How to Clean/Maintain Bearings


1) KEEP DRY, STAY AWAY FROM WATER. Water will destroy your bearings immediately. If for some odd reason you need to ride your bearings through water you should lube the bearings with grease. Grease will protect the working components longer then oil. Oiled bearings are faster but will also rust if exposed to water.

2) DON’T TOUCH THE SEALS WITH THE SKATE TOOL OR WRENCH WHEN INSTALLING!! When installing the bearings tightening down the nut, DO NOT TOUCH THE SEAL. Skate tools can crush or smash the seal. Only put the skate tool over the nut enough to turn the nut and keep the tool from touching the seal, at all, during installation.

3) AS SOON AS YOU HEAR YOUR BEARINGS MAKING NOISE, NOT SPIN FREELY, OR GETS WET STOP!!! Don’t continue to use the bearings. Don’t rotate dirty bearings. You are now due to clean and re-lubricate your bearings.

Lubricate your bearings after every 50 hours of riding. The oil will run out usually before the bearings get dirty. Your bearings must be kept clean and lubricated to keep them alive! How long your bearings last depends on you.

1) Carefully remove the non-contact seal with a bent paper clip or something similar. The paper clip must be small enough to fit between the cage and the outer race. Push the seal out with the end of the paper clip or tool from the opposite side by sliding the tool through the opening between the ball cage and the outer ring. The seal should pop out easily. Be careful not to bend seal. Seal must stay straight.

2) It is not necessary or recommended to completely disassemble bearing. You can clean bearings just fine with the bearing “open”.

3) Soak your bearings in your cleaning solution. What solution…Good question and a lot of people have opinions. Unlike most cleaning instructions I’ve seen for bearings. I will not use anything but solvents. Environmental people may not like to hear that but I’m concerned what is best for the bearing. DO NOT use water based cleaners, detergents, Citrus based cleaners or WD40! Some of these aqueous type cleaners use “surfactants” to clean the bearings. Surfactants and penetrates can hurt the “wet ability” of the steel, not allowing oil and grease to stick to the surface of the steel properly. I recommend using kerosene or mineral spirits as a Preliminary wash. Don’t use Isopropyl Alcohol for your initial wash however we are going to use it later. With kerosene and mineral spirits the bearings can even be soaked overnight if needed however, with low concentration Alcohol 70% left overnight, bearings could rust. Soak bearings for at least a few minutes to give solvent a chance to dissolve the dirty lubricant and contaminants. I like using a little stainless steel strainer with one or two bearings at a time and “dunk” then and “agitate” them in the solvent. Try to skim on top and let oil/dirt fall to bottom. Repeat process in clean solvent in new container. After bearing is completely clean and free of foreign matter switch over to the Isopropyl Alcohol, the higher the concentration the better. The sole purpose of the Alcohol will be to “rinse” the bearing and remove all “solvent residue”. This step is important to assure the surface of the steel is ready for lubrication. Shake or agitate the bearings in the Alcohol, remembering not to leave in alcohol for very long. No soaking is required at this point. The alcohol should evaporate and leave you a “bone dry” bearing. Use a blow dryer and make sure bearing is COMPLETELY dry and cooled down before adding lube. This is very important.

4) Do not wash seals in solvent. Very carefully wipe the seal down with a little alcohol on a lint free rag if necessary. Replace the seal making sure it seats in the inner and outer ring grooves.

5) Add 2 drops of skate lubricant. Use grease if you are only going to sidewalk skate. Only add enough grease to fill three ball pockets.

THESE INSTRUCTIONS WERE WRITTEN BY ROCKNRON.

The instructions that come with Rockets... You have to give credit to Ron on this.

I know they are from Ron. I will put something on it now.
EDIT: I can't edit that message so...THESE INSTRUCTIONS WERE WRITTEN BY ROCKNRON.

cool, now i know the proper way to clean my bearings. good thing the first bearings i cleaned didnt cost much because i dont know what i did to them, but they were better before i cleaned them, eventhough they were making a grinding sound. :P

Thank you very much. I've moved this into the proper forum and also stickied it. thank you for typing this up and thank you to Ron for writing it.

wow i am way too lazy to do that.

Sorry about putting it in the the wrong forum :icon_redf

No Wait !!! Its gets better !!

Rocket Cleaning Instructions will soon be obsolete. Why ???
In a couple weeks we will have availabel the "RocketWash Bearing Cleaning System" I will cost around $10-14 and will efficiantly clean your bearings like nothing else youve seen. No more shaking the dirty solution back in the bearings. Real Scrubbing agitation action!!

These should help everyone alot with cleaning bearing. We plan to have an Free Instructional DVD as well to show you step by step. This has been long overdue.

Skaterscafe ROCKS !!!!!!!!!!!

