it before. What are other’s experience with it?
Give it a couple of days and just monitor it. Just tap it to restart it and let it find it’s groove. After a couple of days go back and see what’s going on if it is still stopping. Maybe cut another one out and assemble it, then you’ll have two to bounce between. Just a thought. I’m curious, what kind of investment have you go in this so far, if you don’t mind me asking.
It has been my observation that many bolt loosening agents like WD-40 and such have wiped out what grease there was but leaving a very thin coat of such organics as “bond” to the surface as opposed to solvents that leave the metal dry and bare, I suspect that the former would work better than the latter, and certainly avoid interaction with oxygen that could increase friction. That is just my thinking, I have not run the experiment.
I did some research and they do NOT recommend using WD-40 on bearings, because it removes all the lubrication and leaves them running dry! But that is exactly what I want, I am going to try this.
Well the WD-40 has definitely cleaned out the bearings I was testing. Much lower viscosity and very little drag now. But before I test them in the clock again I need to finish testing the Dry Moly on the gears.
I am not sure if I should try another coat of Dry Moly or if I just need it to be broken in… The gears are not showing anymore signs of binding (that is the good news) but the clock is still stopping every couple hours (the bad news). I cannot tell why because if I get to close, or breath on it, it starts running again. I am not sure if it is losing power in the drive train again, or if the escapement has added friction, but something has it not moving quite right.
I may check all the brass rods, next time I have it apart, to make sure they are all the same size and smooth.
I am just not sure where else to look, but the only thing that has really changed was the addition of the Dry Moly on the gears (and reassembling the clock).
