Flex cable and teflon liner question...

[ScarabChris]

Been using 1/4" flex cable for ever but never used a teflon liner. Still need to grease the cable up with a liner?

[Brushless01]

Yes you do.

[martin]

I have heard that with a teflon liner you should use light oil, Having said that i still use Grimracer speed grease with the teflon liner. Martin.

[carlcisneros]

In the past, I used to use the teflon lines in my boats (nitro) UNTIL one day the liner i guess
snagged the flex shaft and tore the living kay-rap out of the drive train. since then I have NEVER used nor will I ever use the liners again.

just my 10cents worth.

[antslake]

Snagged the cable? How is that possible?

I wonder if you had a problem similar to mine. I haven't figured it out yet, but it is possible to put too much grease?

I am having a problem with a cable and liner that I just installed in an old boat. The liner is spibning with the cable. I used grim racer grease.

[siberianhusky]

Been into boats since the mid 80's and have never run a liner, started to install one once in a 1/16 hydro and noticed how much more drag there was on the cable, pulled it out and never thought about installing one again
I have seen pictures of what a stuffing tube looks like after the liner and cable bound together! Grenade!
1/3 marine grease 2/3 90w outboard bear oil is my current favorite cable lube, been thinking about testing a mix of atf and grease.
Just my 2 cents.
Cheers

[carlcisneros]

antslake
put in a shaft tube WITHOUT the teflon line and just use what ever grease you have been running.

Carl

I use either a teflon base high temp bearing grease or grims grease which is also very good.
There are so many personal mixes of shaft lubes that folks use, every one works for each and every person that uses what ever they really like.

[Fluid]

Snagged the cable? How is that possible?

This is not an uncommon problem, particularly if minimal or no lube is used. The liner heats up and melts, sticking to the cable and in many cases causing considerable damage as the cable knots up.

Teflon liners are really obsolete today, but grease or oil is still required. Virtually no gas or nitro racers use them anymore - and there are far more of them than there are FE boaters. RTR boats use liners because inexpereinced boaters often will not lube the cable (or remove it at all) and they extends the life of the cable...for the short life of most RTRs. Use them if you want, but there is no advantage and several disadvantages.


.

[mx174k]

[QUOTE=Fluid;265106]This is not an uncommon problem, particularly if minimal or no lube is used. The liner heats up and melts, sticking to the cable and in many cases causing considerable damage as the cable knots up.

Teflon liners are really obsolete today, but grease or oil is still required. Virtually no gas or nitro racers use them anymore - and there are far more of them than there are FE boaters. RTR boats use liners because inexpereinced boaters often will not lube the cable (or remove it at all) and they extends the life of the cable...for the short life of most RTRs. Use them if you want, but there is no advantage and several disadvantages.


.[/QUOTE Can you just remove the Teflon liner on a .150 flex cable system,or do you have to change the size of the stuffing tube.The liner takes up allot of space.I don't want it to be too loose.

[ScarabChris]

Strange that some of you guys say they are obsolete. I bought my drives from MHZ and they sell their stuffing tubes with the liners. Must be a reason.

I also bought some stuff from Bonzi and they also use the liners.

Both of these places run large scale boats with big HP gas engines.

I like the idea of the liner because it prevents the stuffing tube from wearing out. So much easer to replace the liner than the entire tube. Keeping the cable greased well should prevent any problems.

Years back when I was running large gas boats I never used the liners, but I did have to replace the stuffing tube every so often.

[antslake]

My cable snapped, and there was plenty of grease inside, I just greased it. I am wondering if the cold temperatures had anything to do with it. I already have 2 boats with liners, and to change them would involve changing the stuffing tube?

But like I said, I just installed a .098 cable with liner and tube from OSE, and the the liner is spinning with the cable. I have grim racer grease on it. My other boat too, had some wear marks that indicated the liner was spinning with the cable. That was factory installed. I am a bit confused.

[Fluid]

Strange that some of you guys say they are obsolete. I bought my drives from MHZ and they sell their stuffing tubes with the liners. Must be a reason.

The reasons are at least two-fold. First, many buyers expect the liners to be included because they have "always" been used. Second, new users often forget to lube their cables regularly and the result isn't good - teflon extends the time before the inevitable failure. Remember that most FE boats are not run much at all, custom built or RTR. Many/most get a handful of runs before being put on the shelf or sold to fund a new project. Posters on this site may run theirs more than average, but clearly many guys only run their new boats a few times and sell them.

Just because something is sold to the masses doesn't mean it has any value for them.


.

[ScarabChris]

Just because something is sold to the masses doesn't mean it has any value for them.


.

Points taken, kind of like how 4 stroke outboards are being pushed on full scale boaters. Its a constant argument on the boating/fishing forums.

However, I keep my flex cables greased and pull them out during storage so I am part of the masses that does find value in teflon liners. So much easier to replace a liner than a stuffing tube.

But I don't find value in 4 stroke outboards, I'm a 2 stroke guy. So much easier to add oil to the onboard tank than to change oil on a 4 stroke.


Double for ya.