Grease For Plastic Gears

[George7941]

I have to lubricate a Genie screw drive garage door opener. The screw itself is steel but the teeth on the trolley which mate with the screw teeth are plastic. Genie recommends Lubriplate Low Temperature grease

Low Temp | Lubriplate Lubricants Co.

www.lubriplate.com

What I have on hand is Mobil Unirex EP1 grease which I use for truck chassis and driveline lubrication.

PdsDetailsPage

The UNIREX™ EP family of greases are high performance and extremely versatile long-life premium performance greases.

www.mobil.com

Would this grease be a suitable substitute for the Lubriplate grease? Is the Unirex grease safe for use on plastic gears? Some openers have worm drive plastic gears inside the opener itself. Would the Unirex work on those gears also?

 

[tundraotto]

I wouldn't
I would use Superlube Silicone grease for plastic gears, or plastic anything needing lube.

 

[Gimpy1]

I have to lubricate a Genie screw drive garage door opener. The screw itself is steel but the teeth on the trolley which mate with the screw teeth are plastic. Genie recommends Lubriplate Low Temperature grease

Low Temp | Lubriplate Lubricants Co.

www.lubriplate.com

What I have on hand is Mobil Unirex EP1 grease which I use for truck chassis and driveline lubrication.

PdsDetailsPage

The UNIREX™ EP family of greases are high performance and extremely versatile long-life premium performance greases.

www.mobil.com

Would this grease be a suitable substitute for the Lubriplate grease? Is the Unirex grease safe for use on plastic gears? Some openers have worm drive plastic gears inside the opener itself. Would the Unirex work on those gears also?

Why not just use what the manufacturer recommends and be done with it. Its not like the stuff costs 500 bucks. You can probably get it home depot lowes walmart autozone etc

 

[Eddie]

Only use the recommended grease.

 

[Dennywires]

Use what's recommended.. otherwise could cause slippage or petroleum could harm the "plastic or nylon gears"

 

[blufeb95]

While it appears the gears do tolerate mineral oil, the reommended grease uses a base that's 15CSt at 40C, while the EP1 is like 15 times thicker.

 

[Dennywires]

While it appears the gears do tolerate mineral oil, the reommended grease uses a base that's 15CSt at 40C, while the EP1 is like 15 times thicker.

Motor would work harder. To lift door

 

[MParr]

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overheaddoor.custhelp.com

 

[vwmaniaman]

I agree with tundraotto. lubriplate hardens and get sticky gooey. Superlube doesn't.

 

[Accent Abuser]

Lucas oil stabilizer seems to work well for the parts store display.

 

[kneesahn]

Lucas oil stabilizer seems to work well for the parts store display.

I was about to throw that out there.

 

[zeky]

John Deere Corn Head grease.

 

[4WD]

John Deere Corn Head grease.

Corn Pop used that on his hair - hence the shower cap …

 

[Lubener]

Lubriplate.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Any petroleum-based grease is potentially bad for plastic gears. Like dissolves/attacks like, and plastic is petroleum-based. Use what the manufacturer recommends, even if it's that kind of grease, or if you cannot find that one, use a silicon-based grease.

 

[PF52]

I tend to use a plastic-compatible grease such as those made by Labelle for model trains..... You can probably get it at Hobby Lobby.

 

[zeky]

"Plastic" gears are closed cell. Type of grease pretty much irrelevant, unless it is the wrong consistancy for temperature.

 

[Escape08]

I used Lucas Red & Tacky on gears of my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. It has one plastic worm gear on it. The grease served my 20+ year old mixer really well.

 

[bruce381]

Any petroleum-based grease is potentially bad for plastic gears. Like dissolves/attacks like, and plastic is petroleum-based. Use what the manufacturer recommends, even if it's that kind of grease, or if you cannot find that one, use a silicon-based grease.

oil bottles are also plastic depends what kind the gears in question can handle mineral oil grease thats what lubriplate is made out of.

 

[RDMgr]

Many plastic gears and most likely these, are nylon which is resistant to mineral oil making it resistant to mineral oil-based greases. Regardless, the drive manufacturer recommends Lubriplate Low Temperature Multipurpose EP grease so we can assume the plastic gear and the grease are compatible.

The Lubriplate grease’s calcium 12 hydroxystearate thickener is compatible with the Unirex EP’s lithium complex. However, the opener application doesn’t require an EP grease. Further, contact temperatures between the nylon/plastic and steel components will not generate the temperature needed to activate an EP additive.

The base oil of the Unirex EP is an ISO VG 220. At low temperature this will create excessive drag resulting in elevated torque and poor drive operation. On the other hand, the Lubriplate grease’s base oil viscosity is ISO VG 15 eliminating the low temperature problem.

I would stick with the manufacturer’s recommendation. They usually do extensive in-house testing of the drive operation, including grease, through a broad temperature range representing the temperature range of its sales region.