Grease for Gears in Gearboxes

[Scoutmom103]

I am looking for recommendations for grease for the gears under the 3 gearboxes on my Pfaff 145 that I am restoring.  What I have found under the bottom two was probably the original, very petrified.  I just took off the top gearbox, as I move through the machine.  It wasn't as petrified, but it defiantly must be cleaned out and replaced.  

  And yes I have a gallon of Lilly White Sewing Machine Oil for the oil ports.

I saw where Uwe recommended tri-flow for the gears, but they make 2 kinds, and I watched the Consew 206 RB  video.    

I would like to know why you use it, which version if the manufacturer makes several different greases, and where you have found it.   I live in Central Indiana for reference.

 

Thank you.  I really appreciate all the time and effort so many of you put into answering questions and sharing your experiences and knowledge.   

[Constabulary]

The problem with greased gear boxes is that even when you put a good amount of grease in them the lubrication is not better as when you just grease the gears (and not the surrounding) Why? Because the grease that got "squeezed out" when the gears get in contact with each other does not "fall back onto them because of the consistency of the grease. I noticed this on several old sewing machines when I opened the gear boxes and cleaned out the old grease. Hope you know what I mean.

I even tried a very soft grease too but result was always the same - the grease does not fall back onto the gears. Question is does it make sense to grease the gear boxes at all? Sure they need a lubrication but not necessarily grease.

So what I do is I use clear synthetic chain lube for motor cycle chains which is quite sticky. This also reduces the gear sound (you sometimes have that on certain machines). I´m also using this stuff on the cams of my patcher machine. Not saying this is the best you can do but this just what I do - others may have other or better ideas. Often people make too much "science" out of oil and grease topic. Even Lilly White will keep your gears well running, I bet.

So I will not jump into a "greasy" discussion - I just say what works well for me.

BTW - Once I even found a note in a Singer manual that the lower gear box should not necessarily be re-greased because it got oiled by it self with excess oil dripping down from the mechanics. But I have to look into the manual again for the correct wording...

[CowboyBob]

I know a lot of Pfaff's have gearbox covers that are missing & people just put regular oil on them & probably not as often as they should & they've been using them that way for years.

[480volt]

If you really want to dig deep on this topic, search lubricants over on the Practical Machinist site. I have heard of the effect of gears creating a void in the grease referred to as channeling, and there are definitely products designed to avoid this. There are also greases designed to be used on open gearing, like the spur gear on the top of a “camelback” drill. The problem with many of these specialized products is that they are packaged for industrial use in 5-gallon and 55-gallon drums. In the end, like Bob and Constabulary said, just keep oil in it.

[dikman]

Constabulary, it's not just sewing machine gearboxes that have this problem of squeezing the grease out of the gears! Unless the gears run hot enough to melt the grease back into the gears (!) they tend to not be as lubricated as we might think. Your idea of a sticky oil is pretty good, chainsaw bar lube might also work ,it's designed to be sticky stuff and might be a bit thicker than the spray-on stuff for bike chains.

Food for thought...

[Matt S]

Anyone tried gearbox oil? 80W90 is £5/litre from Wilkos... That's pretty sticky.

[Constabulary]

1 hour ago, Matt S said:

Anyone tried gearbox oil? 80W90 is £5/litre from Wilkos... That's pretty sticky.

usually most gear boxes are not completely sealed and would not hold the oil. Most also do not have a filler and drain screw.

[gottaknow]

I like TriFlow grease. It coats the gears and a thin film stays there a long time. It’s also not sticky so it doesn’t attract every piece of lint and crud in a two mile radius. When I don’t know where I set it down, I use oil like Bob said. 

Regards, Eric 

[coryleif]

Last year I picked up some grease for my Singer 15-90 motor: https://singer-featherweight.com/products/sew-retro-grease?variant=18303537283

Some interesting info on melting points. Been using it on the gears of my Consew 207 and 104 to see how it holds up. So far okay -- but I'm not sewing a whole lot on 'em. Hafta check out the Tri-Flow.

"I saw where Uwe recommended tri-flow for the gears, but they make 2 kinds..."
I assume the TF clear grease is what people are using: https://www.amazon.com/Tri-Flow-TF23004-Clear-Synthetic-Grease/dp/B000C15MUU/

https://www.triflowlubricants.com/wheretobuy

[Gregg From Keystone Sewing]

On 3/21/2018 at 8:39 AM, gottaknow said:

I like TriFlow grease. It coats the gears and a thin film stays there a long time. It’s also not sticky so it doesn’t attract every piece of lint and crud in a two mile radius. When I don’t know where I set it down, I use oil like Bob said. 

Regards, Eric 

Tri-Flow has...magical properties.  That said, we also us Castrol hi temp grease, for axle, disk breaks, stuff like that.