Lubricant for slow motion control gears?

[Chadnich13]

Just wondering if i can use any type of grease or lubricant to help with the movement of my slow motion control gears or do they make a special kind?

 

Thank you all!

 

Chad 

[ronl]

Lithium grease is good, the high temperature quality type. 

[Waldemar]

Always use a teflon (PTFE ) based grease like Superlube or the likes. In my humble opinion Lithium grease is not that good at all. Over time it separates and leaves a chalk like residu.
Teflon based grease is not sticky and performs wonderfull under all conditions. Read about it before you decide on anything.

[Dave In Vermont]

I'll 2nd. Waldemar on the PTFE-containing SuperLube.

I'm also a bicycle-mechanic for many years/decades. As such, I've taken apart many 'bottom-brackets' on bicycles that get a lot of use. The BB is where your pedals go through with ball-bearings and is under constant work-outs - handling a huge amount of pressure and stress. A telescope is in a Club-Med Resort on the Riviera by comparison! And many I've disassembled hadn't been touched by a mechanic in 20 years. And I'll find 20 year-old 'SuperLube' in them, still in perfect conditions and doing it's job!

Lithium will be D.O.A. a long way back.

An Aside: Had one where some "genius" had used Volkswagen Constant-Velocity Joint grease a year prior. It had hardened into a stiff plastic that I had to chip-out (intact!) with a screwdriver and a ballpean-hammer! It's amazing what some people think to use! 

Dave

[Alan64]

Super Lube is all I use, and for all of my astronomical needs.  Believe it or not, it's even food-safe...

[101nut]

5 hours ago, Dave In Vermont said:

An Aside: Had one where some "genius" had used Volkswagen Constant-Velocity Joint grease a year prior. It had hardened into a stiff plastic that I had to chip-out (intact!) with a screwdriver and a ballpean-hammer! It's amazing what some people think to use! 

I severely doubt whether that was cv-joint grease then. Mine's been in my Range Rover hubs for 14 years but is still thin enough to leach past the seals a bit too much and gets thrown around enough to splash lubricate the top bearings ... bit of flushing oil added for a hundred miles and it'll be thin enough to run straight out of the oil drain hole (it originally used EP90) when I decide to change it ...

AndyG

[Dave In Vermont]

6 hours ago, 101nut said:

I severely doubt whether that was cv-joint grease then. Mine's been in my Range Rover hubs for 14 years but is still thin enough to leach past the seals a bit too much and gets thrown around enough to splash lubricate the top bearings ... bit of flushing oil added for a hundred miles and it'll be thin enough to run straight out of the oil drain hole (it originally used EP90) when I decide to change it ...

AndyG

Whatever it was - I was able to pull a lovely, plastic casting of the balls & races from the BB. The 'plastic' had the same consistency as those little, green army-soldiers that we kids were given to play with in the 1960's.

The casting was misplaced some weeks later. But the memory lives on!

Dave