Aerosal Spray for Cleaning Bearings

[Aquaftm45]

Title says it all. What is a good Aerosal Spray for cleaning both ceramic and SS bearings?

I will be putting the bearings on a Hedgehog bearing device and spraying the bejusus out of the bearing with a aerosal spray with a directional tip. Referencing Karil's (Sawamura) he utilizes a Japanes Parts and Brake Cleaner called WAKOS. I have no WAKOS, need a couple of alternatives.

I appriciate all of the many methods others utilize and the merits of them and have reviewed them Ad nauseam..

At this point I just need some safe and effective suggestions for an Aerosal Spray so I can do it as described.

Thanks in advance.

[casterus]

I don't know it calls WACO but I'm using brake cleaner you can buy at any box store ( Home Depot, Menards, lowes etc)
or any auto parts store. It works very good. I've talked to a guy and he told me he is using Sonic Turbo Wash Bearing Cleaner. I did not try this one.
Adam

[casterus]

Oops.Sonic Turbo Wash Bearing Cleaner is not a spray. Sorry

[Jeffbro999]

Brake parts cleaner or carburetor cleaner. I just buy the cheap stuff from Walmart and it works great, a lot faster than Acetone. I always dip in Acetone for a final cleaning of any residue. Wear gloves, a mask, and some goggles if you are gonna be spraying a bearing with it. Don’t want it on your skin or in your eyes.

[uljersey]

I got this idea off of this forum years ago, can't remember who posted it but it's greatness

More than once it has brought bearings back from the dead, ones I had soaked, sprayed, sonic cleaned, etc. This borders on genius it's so simple but yet so effective.

Mandrel for a rotary tool (dremel). Mount the bearing on the mandrel. Install mandrel onto rotary tool. Small glass jar with solvent of your choice - acetone, brake cleaner, lighter fluid, whatever. Submerge bearing into jar until covered, turn on tool and give 'er a whirl. 10 - 15 seconds usually does the trick, maybe a little more if it's really cruddy. Take out of jar, give a quick whirl to fling excess solvent off, but don't run bearing dry at high speed for more than a few seconds. That's it. If that doesn't do the trick, time for another bearing. I gave my wife her ultrasonic jewelry cleaner back after learning about this.

[Aquaftm45]

I got this idea off of this forum years ago, can't remember who posted it but it's greatness

More than once it has brought bearings back from the dead, ones I had soaked, sprayed, sonic cleaned, etc. This borders on genius it's so simple but yet so effective.

Mandrel for a rotary tool (dremel). Mount the bearing on the mandrel. Install mandrel onto rotary tool. Small glass jar with solvent of your choice - acetone, brake cleaner, lighter fluid, whatever. Submerge bearing into jar until covered, turn on tool and give 'er a whirl. 10 - 15 seconds usually does the trick, maybe a little more if it's really cruddy. Take out of jar, give a quick whirl to fling excess solvent off, but don't run bearing dry at high speed for more than a few seconds. That's it. If that doesn't do the trick, time for another bearing. I gave my wife her ultrasonic jewelry cleaner back after learning about this.

What was the brand of Aerosol spray that you utilized? Are some Aerosol sprays better than others?

Thanks,

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

This is the brake spray I use(contains Acetone) with the red RPM Bearing Blaster. The bearing is sandwiched between 2 pieces of the Bearing Blaster and the spray tube goes into the blaster hole and spray, flip bearing and repeat.

video
https://youtu.be/mH8JdiD1ldI?t=31

[uljersey]

I got this idea off of this forum years ago, can't remember who posted it but it's greatness

More than once it has brought bearings back from the dead, ones I had soaked, sprayed, sonic cleaned, etc. This borders on genius it's so simple but yet so effective.

