Rizal Philippines
4.22.2021
Regreasing the sealed bearing cartridge of a headset.
About 3 months ago, the wheelset of my carbon fiber P bike developed a humming grating sound at the rear wheel. I brought this to the mechanic and he ruled a bearing "palitin" case. All that remained was to determine the bearing number.
Unfortunately too the carbon part of the wheel also had deep gouge marks due too hard carbon brake pads. The controversial repair (which cost a lot of PHP) was finished and the next thing to be accomplished is the defective hub with sounds.
Last Saturday, I brought the bike to the LBS to determine the correct bearing number. The numbers are hard to read but I guessed it to be 6802 (as the hubset is Novatec) and is the most common bearing for hubs. It is 6802!
And so I went to the bearing center in the next town. (The travel took nearly 2 hours - a distance of only 20 km because of the horrendous traffic due to diversion.
The bearing cost me P200.00 (up from P130.00 a year ago) The problem is that there was only 1 piece remaining and there was no sure restock timeline.
I searched at an e commerce store, and found the 6802 to be only P160.00 for a set of 10. I had these ordered Tuesday.
However I watched a video on how sealed bearing could be regreased. You simply pry off the steel rubber cover of the bearing (either black, red, or blue) You use a pointed cutter to pry off the seal (hence the sealed bearing)
This post experimented with the MTB and was able to do this successfully on front and rear wheels. For the MTB the drive side bearings were toast and looked rusted. So it was kind of challenge to remove the dirty grease inside the cartridge. I had to spray WD 40 and soak the bearings and turn the wheel on the side to remove the rusty solution. Then, instead of grease I placed light oil and replaced the seals. (The bearing number is 6001
Then I tried this on the carbon wheel. (where the 6802 were) There were 4 bearings that needed attention. 2 on the drive side (the axle) and 2 in the hub set. The drive side bearings were problematic - one on the axle and two on the hub. The drive bearing was rusted, the hub bearings were dry. They may be causing the humming grating sound. And so I placed again light oil and grease. It was also the chance to clean the pawls and their springs and again placed light oil (instead of grease) so that it wont get stuck.
Now I dont think I need the bearings anymore. Wastage of about P400.00
Knowing something new could be costly
The take away from this article is:
1, You must service your sealed bearing periodically. A sealed bearing is not something that runs perpetually. It needs to be lubricated.
2. It can be done even while still on the wheel by peeling of the metallic plastic or rubber seal.
Once the bearing in cages can be seen, you can clean the bearing and lubricate this. Demo shows
that light lubed bearings are faster and efficient. All you need is a pointed tip of a cutter.
So next question, what do I do with th 6802 bearing I ordered.
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