Haha, don't worry about it Rustyburrito, I really appreciate you typing all that up though! It'll come in handy for a lot of people.
And thanks for the update Ron! That sounds awsome, the free Instructional DVD sounds like a really cool idea :)

No Wait !!! Its gets better !!

Rocket Cleaning Instructions will soon be obsolete. Why ???
In a couple weeks we will have availabel the "RocketWash Bearing Cleaning System" I will cost around $10-14 and will efficiantly clean your bearings like nothing else youve seen. No more shaking the dirty solution back in the bearings. Real Scrubbing agitation action!!

These should help everyone alot with cleaning bearing. We plan to have an Free Instructional DVD as well to show you step by step. This has been long overdue.

Skaterscafe ROCKS !!!!!!!!!!!

I'm curious to see how this works. {hu) Can't wait for it to come out.

RockNRon...this winter when I get my new complete I'll buy your bearings (and the kit, if it's available then) and pledge my bearing allegiance to you and you only, the master of skateboard bearings! :D

Uh oh!!! My bearings got dirty and I got a wet paper towl, and wiped them down, but dried them right after that. Is that o.k.?

whoa i totally missed that...wut is like Seal on bearings?
srry...im like totally new ...and do you HAVE to lube the bearings?
cuz i cant afford them... (they are only couple bucks but im THAT poor lol)

I have a question... I finally went to skate shop at mall but it didnt even have a lubricant ...So they said i should go to inland ocean so i went there and finally got a power cream thing...But they didnt have any like solvents or anything...So how should i clean the bearings?

What can i use? is it true you can use aceton like the nail polish remover?
and i still kind of dont get how to clean it...

like ...uh...is this right? 1. First put them in cleaning thing...(which i dont have)...for like 10 minutes then like take them out and put them in uh alcohol or something?

is that right? if so ...then uh what else can i use in substitution for alcohol? because they didnt sell anything for cleaning bearings...

I am so srry i am really slow and i dont understand stuff easily unless i see pictograms or stuff...But please someone help because i seriously need to clean them... i havent clean them for about a month...ugh...

Well thanks in advance to whomever ~

Right now I have some Bones Speed Cream and the directions for cleaning are to use a citrus based cleaner, paint thinner or "Gumout" Carburetor cleaner. Then To dry them, you must blow them with dry air to get rid of any liquid in the bearing.

Aw man i think i did something REALLY wrong... This kid said i can use nail polish remover so i dunked my bearings in there and let it sit there for like 20 seconds while i was washing the shields... Then i took them out and i stupididly rinse them with water...so i was like ARG! so i blow dry them ... and i dropped couple drops of that speed cream...and put them back in the wheel...and now it goes slower than before...

and my mom got mad because i ruin them and said i couldnt buy any more off from internet...and i probably wont go to the skate store till like laterrrr... as in many months later...Arg... any solution to my retarded act?

im not sure but i think the lube needs to get used too in ur bearings and roll around a bit so they might no be ruined so....but im not sure ask someone else on the forum

Oh cool thanks!~

Is there like a video on this cause i still am a little confused at least if some one can post like a tutorial or a movie descibing how to do it. Or if you can maybe post a picture or a bering showing all the parts on the bearing which will make it much more simpler.
Thanks!

Oh yes that would be a GREAT thing...because i just had ruined my bearings attemtping to clean em...

LOL I love dr Pepper !! Its weird because i used to like dislike them but now thats the only thing i will drink other than water... LOL srry for going out of topic

Is cleaning the part were the bearing shows ( is that the surface?) when it is skrewed on to the trucks ok? Is it ok if I use a Q tip?

here let me look a min ill bee back.............

sorry guys i looked high and low for a video....how bout this anyone that makes a video or finds a video to clean bearings ill give them a rep points..sounds fair?

WARNING DO NOT put your bearings and solvent in a plastic cup!!! I JUST LEARNED THAT THE HARD WAY

How about this!! The BEST Bearing Washer EVER!!!
RocketWasher by Rockets Skateboard Bearings. Available in 1-2 weeks
http://www.californiabearing.com/rocketwasher.jpg

Will come in little kit.

Man that rocket washer looks really good. I wonder how much it would cost? Im guessing $10.

That looks like the bones bearing washer, plus an agitater! Awesome. Still isnt available on your site, when will it be? I am going to skate my bones 6 swiss a little more in my new board, then, when the bearing cleaner comes out I am going to order that, and your bearings. Bones sells a similar sealed swiss bearing (according to you, slower then yours) for double your price!

Do the rocket bearings really come with extra shields? That is pretty handy!

I'm really interested in this bearing cleaner. It looks like it must have came out already but it says that it is out of stock. Is this thing ever going to be available again or was it a one time thing. I just ordered your bearings and would like something to clean my new bearings!

