how do i maintain bearings

[flaming_june 2]

im hanging up my roller hockey skates for the ice season. im wondernig if there is anything i should or could do to maintain my bearings. before my final playoff game i sprayed the abec 7s with some bearing grease hockey monkey gave me, and after a bit it seemed to make the bearings even slower... wierd.

well thanks a lot

[Neo5370 132]

I would just clean them, lube them and keep'em on your skates. And by cleaning them I mean taking the C-rings and shields off so you can really get all the crap out and lube the bearings directly.

I'd also give your whole skate, wheels, hardware a good cleaning to make sure there's no dust/debris/rust/moisture/etc, then just put the bearings back and reassemble the skates.

I think if they're kept clean and dry they should be fine.

If you really want to give them some TLC, spin'em every once and a while to make sure they still spin freely.

[shute 4]

ya do a full cleaning and lube... i think it's better if you can keep them inside the house and not in the garage so that the bearings and boot won't freeze and crack.

[nkovo5983 0]

hey just wondering what type of liquid should i clean it with....

Is there a house hold citris cleaner i could buy, from the supermarket

or...

do i have to buy that sonic citris cleaner.....

thanks, would love to hear what people do

[#96 0]

I have NEVER cleaned my bearings, well my indoor bearings that is. I might drop some oil in them, but other than that I just don't do it. BSB bearings come with this little plastic holder, I put my bearings back in that. Keep them dry, out of the humidity, and they should be fine.

[EndGame 0]

I never take mine apart and clean them either. I use some canned compressed air to blow the rink dust off of them after every game or practice, and wipe them off whenever I swap out or rotate wheels. That's about it. They seem to be lasting a good long time, and these are generic eBay-purchased bearings, too.

[Shorthanded67 0]

I'll admit, 12 years of playing inline hockey and I've never taken off a C-ring in my life! I just wipe them down when I change/rotate wheels and if I'm feeling really industrious I'll even soak them in "Speed Skate Lube" (the old orange spray can with the RHI logo on it!)

I've really never had any problem with noisy/slow/rusty bearings but I'll usually buy new ones when I buy new skates (every few years).

[#96 0]

C-ring? What's a C-ring? Lol. For years I never fooled around with this either, but one day I took an old bearing and popped out the ring. I was like, ohh so that's how it works! Honestly, indoor play tends not to be too messy. Cleaning after indoor is not-necessary IMHO. Perhaps, like I and some others have done, just a touch of oil and they should be fine.

Years ago, when I used to play outdoor hockey, my bearings got real dirty. My old man had this liquid called Tri-Chloryl-Ether, I believe is the spelling. It worked AMAZINGLY well at cleaing out dirt and grease...too well. I say too well because it removed all of the bearing oil as well. And even though I would lube them up with all sorts of oils, they never rolled the same again. I always had that grinding metal on metal sound, and spin sucked. But it was outdoors, and they needed to be cleaned.