Stuffing tube question

[pyroM!KE]

For staters Im running 1/4 tube and .187 flex..Is it normal to see brass glitter in the grease?It only had 1 run on the re-greasing and I cleaned the cable and stuffing tube real good before the re-greasing.. Its like its wearing the stuffing tube out......Almost a strait shot to the coupler..The tube never gets any hotter than around 80 deg...Its very smooth turning and theres no signs of wear on the flex or tube and dosent make any loud or weird noises..

[properchopper]

Mike,

While I can't guarantee that I'm 100% correct in assessing your situation, here's some points to consider :

A .187 flex in a .250 tube is a fairly loose fit. With an "almost straight shot to the coupler", there's ample opportunity for cable whip inside the stuffing tube. This could be enhanced by an imperfectly concentric and/or out of balance coupler, an imperfectly concentric flex-to-propshaft joint, a motor mount that flexes enough to encourage any of these to induce cable-dance inside the tube. I recently was asked by a customer to build a mono with a front mounted motor and a mostly straight shot to the strut. Unlike any of my other builds that use a .187 / .250 setup, I went with a 9/32 tube with teflon, and put a slight bend in the tube to minimize the opportunity for cable dance. I then packed the heck out of the stuffing tube with thick marine grease. Some people smooth out the shaft with fine sandpaper ; that could be something to try as your first line of defense, but do look into some of the above for the culprit.

Tony

[runzwithsizorz]

I have never noticed this, perhaps cuz I never really looked, nor have I ever heard it mentioned before. Brass is very soft, so a small amount of VERY fine "glitter" would not trouble *ME* much. If there were Chunks, I'd start to worry.
Are you using a quality grease? Is it breaking down, (viscosity)? Are you using enough? ( I always pack in as much as I can ). When you pull the flex out, is the grease coating the whole flex? or does it look to be moving toward the strut?
Is the "glitter" coating the entire flex? or seem to be in just one area? Is it possible to use the word, concentric twice in the same sentence? I'm no expert, but I play one on the forums

[pyroM!KE]

Its very fine glitter all the way down the tube..Im using the marine wheel bearing grease..Its semi thick in consistency..I have some high quality grease that I use on my Baja 5T dogbones..I wounder if This grease will work good as I have a jar of it? http://www.davesmotors.com/s.nl/c.88...t.A/id.5042/.f

[runzwithsizorz]

Like Tony said, you've got quite a bit of wiggle room putting a 4.76mm flex in a 6.35mm tube. If the grease you have there is anything close to what I have used before, I would not be using it. Due to it's, " ultra tacky nature " it would bind, or create
a bit of resistance, ( not to be confused with fiction). Gears, and shafts are a horse of a different color. Some here, including myself are using oil. Your marine *wheel* bearing grease may be adequate.

[Gary]

I always use the 9/32 tube with that cable. The .250 is to loose and is noisy aswell.