Can you overgrease bearings ?

widowmaker

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I know its a silly question but can you overgrease bearings ? :?

I am about to replace my Saracon headset bearings and was wondering if you can use too much grease ?

My guide sheet says lay the bearings on a bed of grease ?

Whats a bed of grease :D
 
In my opinion Yes, the grease is only there to lube the bearings. If you pack it out then while some will ooze out. There will be no gaps for grease to move into and it will just drag the balls try to rotate in a sticky go.
 
I tent to fill the bearing cups with grease then rub a small amount of grease into the bearings themselves. I then drop the bearings into the cups and fit everything together. After tightening up the headset expect to see a little grease being pushed out, clean this off with a cloth.

I have been doing it this way for 25 years. No problems yet.

Trebz
 
FluffyChicken":iqqegrgp said:
In my opinion Yes, the grease is only there to lube the bearings. If you pack it out then while some will ooze out. There will be no gaps for grease to move into and it will just drag the balls try to rotate in a sticky go.

Hehe, beat me to it !!

I can imagine this being an issue with faster rotating bearings but surely not the headset.

Would be good to see some better qualified comments than mine :)
 
Thanks for the advice :cool:

I am not sure if its my increasing old age but i seem to over think things - rather than just cracking on :oops:
 
Trebz":3gu3rqcr said:
FluffyChicken":3gu3rqcr said:
In my opinion Yes, the grease is only there to lube the bearings. If you pack it out then while some will ooze out. There will be no gaps for grease to move into and it will just drag the balls try to rotate in a sticky go.

Hehe, beat me to it !!

I can imagine this being an issue with faster rotating bearings but surely not the headset.

Would be good to see some better qualified comments than mine :)

Not at your speed anyway :p



I didn't say it would be a problem, more it might be detrimental to over do it. I was talking in general bike bearing terms.

though I do find myself putting in enough to keep the bearings there while you pop them in and a bit for good luck.

which is a far cry from when I used to rip the seals off and run on oils :LOL:
 
Chuck as much greese at it as you want for waterproofing purposes in this situation as long as you are happy with the drag.
You can over greese bearings though and in a fast rotating application this will lead to overheating. Not really an issue on a bike. :)
 
i tend to go a little overboard......a bit of grease oozing out of the seals means its everywhere it should be and the extra few grammes of weight wont make any difference in the real world.......a little surplus will sit around until you next open the bearing up and will give you a bit to smear around again, acting as a mid point service until you go for a full repack.....
 
Just done it, all seemed to go well. Just a little grease oozing out of the seals.

I do though have a slight notchy feeling through the steering in regular increments )??) , i have checked the races and they appear ok. Am i right in assuming there is some wear on the races that i cant see :?
 
Standard aircraft engineering practice is pack bearings to 1/3 of the space with grease. I would think that this practice will suffice for bicycle bearings as well.

Too much grease may pic up dirt and grit and turn it into grinding paste that can be detrimental to bearing life.

If you clean and re grease on a regular basis you should be fine.

Hope this helps.
 
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