Cam lube?

[Stretch75]

Is there such a thing? If so, what should I use?

Would powdered graphite work?

How about a light instrument oil, like Starret oil?

[EWolfe]

Oils tend to gather dust after lubing, IMO.

 

Graphite spray works well, as does WD-40.

 

I spray as I work the cam until the drippings are clear, then whack repeatedly on newspaper to extract embedded lube, then wipe dry.

 

[tomtom]

<edited by request by Alex to keep things on track>

Edited September 14, 2004 by Alex

[skyclimb]

KY usually works for me, as long as the lobes aren't to gunked up. If thats the case, giving them a bath usually works just fine.

just my 2 cents

[John Frieh]

Pedro's Liquid X Lubricant or any other dry lubricant.

 

I suggest exercising your cams in a pot of boiling water to remove the larger dirt. Following this spray your cams with some type of cleaner: brake, carburetor, something (just don't get it on your slings). Wide off the excess cleaner, and repeat if necessary. When satisfied hang them to dry.

 

Once dry give them a liberal dose of lube and let them dry again before using (this is crucial they dry... if you use them "wet" the lube will collect dirt and then dry making the dirt extra hard to remove the next time.

 

Do this as often as necessary (if you use your cams in the winter plan on 1 every few months).

 

 

[chelle]

Simple Green and hot water will clean your cams. Dry well. Then use cam lube.

[slothrop]

I use WD-40 after a soap bath and rinse. Cleans out the gunk and lubes at the same time. I couldn't believe how much crap came out of my Aliens when I last cleaned them!

[mattp]

I have had only limited success cleaning my Aliens. Is there some trick to this? I stick them in soapy water and shake and activate the cams -- what else should I try?

 

(Off topic, but it is my impression that Metolius cams don't get bunged up as fast - do others agree?)

[slothrop]

Working the cams while spraying them with WD-40 worked for me. I wiped the junk off with a rag. Aliens do seem to get dirtier faster.

[badvoodoo]

I would assume in using graphite spray, or anything oil-based for that matter, you have to be very careful about using it at risk of reducing a cam's effectiveness on the rock. Not to mention stray drips and sprays would have to be -thoroughly- cleaned. Or is this a moot point of you're placing effectively? Having placed active pro all of twice, I'm green on the topic.

[RuMR]

never had a problem w/ it...

[EWolfe]

(Off topic, but it is my impression that Metolius cams don't get bunged up as fast - do others agree?)

 

I agree. The Aliens, with the internal springs, seem to gunk up the fastest.

 

I have had success with cleaning Aliens with spray lube only. The drip-type lube doesn't seem to generate sufficient blast to clean the dirt out of the internal springs. My $.02 (again)

[Stretch75]

So a dry lube would probably be a better choice in terms of keeping crud out? Not all out, but better than a liquid lube? How about after lubing, spraying the cam with air to get rid of all the drips?

[Geek_the_Greek]

Graphite is a solid (powder), so I would assume that the spray is a suspension of the powder in an alcohol-based liquid, which then evaporates, leaving the powder to the work its magic. Please tell me if I'm off-base with this. Graphite lube is great precisely because it's not a liquid, and therefore the cleanest stuff to use.

 

Otherwise, yeah, you don't want the cams dripping wet when you place them, but otherwise it's not an issue. It depends on the rock somewhat, but mostly cams bite into the crystal texture rather than relying on absolute friction. A reasonable wipe down of the cams' toothed surface should take care of the shiz that's still present. It's more a matter of them picking up additional dirt (undermining your cleaning efforts entirely) if you don't wipe off the extra lube.

[specialed]

T-9 makes a wax-based lube that doesn't pick up dirt and crud like WD-40 or Tri-flow does. It costs a little bit more but I think you can find it at your friendly local bike shop.