Seems my bearing are dying.. (It was the valve stem - making noise..)

[Funky]

Not so long ago i changed my 18xl bearings. And after 300km, one of the new "6203-2RSH" bearings are starting to make cracking noises.. Worst thing i don't know why.

I had put 3 layers of grease around them - so no water/sand could get in there. (On bearing sides. On/inside the "O-ring" that goes on axle and presses against bearing side. And thick grease layer between "L" hanger / motor cover.)

The noise is coming from right side. (When im turning right, or lean more weight on right leg.)

More speed = faster "tuk-tuk-tuk" Less speed = slower "tuk---tuk---tuk" noise. (It sound as tire would be rubbing.. More or less.)

I checked tire, even painted white "line" on it's side = nothing. So my tire isn't rubbing against the side. (Also ridden 300km - so it isn't my tire.)

But funny thing is, if i turn wheel around so the "mud flap" sits in front - i don't get any noise.. WTF.

 

>>> Here's my question: Is there any "better" bearings out there? Maybe better sealed ones, where sand/water can't get in? Are there bearings like that? Also can i get a faceplant because of a "broken", "noisy" bearing? Can't they seize up?

Edited July 26, 2022 by Funky

[Freeforester]

How heavy is the rider?

[Funky]

Way to heavy.

 

 

280lbs.

But i was thinking.. If bearing was to blame. It would be making noise riding both ways. Maybe the "O-ring" is little bit loose and it's to blame.  (18xl has that "O-ring" that sits in middle of bearing side to "L" hangers.)

All i know the noise has ritme. One wheel circle - 1 "chunk" noise. Faster/slower it follows the ritme.

Edited July 3, 2022 by Funky

[Tawpie]

@Funky you've seen the thread on the 16X axle, right? I'd take a close look at the axle.

[goatman]

he eats  pie and cakes for body armor 

[alcatraz]

Is it possible they got pressed in too far? Or a spacer is missing?

Bearings have a bit of play and if it's too much your spinning motor housing could rub on something inside. 

The play in the bearings increases over time. If your housing isn't aligned or your bearings aren't hardened (and wear out fast). (Or are made from stainless and aren't as hard as steel.) Then.. such things can occur. 

I'd focus on trying to get the housing centered. You might just need to either move a bearing out a bit or put a shim behind it. 

[Funky]

7 hours ago, Tawpie said:

@Funky you've seen the thread on the 16X axle, right? I'd take a close look at the axle.

Yeah.. But it started happening while i was riding on flat ground. Also i don't jump at all. Heck i stop even at regular height curbs and "carry" it off the curb. The axle isn't bent at all. If it were even a little bit, or even cracked - the "L" hanger would be little bit leaned. Also the noise only happens while riding one way..

Doh when i was riding, i was going over "loose" sand.. So who knows.  For now i will clean off the grease "layers" and reapply "fresh layers".

Edited July 4, 2022 by Funky

[techyiam]

On 7/3/2022 at 11:30 AM, Funky said:

Also can i get a faceplant because of a "broken", "noisy" bearing? Can't they seize up?

If the wheel rotate freely while the tire is off the ground, I suspect the probability of the bearings seizing all of a sudden would be very low. In order for bearings to seize, the rolling elements must be bonded to both the inner race and the outer race. I have seen bearings where the rolling elements were rusted to the inner race, but the outer race was still sliding quite freely.

Personally, I would not ride an euc unless I know with high certainty what the cause of a symptom is, and that it won't cause harm. There are just too many unexpected ways a rider can get hurt while riding an euc.

 

On 7/3/2022 at 2:53 PM, Funky said:

If bearing was to blame. It would be making noise riding both ways

That has been my experience. When I accidentally got some very fine grit pass the bearings seal, the bearings made gritty noises while I rotate the wheel in either direction. If bearings are rusted but not seized, they would for sure make noises while rotating in either direction. 

 

On 7/4/2022 at 12:40 AM, Funky said:

The axle isn't bent at all. If it were even a little bit, or even cracked - the "L" hanger would be little bit leaned.

