DT03 Neo Fighter - To grease or not to grease?

[DaveB 151]

Would folk use a hard steel pinion on a DT03 (Neo Fighter) without grease in the gearbox? Reason I ask is that I run a race DB01-R and this is how that is set up, I use a hardened steel pinion direct to the spur (slipper clutch) and I have no grease on either and it runs perfectly. Just wondering if the same principle would aply to the Neo Fighter.

thanks

[Juls1 1661]

I generally don’t use grease in that particular circumstance. 

Juls

[DaveB 151]

1 hour ago, Juls1 said:

I generally don’t use grease in that particular circumstance. 

Juls

Thanks Juls, would that just be the pinion and spur or would you not have grease on any of the gears in the gearbox? 

[super gripper 419]

the pinion and spur gear should never be greased in any car. Unless it is metal to metal. 

[DaveB 151]

12 minutes ago, super gripper said:

the pinion and spur gear should never be greased in any car. Unless it is metal to metal. 

What about the other gears in the gearbox? Thanks 

[Man1c M0nk3y 564]

17 minutes ago, super gripper said:

the pinion and spur gear should never be greased in any car. Unless it is metal to metal. 

Sorry to hijack. Why though? Amateur question I know but I did do just that when I built the DT03 however whilst it’s currently apart I’ll clean the grease off. Genuinely curious as to why that shouldn’t be done though. 

[Mahjik 197]

2 hours ago, Man1c M0nk3y said:

Sorry to hijack. Why though? Amateur question I know but I did do just that when I built the DT03 however whilst it’s currently apart I’ll clean the grease off. Genuinely curious as to why that shouldn’t be done though. 

 

There are a lot of theories out there, one being that grease will trap dirt/particles which will increase wear.   There is also the concern that the wrong type of grease will damage certain plastics.   If it's a sealed gearbox and you use the correct grease (something like white lithium grease), there is no problem and the grease will help reduce friction which will extend the gear lifetime.  If the gears are exposed (like an exposed pinion), using grease can trap contaminants.

 

http://www.machinedesign.com/mechanical-drives/engineering-essentials-lubrication-tips-plastic-gears-and-more-part-2

 

I put white lithium grease on all gears that are in a closed gearbox.

[nowinaminute 2815]

I pretty much always put a little grease in sealed boxes although in theory you don't need to use it with nylon gears at all. I always figured it just reduced the noise a bit and maybe slowed down wear. Look in any kind of electronic device with plastic gears and there's always some grease in there, I assume for the same reasons. (Maybe that's why my aluminium pinions don't turn to dust after an hour like some people's seem to?)

Anything with exposed gears is a different story of course, every single bit of grit etc that touches the gear will stay there.

[Man1c M0nk3y 564]

1 hour ago, Mahjik said:

 

There are a lot of theories out there, one being that grease will trap dirt/particles which will increase wear.   There is also the concern that the wrong type of grease will damage certain plastics.   If it's a sealed gearbox and you use the correct grease (something like white lithium grease), there is no problem and the grease will help reduce friction which will extend the gear lifetime.  If the gears are exposed (like an exposed pinion), using grease can trap contaminants.

 

http://www.machinedesign.com/mechanical-drives/engineering-essentials-lubrication-tips-plastic-gears-and-more-part-2

 

I put white lithium grease on all gears that are in a closed gearbox.

Yeah I get that. The gearbox internals have been greased. I guess I just did the spur and pinion without even thinking. 

I will say though that when I removed motor from car during this rebuild the pinion/spur where just as clean as when I fitted them so the motor/orientation/whatever on the dt03 must be doing a good job of prevent ingress into the non sealed area. 

[Juggular 4964]

In my opinion, more grease is worse than no grease.  

Below photo looks like heavy automotive grease, plastered like peanut butter.  This over-protection will certainly slow down the vehicle (too much love for RC can hurt the performance).  More isn't Better.  (Grease is like certain "protection," the thinner, the better, if you catch my drift ) 

 

Why is Tamiya recommending grease?   

1) To prevent premature death of gears.  Is Tamiya always right?  Tamiya is always a bit over-worried.  But there is a valid concern.    

2) Grease can reduce friction.  This is hard because most grease is stickier than no grease.  

To satisfy 1) and 2), I use plastic-safe, Teflon grease (I think it was designed for model trains).  It's more expensive than the regular Tamiya white grease, but to me, it's worth $10 because very thin film can go a long way.  I've used one tube over 15 years, more than a dozen cars and still more than half left.  I rub tiny bit on my fingertips.  Then I leave thin Teflon fingerprints on the teeth of gears.  That will protect gears, and reduce gear noise. 

When I remove Tamiya bearings' grease, I use tiny bit of this grease + a drop of bushing oil.  Gears can turn by blowing on it.  I think the performance is almost as good as no grease.  The only problem is, even fingerprints could attract dirt.  Fortunately, for vast majority of Tamiya gearboxes, dirt is not a problem.  [I'm not affiliated with this grease company, btw.]  In the end, what to do is an individual decision. It's your gear, after all. Everybody does it differently. Because everybody has different value, depending on what's more important to each person.  Performance? Longevity? Reducing noise? Ease of maintenance, etc, etc... 

 

 

[Juls1 1661]

I always lubricate the gearbox. 

Have never really thought any further than tamiyas ceramic grease. Generally it will move out of the way and create its own ideal amount fairly quickly. 

The pinion and spur on most models is generally more exposed than the rest so I don’t normally grease them if I have a steel pinion gear. 

I’m not sure why tamiya insist on making these butter soft alloy pinion gears, generally I would grease those assuming there is no possibility of dirt reaching them. The issue with the alloy gears is they do turn to dust literally and as a result get through all the grease in the gearbox turning the whole flipping box grey with metal dust. 

But you know that’s just one of those things tamiya nutcases are used to.....

[super gripper 419]

I race with TRF buggies so the spur gear and pinion are exposed. For one I do not use the crappy Tamiya injection moulded 'eggy' spur gears I use quality machined spur gears

and you definitely do not put any grease on.

My Boomerang I race, that has a sealed gearbox and I still do not grease the spur and pinion.

Never have greased any spur gear or pinion in my 30 years of racing.