1) Carefully remove the non-contact seal with a bent paper clip or something similar. The paper clip must be small enough to fit between the cage and the outer race. Push the seal out with the end of the paper clip or tool from the opposite side by sliding the tool through the opening between the ball cage and the outer ring. The seal should pop out easily. Be careful not to bend seal. Seal must stay straight.


what is the non-contact seal? is it the clear brownish thing where you can see the metal balls or the other side with the black ring?

Thanks for the info on how to clean my bearings

http://www.smallparts.com.au/images/product_images_b/brg_2rs.gif

The shield would be the black ring shown in the above photo.

The ball retainer is inside and spaces the balls apart equally.

shield = non-contact seal (sorry)

how do u take out the ball retainer?? i tryed using a need but it dont work

BILL:

It isn't recommended to remove the ball retainer.

However, it is recommended that you remove the seal or seals as the case may be. I guess on some bearings, the retainer is attached to one of the seals.

To get the seal off use a super tiny flat screwdriver and carefully pry around the outside edges.

I got a pack of 10 small screwdrivers at the dollar store for a dollar. I use the smallest one to pry the seal / shield off.

TO OTHERS WHO NEED THE CHEMICALS:

Any superstore or hardware store has mineral spirits (basically paint thinner) and any superstore or drugstore has isopropyl alcohol. Try to get 99.9% if you can. Don't get 70%, get at least 90%. Do the soaking in a metal can, like a larger old soup can.

Also, if the seals get bent, the rumor is you can get new ones from a bearing company. Perhaps search online.

Finally, after soaking in the mineral spirits, then rinsing in alcohol, it is a good idea to used canned air to dry them.

I use 2 drops of Bones speed cream after putting a seal on one side of the bearing.

You can use Ron's Rockets lube, or Tri-Flow also. Some people use gun oil, sewing machine oil, or other light oils.

It takes an hour or so to break them back in again.

i used air tool oil... lol it looked thin so i used it

That oil should work. You can experiment with different oils. Oh, and I read somewhere recently that Tri-Flow may not be a good idea. Something about the teflon.

Also, I saw the Isopropyl Alcohol being sold as Denatured Alcohol in metal cans at the hardware store.

Let's just say that I.. I mean.. A friend of mine was to uh.. use vegetable oil to lube his bearings, would that be bad for my be-.. For my friends bearings? ^_^

that was very helpful

Let's just say that I.. I mean.. A friend of mine was to uh.. use vegetable oil to lube his bearings, would that be bad for my be-.. For my friends bearings? ^_^ it will lubrtcate the bearings, but it will also .hold alot of dirt in the oil after riding. This is because it is a thicker oil.

lol havent cleaned em in a month.. i havent clean mine for a year

is it ok if i used White lithium Grease for my bearings??

I opened the bearings and blew out some dirt, then applied the grease? is that ok? i didnt use lubricant because i didnt have any, i just used grease.

would the lubricant that came with my braun shaver work?

wow this has been alot of help. thanks

Hey, can you add pictures please to make it easier for me to understand?(never could take of the sheilds..lol)

what if i have an ultrasonic cleaning bath (with optional heat) for like electronics with alcohol in it would that be good forcleaning bearings

Awesome now I can clean my bearings and have an even fresher ride!

My bearings are pretty dirty, but all I have is some dish detergent. I don't even have any lubricant or anything. What'll happen if I wash 'em in that?

Rust :)

if mine get too dirty or need a cleanin' i just get a Q-tip and put it on the bearing and keep spinning the wheel.

can triflow be used as a lubricant?

I treat my bearings as ****...
Damn...maybe thats way they dont spin pretty well
Its a pretty good guide!

Why is WD-40 bad for your bearings ? I used it today on my bearings and they spin better then they ever did.

thanks for sticky-ing this. It's very helpful.

almost ruined a good set of bearings before i read this, lawl

Oh yes that would be a GREAT thing...because i just had ruined my bearings attemtping to clean em...

LOL I love dr Pepper !! Its weird because i used to like dislike them but now thats the only thing i will drink other than water... LOL srry for going out of topic

Dr peppers rule! and i STILL have no idea what use for solvents or cleaning solutions for that matter... :(

No... but seriously, anyone know where I could BUY any of this stuff, cuz I have notta clue...

this is way too much work for crappy bearings like mine, id rather bash them with a hammer and shout at them to bet faster. hahaha.

:icon_burn Dang!!I have done everything wrong!!!!! :icon_burn

When should i add speed cream to bearings? i've never used speed cream before. I just got a set of new bearings on monday. When should i speed cream em?

might be a dumb question but can you use nail polish remover because of the acetone in it?

yes pretty helpful, im sure it was more useful to other people then it was me.