In the case of the 16X where the axle was cracked inboard of the bearings, it is not clear to me that the rider would be able to discern abnormal "L" hanger angle, especially during the early stages of crack propagation.

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by techyiam

[Funky]

31 minutes ago, techyiam said:

In the case of the 16X where the axle was cracked inboard of the bearings, it is not clearly to me that the rider would be able to discern abnormal "L" hanger angle, especially during the early stages of crack propagation.

We don't really know what was the fault there.. As we know - how many broken axle cases have been there? (Till now i have seen only one, heck there are even more fire cases.) >>> I should be more afraid of burning down my house, if we look at the statistics.  

The 16X user may have abused the wheel. Jumping, riding stairs, who knows.. (He has had so many problem with that 16x - that some think that euc is cursed.)

The 16X pedal "axle" also was stuck - that right there is hard giveaway that he has crashed very hard, or jumped hard.

(I wonder if broken axle wasn't the same side, where the stuck pedal was..)

Check out his youtube channel. Also that video "bending the tire into the wheel well" -  I bet it was the cracked axle.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Funky

[techyiam]

55 minutes ago, Funky said:

We don't really know what was the fault there.. As we know - how many broken axle cases have been there? (Till now i have seen only one, heck there are even more fire cases.) >>> I should be more afraid of burning down my house, if we look at the statistics.  

The 16X user may have abused the wheel. Jumping, riding stairs, who knows.. (He has had so many problem with that 16x - that some think that euc is cursed.)

The 16X pedal "axle" also was stuck - that right there is hard giveaway that he has crashed very hard, or jumped hard.

(I wonder if broken axle wasn't the same side, where the stuck pedal was..)

Check out his youtube channel. Also that video "bending the tire into the wheel well" -  I bet it was the cracked axle.

I was not implying that your case is like his. I was suggesting that you may not want to rule out that possibility just because your "L" hanger looked normal. 

Edited July 4, 2022 by techyiam

[Funky]

Also i didn't mention this.. When i do a hand spin while euc is on side. I can hear a crackling noise time to time. So i'm pretty sure it's the bearing.

It's just odd how "timed" the crackling noise is while riding.. It doesn't miss a beat while riding/turning right. Straight path, riding backwards - silence. 

Edited July 4, 2022 by Funky

[techyiam]

10 minutes ago, Funky said:

Also i didn't mention this.. When i do a hand spin while euc is on side. I can hear a crackling noise time to time. So i'm pretty sure it's the bearing.

It's just odd how "timed" the crackling noise is while riding.. It doesn't miss a beat while riding/turning right. Straight path, riding backwards - silence. 

Is your wheel still rotating freely when you spin it by hand on its side? And are the bearings making similar noises when you spin it forwards or backwards by hand.?

Edited July 4, 2022 by techyiam

[Funky]

Jup freely as nothing has happened. Same thing as riding only forwards. (At least i can hear it more while spinning one way..) - But i hear it very rarely. (Need to spin very fast, then i hear it time to time.) I guess you need weight on the bearings to get that noise.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Funky

[techyiam]

I have a V12 which supposedly has quite good weather protection. I don't ride it on anything other than on asphalt. So the axle bearings seal area is quite clean.

However, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to spray penetrating oil on the axle/seal without dusting off the area first. After only one spray, the bearing started to make scratching noises. On the other side, I cleaned the area first before I sprayed, and that bearing makes no noises. It makes noises whether I hand spun it forwards or backwards while the euc is lying on its side. That means no load. And I can only guess what ever grit that got in bearing cannot be large or in large quantities. 

[Funky]

I guess the sandy grease didn't help and over time also something got in there. Next time - when i will change them, i will buy marine grease. (The grease that "reflects" water.. Will put that inside the bearings themselves.) And won't put any outside layers of grease. So most sand will simply fly off. Not getting stuck to grease.

[supercurio]

12 minutes ago, techyiam said:

However, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to spray penetrating oil on the axle/seal without dusting off the area first. After only one spray, the bearing started to make scratching noises.

