TORQUE TUBES
Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 5:40 pm
Hello All,
I was working away on a set of SR wings today and while installing the torque tube (and spraying it with silicon) started thinking about comments I've read here previously. Many have given the advice not to lubricate the Delrin Bearings or you will be sorry.
As many of you know I have co-owned a Plastic Injection Moulding business for over 15 years. We have moulded numerous high precision components from various grades of Delrin over the years, spanning from intricate seat belt locking mechanisms for Bendix and TRW, to vertical window blind gear boxes for the consumer market. We found that the vertical blind gear boxes would start to squeak (sound like nails on a chalk board) within weeks of being put in a sunny window as the "self lubricating" properties of the Delrin seemed to disappear, causing them to be returned by the customers. These gear boxes are manufactured from the identical grade of Delrin as the torque tube bushings supplied with your kit and Dupont was of no help at all!
With over $750M invested in moulds to manufacture the various components for our window covering line, we had no choice but to test every possible product under the sun to find a cure for this problem. We learned very quickly that "silicon" is not manufactured the same by anyone!!! We tried Dow Corning, Champion and many others! Sprays and liquids! Most products all leave a gooy residue(or melt the delrin) and make things worse as some of you are warning about.
The only silicon we found that works properly ( we haven't had a gear box returned in over 11 years and we sell over one million pieces per year!) is manufactured by CROWN, Product #68034 and available for industrial use only. You should be able to buy it from local industrial hardware suppliers if you want to give it a try.
But please don't tell our competition our trade secret! Keep building it's worth it in the end!!!!!!
Wayne G. O'Shea
www.irishfield.on.ca
I was working away on a set of SR wings today and while installing the torque tube (and spraying it with silicon) started thinking about comments I've read here previously. Many have given the advice not to lubricate the Delrin Bearings or you will be sorry.
As many of you know I have co-owned a Plastic Injection Moulding business for over 15 years. We have moulded numerous high precision components from various grades of Delrin over the years, spanning from intricate seat belt locking mechanisms for Bendix and TRW, to vertical window blind gear boxes for the consumer market. We found that the vertical blind gear boxes would start to squeak (sound like nails on a chalk board) within weeks of being put in a sunny window as the "self lubricating" properties of the Delrin seemed to disappear, causing them to be returned by the customers. These gear boxes are manufactured from the identical grade of Delrin as the torque tube bushings supplied with your kit and Dupont was of no help at all!
With over $750M invested in moulds to manufacture the various components for our window covering line, we had no choice but to test every possible product under the sun to find a cure for this problem. We learned very quickly that "silicon" is not manufactured the same by anyone!!! We tried Dow Corning, Champion and many others! Sprays and liquids! Most products all leave a gooy residue(or melt the delrin) and make things worse as some of you are warning about.
The only silicon we found that works properly ( we haven't had a gear box returned in over 11 years and we sell over one million pieces per year!) is manufactured by CROWN, Product #68034 and available for industrial use only. You should be able to buy it from local industrial hardware suppliers if you want to give it a try.
But please don't tell our competition our trade secret! Keep building it's worth it in the end!!!!!!
Wayne G. O'Shea
www.irishfield.on.ca