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That said, it seems most of us are in there looking and repacking pretty often and things won't get too bad before you catch it on the rollers or outer race. Tim Andres |
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If contaminated with brake dust or other dust, full on cleaning is in order. No use in making a grinding slurry. :eek: |
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I have won several similar bets since then, but the down turn in smoking has seriously cut into my lunch money fund. ;) -Marc |
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This is NOT something to play around with. |
Bearings and working with flammable liquids
I like to think I'm a pretty conscientious person when it comes to fire and chemical exposure after worked in petrochem mfg for 15 years and working on cars and planes for the last 35 or so years with no injuries requiring more than a band aid and a few choice expletives. But last winter I was doing some cold weather maintenance - wheel bearing inspection and grease, brake inspections, etc.
After removing the wheel and bearings, I tossed all the greasy parts in a plastic bucket and sumped some 100ll out of the plane in with it. Began sloshing it around to clean the parts. I think I got up to go get a brush and almost stumbled over the propane heater I had running next to me. Not sure how that didn't flash. Guess the cold temps kept the fuel vapors to a minimum, along with a little divine protection. Ironically/stupidly, I have a working parts washer about 30 ft away. Just thought I'd share. Be careful, and think. |
Gasoline
In college I worked 40-60 hrs a week at the local FBO. One day I commented to the boss that the fueler had a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he fueled our newest C150. Boss said it would not ignite and bet a coke that he could put his cig out in the now-full fuel tank. I fell for the coke bet but stayed well back as boss poked his cig into the full tank.
But,even so, it's not for me! Friend's garage and half a house burned up while he was changing out a car fuel pump. My own hangar almost burned up when a resident RV was calibrating his fuel gages. Static can be more of an ignition source than a lit cigarette .. Ground wires, outside hangars only, proper containers, fire extinguishers handy, and great care when dealing with gasoline! |
Back to bearing cleaning:
WD 40 works well. Really like Hoppe #9, like the smell also. |
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The shop foreman's point was, just because you might get away with doing something unsafe for a while, it's still not safe and eventually it will blow up on you. I cleaned wheel bearings with gasoline swirled in the bottom of a can or jar for years. These days I wipe out as much as I can with paper towels, and use mineral spirits instead. I just don't like the gasoline stink, and I don't use avgas. |
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In welding school after my Army stint I won a similar bet with a guy who tried to ignite gas in a cup and on a welding table with a cig. He even discharged 02 on the gas from an Oxy bottle! Something about the flash point of gas being above the temp of a burning cigarette. So I asked my friend that originally taught me this why there are "no smoking" signs in gas stations? He smiled and reminded me that the object used to light a cigarette (lighter or match) would ignite gas. Duh! ;-) ~Marc |
No gasoline gas fumes fan out on the floor accident waiting to happenp
In a previous life I worked in the wheel and tire shop at Ohare airport for my airline ( a big one) and I spent weeks cleaning and inspecting wheel bearings and we always cleaned, inspected, repacked the bearings. I did this for the 747 dc 10s , dc 8s 767, 727 ,737..
Side note.. I have over 22,000 hrs and Im betting Im the only guy who has changed a tire on all of those planes and been a Capt on some of them too..😁 Cm |
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