What to clean bearings with?

[JohnBSims]

I tried carb cleaner and it worked great! Thanks Alan!

[sdlehr]

I tried carb cleaner and it worked great! Thanks Alan!

If you have plenty of time any solvent will do.....Finish off with a spray product like brake and/or carburetor cleaner so it will spin and clean the bearing.

Alan always gets all the glory!

[oc1]

Carburetor and brake cleaner is quick and works great, but it gives me the creeps.  They are mixtures of lots of hazardous stuff including acetone, xylene, MEK, toluene, propane, benzene....  Then it's put in a aerosol can so it flies all over the place, gets on your skin and is inhaled when used.  The only safe way to use it is in a spray hood, but we don't spray hoods so we just do the best we can and hope it doesn't fly in our face.  Really, there ought to be a better way.... but I don't know what it is.
-steve

[Alto Mare]

I'm with you Steve, I can't stand that stuff. Don't even attempt using it in your garage, or any othe room in the house, you'll never get the stench out.
Here is what I've been using for the past 5 years and wouldn't use anything else.
https://www.amazon.com/PASLODE-219384-12OZ-CRDLS-Cleaner/dp/B004BGBB5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498242712&sr=8-1&keywords=paslode+tool+cleaner
Don't knock it until you try it.
Sal

[mo65]

Here is what I've been using for the past 5 years and wouldn't use anything else.
https://www.amazon.com/PASLODE-219384-12OZ-CRDLS-Cleaner/dp/B004BGBB5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498242712&sr=8-1&keywords=paslode+tool+cleaner
Don't knock it until you try it.

   Seven bucks and free shipping? I'd say I'll be giving this product a try. 

[oc1]

Yeah, I'll bite too.  Thank you very much Sal.  Says it is 75% naphtha and 25% difluoroethane as propellant.  So, you would want to avoid contact, but it should not be nearly as toxic as carb or brake cleaner.
-steve

[Alto Mare]

Yeah, I'll bite too.  Thank you very much Sal.  Says it is 75% naphtha and 25% difluoroethane as propellant.  So, you would want to avoid contact, but it should not be nearly as toxic as carb or brake cleaner.
-steve

Steve, all products out there are harmful, if they weren't they wouldn't work .
This stuff is extremely flammable, but as everything else, safe when used with caution.
I can tolerate the stench on this one, but not on the carb cleaner.
It does dry up quickly, so I like to spray the bearing while its resting on a rag, it doesn't dry as quick and the rag will help with the cleaning.
If the bearing is pretty bad, as having lots of dried up grease, I place it in a small container and spray it, this will allow me to grab the cleaner at the bottom with a small brush and work it on the bearing.
Wearing gloves is always good practice when using any cleaner, you could grab a bunch at harbor freight for a couple of bucks and they do work nicely.

This product is plastic safe, some bearing have plastic racer.
After cleaning I will usually hold the bearing on a chopstick, you could use a pencil or anything else, I like using chopsticks and give it another gentle spay with the straw attached and let it spin a little. After it has dried give it a spin with your finger, but don't hold your breath.
Not sure I've mentioned this earlier, I do not have anything to do with Paslode... I wish I did. Just trying to help out.

Another thought about the chopstick, sorry, it has been working so nicely that I need to share 
They are useful at times when removing bearings, just a little pressure as you set them in and they will usuially come right out...not all.
They are also useful when stting the eccentric spring in, especially on Tom's beautiful plates, you don't want to scratch those. I use the other side of the chopstick to set the spring in...works like a charm.
Ok, enough on chopsticks

Sal

[Rancanfish]

Thanks Sal for posting up.  I was dying to jump in there and suggest it, since I took your advice a while back.  But I figured if the reel Yoda suggested it, people might listen up.  Picked it up at Home Depot.

It works great on reels like you said it would, but I use it for tool cleaning too.

[JohnBSims]

I cleaned up some old Penn reels with Non-CFC brake parts cleaner, and also electronic parts cleaner (Safe for plastics). They turned out pretty sweet (Check them out here: https://www.youtube.com/user/JohnSims3/videos ), but I don't think brake cleaner is too safe not only for my reels and plastics, but also my health! Actually the carb cleaner I recently used to clean Shimano Speedmaster bearings was actually for MAF sensors, but it worked great!  Thanks again for the wealth of knowledge on this forum!

[oc1]

Thanks again Sal.  I go through a lot of chop sticks and also bamboo skewers when cleaning.  They hold bearings while being cleaned and the stick can be used to pick stubborn gunk out of the corners and gear teeth.  Use a pen knife to re-cut a chisel edge, a knife edge, a point or whatever shape is needed for the task.  Put the stick in a drill chuck and spin it inside a hole to polish brass bushings and the like.  You can be as aggressive as you like with a wooden stick and confident that it will not scratch or mar the finish on soft metal or plastic.
-steve

[sdlehr]

Thanks again Sal.  I go through a lot of chop sticks and also bamboo skewers when cleaning

Do you make your own bamboo skewers, too?

Sid

[JohnBSims]

I saw some Bamboo Skewers with Hot Dogs skewered and wrapped in bacon at the beach vendor yesterday! 

[oc1]

The bamboo skewers are shish kabob or tempura sticks from the grocery store.  Couldn't make them at that price.
-steve

[sdlehr]

The bamboo skewers are shish kabob or tempura sticks from the grocery store.  Couldn't make them at that price.
-steve

Ah, yeah, that was a joke Not necessarily a good one....(Steve makes bamboo rods, folks, you've now been let in on the joke.

I've attached the MSDS for the Paslode Electronic Tool Cleaner. As Steve said, the active ingredient is Naphtha, which is pretty much gasoline without added engine protectants. I've already got a can of that I use. I bet you're paying a lot for the propellant to get it out of the can.... I wonder how much differently this would perform from a Naptha soak and a spray of compressed air....

[JohnBSims]

Naptha is not easy to find anymore, unless I'm looking in the wrong place!