Mandrel for a rotary tool (dremel). Mount the bearing on the mandrel. Install mandrel onto rotary tool. Small glass jar with solvent of your choice - acetone, brake cleaner, lighter fluid, whatever. Submerge bearing into jar until covered, turn on tool and give 'er a whirl. 10 - 15 seconds usually does the trick, maybe a little more if it's really cruddy. Take out of jar, give a quick whirl to fling excess solvent off, but don't run bearing dry at high speed for more than a few seconds. That's it. If that doesn't do the trick, time for another bearing. I gave my wife her ultrasonic jewelry cleaner back after learning about this.

What was the brand of Aerosol spray that you utilized? Are some Aerosol sprays better than others?

Thanks,

No aerosols, I just use acetone out of a can to clean my bearings. It does a good job and evaporates quickly leaving no residue.

[Strewth]

The Dremel option with the bearings spun in acetone is fast and highly efficient. I thank the original poster DougL58 every time I clean my bearings this way. Paslode electrical cleaner is a good alternative to acetone, but much more expensive. Note that acetone cannot be used with bearings that have plastic cages or seals - eg the ZPI Sic bearings

[brownhl]

I place my bearings in a tiny wire basket, step outdoors and spray them with CRC Electric Cleaner through the red tube. Removes grease/oil really fast, dries real fast and leaves no residue. A couple of minutes in a lighter fluid bath, blow dry with a computer keyboard blower, a drop of Yellow Rocket Fuel (SS) and good to go. Handy to have on the boat also.

[ShimanoFan]

No aerosols, I just use acetone out of a can to clean my bearings. It does a good job and evaporates quickly leaving no residue.

Note that acetone cannot be used with bearings that have plastic cages or seals - eg the ZPI Sic bearings

I completely agree.

Acetone is not a good choice for bearings unless every part of the bearing is metal. If there is a plastic bearing retainer inside, the acetone can damage or destroy it.

At the shop and at home I like to use plain old mineral spirits because it is a weak solvent and does not damage plastics. And it leaves behind a thin coat of oil.

I use a small jar and put the bearings in it for a soaking and then use air to blow out the dissolved grease and dirt inside. Sometimes a second or third soaking will suffice. Always careful to blow them out afterwards.

An aerosol spray usually will not dissolve or remove all of the grease I want out of some of my bearings.

[ShimanoFan]

This is a clever idea, but not for cleaning. Too time consuming for me.

I use a setup like this one to break in bearings, not clean them.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Acetone is not a good choice for bearings unless every part of the bearing is metal. If there is a plastic bearing retainer inside, the acetone can damage or destroy it.

At the shop and at home I like to use plain old mineral spirits because it is a weak solvent and does not damage plastics. And it leaves behind a thin coat of oil.

I use a small jar and put the bearings in it for a soaking and then use air to blow out the dissolved grease and dirt inside. Sometimes a second or third soaking will suffice. Always careful to blow them out afterwards.

An aerosol spray usually will not dissolve or remove all of the grease I want out of some of my bearings.

Simple dont use cheap bearings with plastic in them buy quality ones this is TackleTour..

[ShimanoFan]

Simple dont use cheap bearings with plastic in them buy quality ones this is TackleTour..

This is TT, but the truth is only about 1% of 1% actually change out bearings to better ones. So most people are still using whatever comes inside of whatever reel.

Even some full ceramic bearings come with a plastic bearing retainer. "Cheap" has nothing to do with it.

Like playing Russian roulette with acetone. Best to avoid any solvents that destroy plastics.

[Aquaftm45]

I ended up getting and using this...100% safe on Plastic, Dries quickly with Zero Residue, it has a directional Flow nozzel.

CRC Mass Air Flow Sensor Cleaner.jpg (17.75 KiB) Viewed 7698 times

Put the bearing on a Hedgehog bearing device and sprayed away. I also used this to clean out some mounted worm gears. Took out spool so it would the line would not get contaminated, worked like a charm.

This might not be good for gunked up bearings, but cleaning new and slightly used ones it worked great. Night and day difference after cleaning, even the new ones.

I also bought some of the CRC Brake Cleaner, that I will save in case I run into some crusties.

Thanks for all of the advice.!