Flex cable greasing

[dont slow down]

Ok it's time to grease my flex cables, I've just been pulling it out, smearing grease all over it then putting it back in, cleaning up the excess and calling it good. Any specific way to do it best? Tips, tricks?

[m4a1usr]

I like to dry mine out before re greasing but thats just me. I take a heat shrink gun and get it about as hot as my hands can stand/ hold onto, set it down for awhile (maybe 20 min) and then lube her up! Now as to what grease or consistency is all together another answer. My preference is to not use straight grease. I thin mine down with an oil for a less viscous lubricant but again thats just my preference. Grease is fine. I like the blue marine grease that I use on my JetSki drive line.

What I can do is give you one time tried and true tip for cleaning the stuffing tube once you get your flex shaft out. Get some double ended Q-tips, snip an end off, about 3/8" long. Place it in the end of your stinger or strut (smaller end going in first) then take a section of flex shaft and push it thru your stuffing tube. A few times doing this will remove all old grease and water that was left inside of the tube and once reassembled you will have a lubed flex that can sit until you go back out, whether its days or weeks later. Just my 2 cents but has served me well for a few years.

John

[dont slow down]

Good tip! Didn't think about cleaning the stuffing tube.

[sailr]

I always pull my shafts out at the end of a day of running. I wipe them off and lay them inside the boat. This allows them to dry thoroughly before the next time I run. I grease the shaft and install it lakeside just before I run.

[siberianhusky]

I do as Sailr does but lube with a mix of marine grease and 90w marine gear oil, You can feel a difference in drag between straight grease and the mix by spinning the prop by finger power when there is no motor hooked to the other end.
Depending on how much a particular boat gets run I may re-grease partway through the day, only takes a minute to undo the collet.

[sailr]

Another good lube is 50:50 mix of 30W motor oil and motor honey.

[British Bulldog]

Generally the stuffing tubes are Teflon, which as we all know its very slippery nothing sticks to it easily, i have used in the past Teflon Grease, its by far the best grease i know of, being water proof helps, its also reduces friction and reduces resistance in the flexi tube that is normally associated with using a normal grease, oil's not so much, having reduced resistance helps keep the RPM up, it also reduces friction and heat build up in the cable and stuffing tube, which wears the steel cable.

When drying off a cable i like use paper towels to absorb the remaining water, and a degreaser to remove the old grease.

I'm not sure if you have a US supplier but this is where i get mine http://www.prestwich.ndirect.co.uk/surfacedrive.htm item number HF58

Bulldog

[siberianhusky]

I've never used a teflon liner, more drag than a plain brass stuffing tube. Once a flex cable is under load it twists a bit and only contacts the brass stuffing tube in a couple of areas.
I've seen what happens when a teflon liner wads up in the tube, big mess and repair. Figure if something that isn't needed is left out then it can't fail.

[sailr]

I stopped using teflon about a year ago. Big difference in performance in my mind. Much less drag. Actually I stopped using teflon when I had one melt inside the stuffing tube. What a mess. I use the size brass tubing that the shaft just runs in so it doesn't have room to 'slap' around in there...resulting in twisted off shafts!