I fell ya, 2 years ago when I got my 16X 2nd hand it needed some maintenance and I sprayed some anti rust to cleaned the axle and some penetrated in the bearing too, ruining it in the process. Rookie mistake!

Then I swapped them for SKF, have been perfect since but still, lessons learned 😄 anything that might encourage impurities to go into the bearing, even only a little bit must be avoided.

Even spraying water into the wheel well to clean dirt might be more harm than good (especially if the wheel is not spun at high RPM afterwards to push the water away)

[techyiam]

3 minutes ago, supercurio said:

I fell ya, 2 years ago when I got my 16X 2nd hand it needed some maintenance and I sprayed some anti rust to cleaned the axle and some penetrated in the bearing too, ruining it in the process. Rookie mistake!

I was being lazy and didn't wanted to do a proper job of removing the hangers then the seals. I almost got away with it. 😄

[techyiam]

5 minutes ago, Funky said:

I guess the sandy grease didn't help and over time also something got in there. Next time - when i will change them, i will buy marine grease. (The grease that "reflects" water.. Will put that inside the bearings themselves.) And won't put any outside layers of grease. So most sand will simply fly off. Not getting stuck to grease.

For my T3 with large bearings that supposedly be prone to water ingress, I am currently experimenting with plumbing putty. It has a unique property that it stick to the hub even if there is oil or grease on it. I have to say, after about a month, it's still good. I used marine grease on the outside of dust seals initially. But, I find that it gets messy and dirty after awhile. 

[Funky]

Is there big difference in "marine" greases, or most of them are the same? Could i use something like this. > ADDINOL FG GREASE AL 2 Or are the "food" ones bad on bearings?

Edited July 4, 2022 by Funky

[techyiam]

If it says that it is for boat trailer axle bearings, I would say it should be good enough. However, NLGI 3 grade could offer more protection at the expense of higher mechanical drag. Personally, I find even NLGI 2 Marine grease gives a lot of resistance to rotation as is. 

[Funky]

Can't seems to find many "marine" options in my country..  I found this one: ADDINOL AQUAPOWER MULTI-PURPOSE GREASE Will this work?

The "food grade greases" don't offer "corrosion" protection - i figure it's good to have?

Originally i used this grease: SKF LGEP 2  Is there big difference? (To me grease is grease.. So i don't know difference.) 

[.....]

42 minutes ago, Funky said:

Can't seems to find many "marine" options in my country..  I found this one: ADDINOL AQUAPOWER MULTI-PURPOSE GREASE Will this work?

The "food grade greases" don't offer "corrosion" protection - i figure it's good to have?

Originally i used this grease: SKF LGEP 2  Is there big difference? (To me grease is grease.. So i don't know difference.) 

Oil based grease IS waterproof anyhow. Just find some cheap wheel bearing grease. It aint like these wheel bearings are under and REAL sort of pressure or generate any REAL source of heat. GO to any auto shop and ask them for a dallop. Even the shit in their grease guns would be fine. Most shops also have a tub of grease laying around. When you begin to ride an euc at 500mph and are lugging around a couple tons on it, THEN maybe you could worry about grease types. The biggest thing is, find a grease that will stay where you put it, and be ready to clean it and replace it should it become contaminated with dirt. Hell, if you live up north, you could probably get away with using butter. Then you'd even have something to put on your toast....

[Funky]

Now i'm 100% sure it's bearings.  As now - when i'm hand spinning the wheel it's cracking like there's sand inside.. Will oder new bearings and open the bad boy.

Dam all those grease "layers" did zero shit for "protection". 

[techyiam]

37 minutes ago, Funky said:

Now i'm 100% sure it's bearings.  As now - when i'm hand spinning the wheel it's cracking like there's sand inside.. Will oder new bearings and open the bad boy.

Dam all those grease "layers" did zero shit for "protection". 

Can you not just clean out the grease and sand?

[Funky]

14 minutes ago, techyiam said:

Can you not just clean out the grease and sand?

Sure i can.. I just wanna get "extra" bearings, before i open the wheel.. You know - to be on "safe" side.  Who knows, maybe one of the "balls" went to dust.